It's a campaign stop for any serious contender -- soul food at Sylvia's with the Reverend Al Sharpton. The only catch is, Caroline Kennedy herself insists she's not campaigning.

"There are many qualified candidates in this race and it is up to the governor," said Kennedy.

But Kennedy's behavior suggests otherwise.

On Wednesday, she took an upstate swing to avoid being cast too city-centric. And on Thursday, she found herself beside someone with pull, who while stopping short of an endorsement, did take her to a lucky table with some history.

"Obviously I think there are a lot of qualified and good candidates, but the unique candidate in this -- the unique in person in this with some unique skills in this I think is Caroline Kennedy," said Sharpton.

Thursday's lunch at Sylvia's included grilled chicken and garden salads. As for the tabletop conversation, education was the drink of choice as was the task of enlisting as many powerful backers as possible to make the selection of Caroline Kennedy all but inevitable.

At the same time, Kennedy doesn't want to appear to think she's the only choice. Governor Paterson calls himself undecided on a number of candidates, who may or may not include Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

"I have until the confirmation process that would remove the senator who is serving now, Clinton, who hopefully in the next six weeks will be confirmed as secretary of state," said Paterson.

As for Kennedy, her public rollout has skeptics. Her brief interactions never stray from generalities. When asked if her politics differ from Senator Clinton, Kennedy responded:

"I feel that I'm you know, a Kennedy Democrat, a Clinton Democrat. Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama, I mean, these are all leaders whose values I share."

Longtime public relations guru Ken Sunshine calls himself puzzled.

"This process is so unusual that maybe there ought to be a fresh approach to projecting oneself here. What's being done is traditional politics here," said Sunshine.

And it's with that so-called process which may or may not work in Kennedy's favor.