Why Hillary Fans Like Gillibrand

[Beacool]

Friday, January 23, 2009

The six-week drama came to an end this afternoon. New York's new Senator made her debut today with a joke about how unknown she is. It was a wry reference to the far more famous names, including Caroline Kennedy and Andrew Cuomo, who had been in the running for the job. But there is one group of people who know Gillibrand well -- the veterans of the 2000 campaign in which Hillary Clinton won that seat.

Hillary Clinton adviser Ann Lewis tells me that in 1999, Gillibrand, then a young lawyer, literally "wandered in off the street" into the campaign's windowless headquarters on Herald Square: "She just came in and said, 'How can I help?'" The campaign quickly discovered that Gillibrand was, in Lewis' words, "a natural organizer," and put her to work marshaling young women for Clinton. Many of them later became part of Gillibrand's own political network. Occasionally, Lewis recalls, Gillibrand would mention that her real dream was to move back home to Upstate New York and run for Congress.

Those upstate roots are deep. It turns out that Gillibrand has an interesting political pedigree of her own. Her father is Doug Rutnik, a well-known Republican lobbyist in Albany. (That probably explains the presence of former GOP Senator Alfonse D'Amato over her shoulder at the announcement news conference.) And her grandmother Polly Noonan--whom Gillibrand cites as her inspiration--was a powerful political player at a time that few other women were. Noonan founded the Albany Democratic Women's Club and was an important figure in the Mayor Erastus Corning's legendary machine there.

Gillibrand proved her own political skills in 2006, when she beat heavily favored four-term incumbent John Sweeney in a Hudson Valley district that leans GOP. (It was one of only six New York congressional districts to vote for George W. Bush in 2000, and one of only nine to do it in 2004.) Her conservative centrist voting record--key to a Democrat surviving in that district--makes some Democrats uncomfortable with Governor David Paterson's decision to pick her.

http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/01/23/kirstin-gillibrand/

[xchrom]

1. i don't and i 'like' hill. nt

[mtnsnake]

2. Bill likes her

[Name removed]

11. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[IndianaGreen]

44. Why?

The philandering former President is a serial adulterer, he hasn't been able to control his sexual appetite since he drove that El Camino in Arkansas.

[PBS Poll-435]

3. I like her and I loved when she beat that ASSHAT John Sweeney in '06.

[mtnsnake]

5. How about when she beat Treadwell

after he spent record amounts of money running the dirtiest TV ads against her imaginable.

[PBS Poll-435]

6. That was pretty good...

:rofl:

I liked '06 better though because it was one of the races I was paying a lot of attention to!

[Danger Mouse]

26. Treadwell is a freaking scumbag.

[Danger Mouse]

27. John 'Wife Beater' Sweeney

:puke:

[Raine1967]

42. Sweeney was a BIG defeat

Seems like a LOT of people are forgetting Who's seat Sweeney took... Jerry Solomon... This is a big time win.

She has the support of MANY progressive groups n NYS --- including the ACLU... the NYCL and the ESPA...

Check it out: http://www.ontheissues.org/NY/Kirsten_Gillibrand.htm

[PBS Poll-435]

46. She is not pure. She will fail. Consider this a win for the Republicans in '10

:rofl:

[Beacool]

4. I didn't know her until today.

Most people around here don't know her either. She's only been in office a couple of years and she's from upstate, we'll see how she plays out in the big city.

:shrug:

[customerserviceguy]

7. Other than Second Amendment issues

what other votes has she made that could be called conservative? I see where she has a 100% rating from the ACLU:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/23/clinton.replacement/index.html

Where's the problem?

[MidwestTransplant]

8. Some would say her 2nd Amendment votes aren't conservative. It's not a liberal/conservative

issue in my opinion. The NRA makes it one.

[customerserviceguy]

14. I see a lot of dissing going on of her

and I wonder where it is coming from. Heller already settled the Second Amendment, it's not an issue for the forseeable future.

[ShortnFiery]

17. It's called KARMA for the savaging of CK. Now she's an adult and should be just fine

under HRC's and Shumer's tutelage.

[TheWraith]

23. She's taken a tough line against illegal immigration, but I wouldn't call that "conservative" either

Hers is a farming district, and the local economy would suffer if farmers used illegal immigrants instead of local labor.

[ShortnFiery]

9. "FANS?" That explains a lot. I've not been "a fan" of any one politician.

It's just sad the way CK was savaged.

KARMA's gonna kick you in the ass come 2010.

She has "a pedigree" alright and it's despicable blue dog NRA Border Fence supporter. :thumbsdown:

[PBS Poll-435]

10. Do you ever have anything nice to say

or is it ALL NEGATIVE ALL THE TIME?

