Thursday, January 22, 2009

Senator Gillibrand?

UPDATE: It's official, Kirsten Gillibrand will be the next U.S. Senator from New York. It's going to be interesting to see how a gun-loving Blue Dog Democrat goes over with the New York liberal establishment. Apparently, several of the state's left-leaning U.S. Representatives are hopping mad, with one even threatening a primary challenge in the 2010 election. It's also worth noting that Gillibrand's congressional district generally leans Republican, so the special election to fill her seat should be competitive.
I've been thinking that this might happen for several weeks now, but I held my tongue considering that Caroline Kennedy appeared to have locked up Hillary Clinton's old Senate seat. However, with Princess Caroline suddenly pulling out of the race, some are speculating that New York Gov. David Paterson is leaning toward the woman who I have always thought to be the biggest wild-card in the selection process.

Meet Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand from New York's 20th District. She's been placed on lists of rising Democratic stars for a while, and when Hillary was first nominated for the Obama cabinet, she appeared on many lists of potential candidates. At that point, she seemed like the best choice for several reasons: First, she was the only person on most of the lists who met one of the key concerns expressed by Gov. Paterson himself - she can win in upstate New York. Second, she's young, dynamic, and marketable in a time when the Democrats are looking to replace their aging generation of female leaders. While most of the other potential candidates are from NYC or the surrounding area, Gillibrand represents a sprawling rural district that engulfs a huge chunk of Eastern New York State. At age 42, she would be the youngest Senator, and she's one of three sitting Congresswomen that I think have the potential to become the Democratic answer to Sarah Palin (the other two being Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota).

Furthermore, Gov. Paterson strikes me as one of the most stubborn and mischievous men in American politics. It takes a lot of determination for a blind man to become Governor, let alone a blind man who refuses to learn Braille or use a cane - so I'm guessing that he resents the pressure he's feeling from the powerful Kennedy and Cuomo dynasties. He's been openly hinting that Caroline Kennedy is not the only candidate, and that he is considering wild-cards, which leads me to believe that he has a similar distaste for the idea of appointing State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (son of Mario). If my read on Paterson is correct, he is probably dead set on making his own choice and relishing the idea of surprising the nation with an underdog.

I won't go so far as to make it an official prediction. But, like I said, I've had a sneaking suspicion that Gov. Paterson has wanted to pick this lady all along. So, With Kennedy out, I'm going out on a limb and saying that I think there is a very good chance that we will soon be talking about Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

23 comments:

  1. stephanie sandlin is the chair of the blue dogs. She doesn't seem like she will get far with the dems... Could we give her a home in the GOP?

    Sarah has brought us a new era.
    Gone are the witchy women of the Baby Boomer generation (Pelosi and Clinton, etc).
    The winds of the real change of 2008 is Sarah's image... Bright, happy, MOTHERS who are in love with men and not out to destroy them.

    You are right Adam. I like this lady, even if I may not agree with her.

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  2. YOU WERE RIGHT, ADAM! Just announced!!! Senator Gillibrand!

    http://www.wpix.com/print_landing?blockID=193155&feedID=1404

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  3. Okay Adam,

    You are amazing! Very good call.

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  4. Excellent prophetic vision, Adam! One of these women----Palin or Gillibrand----should HIRE you. Imagine how they could put to truly-good use your gift of foresight!

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  5. I read about Rep. Gillibrand and learnt that she is a Blue Dog, too

    this is from Josh Painter.
    This is written by the lady who set up the K. Couric interview for Sarah and was thought to be the source of the leaks about Sarah.
    It's an article about how we all need to work with Obama
    Is RINO also spelt "traitor"?

    www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and

    -stories/2009-01-22/republicans

    -for-obama/1/

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  6. Having grown up a Dem myself (learn something new everyday eh?) I consider Blue Dog Dems to be allies and, at worst, worthy adversaries. Not sure where they fit in the spectrum of Truman and Reagan Dems but sounds like the perfect mixture. Of course, no one from WA was on that list;).

    Only complaints I have about Gillibrand is her work with Andrew Cuomo (or as The Revrend THACKS.............unnnnnnnnnn would call him, Andrew Cumo). But I guess you gotta deal with the devil sometime. Another possible worry is look at the other senator from NY, that dimwit Chuck (You) Schumer. See Patty Murray (blazing liberal), Maria Cantwell (onetime Blue Dog).

    The good thing is, these Blue Dogs have for the most part been shunned by the liberal media, meaning if they aren't being slobbered all over by the NYT, WaPo, LAT, and so on (including the now two sole commie papers here in WA, the SeaTimes and the Spokane Communist Review), they're good to go. We'll see what happens here.

    Maybe there WAS something to the Sweet Caroline/NYT publisher rumors after all...........(Hopefully Rush gives us a last 'Eat, Caroline' sendoff)

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  7. "the Spokane Communist Review),"

    Which btw will now be shortened to SpoCom Review. I don't have all day to type it out

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  8. Kirsten Gillibrand will be my Senator.

    Until a few weeks ago, when her name appeared on lists of potential replacements for Senator Clinton, I had never heard of her so I'll reserve judgment on the choice.

    Yes, I'm sure that many Democrats are "hopping mad" but they will deal with it. Also, the NY Representative you referred to is Carolyn McCarthy. She entered politics after her husband was killed and her son was severely disabled by a deranged gunman in the Long Island Train Massacre in 1993. McCarthy is understandably a strong proponent of gun control, an issue that Gillibrand opposes.

