The United States Senate voted today, 94-2, to confirm Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.

The senator was sworn in as secretary at 5:29 p.m., her office said, and immediately resigned her Senate seat, sending identical one-line letters to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is president of the Senate; to the office of the secretary of the Senate and to New York Gov. David A. Paterson, who has said he will name a replacement soon.

In other words, we have another two days or so to speculate on who it's going to be. So here's some speculation, as completely without foundation as anything you can read anywhere.

It won't be Cuomo. If it were to be him, Shelly would pick the replacement, and while Paterson has had an astonishingly tin ear of late, he probably doesn't want the Speaker to have that much extra power. Caroline Kennedy, despite conflicting poll numbers, remains a good bet; New Yorkers like glamorous electeds, as little as we're actually blessed with them. The dark horse is probably Jerrold Nadler; eminently qualified, and a retail politician you can sell in Oneonta. Carolyn Malonwy might have a shot, if she learned to smile with the upper half of her face. Gregory Meeks, meanwhile, has been in office for over two decades, and nobody knows who he is or why they should care.

At the end of the day, and I stress I have no strong feelings on the subject, my money would be on Kennedy (though the Post reports she's out). She would just be too cinematic to pass by. But Paterson has a sense of mischief, so he may surprise all of us.

Update: Well then, perfect timing: The New York Times says Kennedy is "said to withdraw" her bid (and note that "is said to withdraw" is not "withdraws"), due to her uncle's precarious health. Some say that Paterson was going to name her to the seat tonight.