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  9. Good Call Adam!!! Man you are insightful!!! I need an education here. We all generally know what RINO's are. Are Blue Dog Democrats by defenition swing either way on the life issue? I remember way back I knew he was faking when when Senator Bob Casey originally said he was Pro-Life and I thought, ah yeah right(NOT!)..... knew he was really the other Side when he glad handed and endorsed then Senator Barak Obama for President. do you know where Gillibrand stands on the issue? M. Minnesota

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  10. M. Minnesota -

    "Blue Dogs" are usually moderate on a broad range of issues...but that does not usually include life (most pro-life Dems would be Blue Dogs, but not vice versa). In Gillibrand's case, she is pro-choice, but also VERY pro-gun (100% NRA rating). She voted against the bailout, and was the only NY Dem to vote for funding the war (though that doesn't make her pro-war).

    She's far from conservative, but for a NY Democrat she's about the best we could do.

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  11. I wouldn't really expect blue dogs to be carbon copy ideals of what we would want. You're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

    Matter of fact, the further they lean from "conservative" the better, since I know of at least two governors that were hyped as conservative/BD dems: Brad Henry and Jim Doyle
    and you can't really differentiate between them and ChrisCo (to all non-WAs that's Christine Gregoire). Brian Schweitzer's decent, my conservative aunt and uncle who live in Nashua (NE Montana) don't seem to mind him too much.

    Good and bad,

    GOOD: The liberal NY dimwits hate it. On a side note, It'll be great to see both the Yankees and Mets (with a combined payroll almost what Barry wants for the stimulate-nothing package) miss the playoffs again.

    BAD: She was actually endorsed by Chuck You. Refer to the example I gave yesterday about Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell (also referred to as Patty bin Murray and Maria Cantdoanythingwell). Hack liberal senator wants less threatening counterpart to mold (which I realize I'd also be describing our pres ticket......if Sarah wasn't so damn threatening:))

    This may not be as good as first thought.Just look at Hank Paulson (Schumer buddy) to see the dangers of Chuck You giving you his blessing.

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  12. 12th Man,

    I'm not saying Gillibrand is good...just that she's better than the other options that were on the table ... and she annoys the stuffing out of the far-left elites.

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  13. I approve of anything that annoys the stuffing out of the far-left elites. Especially if it annoys Chris Mathews.

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  14. Adam, I meant "good" from my standpoint.

    The good: It drives Chris Matthews to yet another sissy-fit (oh well, he's got his Barry blow-up doll to console him I'm sure)

    The bad: Schumer wanted her (uh, well, so to speak)

    I guess mixed bag is better than no good at all in this case. I mean I can't even say as much for McCain and Graham at this point.

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  15. Regarding energy:
    Here is a "must read"
    Tbone and manajordan have already commented on this.
    It is Sarah's plan to make the state of Alaska energy independent in 15 years!!!
    As Josh Painter commented, this received little or no Old Media attention. And, as he commented, we need to be ready to talk this up as we roam the internet. This is not what the left wants to hear.

    govpalin4prez.blogspot.com/2009/01/gov-sarah-palins-bold-new-energy-plan.html

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  16. Sarah is a LEADER, that's why she'll be pres.
    It's becoming painfully obvious that Barry (at least so far) ISN'T.

    Seriously, his lobbyist fiasco reminds me of Roy Rubin, head coach of the 72-73 Philadelphia 76ers. When Rubin made a team rule early in the season about no cigarettes, Fred Carter, his star player, decided to test him and he started complaining about the rule, Rubin relented to "just Freddie", it was all downhill from there. Rubin was predictably fired with the team at 4-47.

    Something else disturbing about that episode as it relates to Schumer and Gillibrand. The GM of the 76ers, Don DeJardin, was a West Pointer and a control freak. He hired Rubin because he knew that Rubin would be easy for him to control. Schumer, control freak that he is, would have an easier time molding Gillibrand.

    It seems that Western NY and Eastern WA have a lot in common: Both are split in half, and apparently the ignored half has decided to get in line, which is disgusting.

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  17. All great points 12thMan. That is the one thing that alot of people underestimate about Sarah. Gov. Palin is use to showing leadership. She has all her life. Obama never has been a leader. He voted present alot in the Illinois Seanate. Obama is going to try to remain popular by avoiding tough decisions. I read on yahoo that Obama is avoiding divisive issues unlike Bush.

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  18. tbone,

    regarding: ""that Obama is avoiding divisive issues unlike Bush""
    Please read newsbusters comment on that story.

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  19. Gelston,
    Of course the MSM and the AP are going to go out of their way to make Obama look good. Thanks. I read newsbusters comments on that story. Another observation on Obama so far he is already breaking from his transparency in government pledge. His press secretary Gibbs never answers any questions. When will the MSM turn on Obama?

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  20. No, it's even better. Note how "AP-Obama" went out of their way to make it look like some great thing that Barry kept asking Greg Craig for verification. Good grief!

    Then there's this softie Gibbs, who seems well on his way to making Scott McLellan look Snow/Fleischeresque. As I said in the other thread, I'm giving Barry WAY too many chances, and I should know better. Guess it's just HOPE.

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  21. Gibbs is a horrible press secreatary. The real Obama is just starting to come out. The MSM kissed up to him and never researched about Obama.
    Rasmussen daily tracking poll for Sunday.
    Obama downt to: 60% approve
    36% disapprove

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  22. Hi all!

    It's been awhile. Glad to see some attention being paid to Gillibrand. She's great, and I'm not just saying that because she is a fellow Dartmouth alum. I'm a born and raised New Yorker and it is so nice to actually have a RATIONAL Senator, at last! She is genuinely issue by issue - obviously I lean way more conservative than she does, but NY was not going to do any better. I'm just glad we dodged the Kennedy bullet.

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