[ShortnFiery]

12. Not about a BLUE DOG who makes the inane tactic "terrorism" as their first priority and TAX CUTS

their second. At least with the GOP you know what you're getting UP FRONT. :thumbsdown:

[PBS Poll-435]

13. Thanks for the confirmation

[ShortnFiery]

16. You're welcome ... when any hard core DLCer like Shumer supports her, it's a big red flag. eom

[mtnsnake]

20. Let's see, you hate the Clintons, Kirsten Gillibrand, Chuck Schumer, and that's just the NY'ers

Anyone else I'm forgetting about? What about Paterson, the Governor who selected Gillibrand, is he on your shitlist, too?

Didn't you also hate Caroline Kennedy when it looked like she was going to be chosen to replace Hillary?

I love how you always label politicians from NY as hardcore DLC'ers when you obviously don't know what you're talking about. If only YOUR state was half as progressive as New York is, you wouldn't be so jealous of it, so enough with the goofy DLC labels you love to stamp on anyone you don't like.

[ShortnFiery]

21. I explained the CK issue. I don't support Blue Dog DLC Democrats who support WAR and TAX CUTS.

Call me LIBERAL. Please? :hi:

[mtnsnake]

22. Oh you liberal, you

Hows that

:hi:

[ShortnFiery]

24. Very kind.

My distinguished opponent. :hi:

[ronnykmarshall]

30. Missy hated Caroline the other day ...

but NOW she's pulled out of her ass something related to her real hate "The Clinton's" and has sent a nice casserole dish to Caroline's house.

[dionysus]

33. i know who you forgot!!!

Brewer and Shipley!!
one toke over the line sweet mtnsnake, one toke over the line!
:hi:

[ronnykmarshall]

34. Toke??

Oh man ... break out the cheese ... I've got the munchies .... well that's what my mom liked to eat one of the few times she smoked pot.

[dionysus]

35. can't go wrong with cheese or pork rinds either.

[ronnykmarshall]

36. mmmmm

I love the loud ol' crunch them bad boys have!!!

[dionysus]

50. the greatest invention they ever made was microwavable ones

they looked like a bag of popcorn and they pop in the microwave!

[mtnsnake]

40. Did that first piece of cheese seem to last her forever?

Why is this taking so long to get through one little chunk of mozarella? ahhhHHH :smoke:

[Beacool]

45. I must be one of the few people of my generation who never did pot

or any other drug for that matter. Heck, I never even smoked a regular cigarette. It sucks to be so square.

Now booze I do know about, but since I can drink most guys under the table it takes away some of the fun. Hmmm, maybe I'll challenge Hillary to a drinking contest like she had with McCain in Estonia. She too can hold her liquor. Bill, on the other hand, is another story. He can't hold his liquor worth crap and hardly ever drinks.

Bottoms up!!!

:beer:

[mtnsnake]

39. Me forget?

No way, chum!

Dam song :mad:

:hi:

[ronnykmarshall]

28. Hell no!

Miss Thang LIVES for things to bitch about.

[Shiver]

15. Correct me if I'm wrong...

...but weren't you against Caroline Kennedy too?

[ShortnFiery]

19. Yes, I got played. But, truth be told, I'd rather a "non pedigreed" progressive get the slot. eom

[paulk]

29. that's really kinda funny

since you spent a lot of time here on DU "savaging" her yourself...

[ronnykmarshall]

32. Shhhhh, Don't bring that up!

There's a lovey bunt cake on Caroline's door step as we speak.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

48. You are spot on. Dumb choice. Caroline got hosed.

[Shakespeare]

18. Not all Hillary fans. Joe Conason has a pretty critical piece up on Salon now.

And promises a more in-depth piece next week. Conason's been a steadfast Hillary supporter, going back years.

(and just a note to add, I really have no opinoin either way about Gillibrand, because I don't know enough about her)

[MyNameGoesHere]

25. Is it primary time again? n/t

[Captain Hilts]

31. I like Hill and I don't like Gilly, she's friends with Alfonse D'Amato. nt

[ecstatic]

37. So she's a self made woman... but what does that have to do with Hillary Clinton?

:shrug:

[Metric System]

38. Yeah, I mean we all know Bill got Hillary into Wellesley and Yale Law. Plus it's not like she was

the primary breadwinner before Bill became President. Oh, wait...

[ecstatic]

41. Of course Hillary Clinton is self made, and so is Caroline Kennedy

who is a lawyer and constitutional scholar. Still not seeing how the OP ties in though. :shrug:

[IndianaGreen]

43. Tweety had a good segment on NRA-loving Gillibrand

who will be challenged in the primaries in 2010. On the plus side, there was a report that previously LGBT-unfriendly Gillibrand is now fully on board marriage rights for gays. If she supports marriage equality for LGBTs, I won't care if she believes in the right to carry a howitzer.

[JCMach1]

47. What Hillary fans would these be?

Not this one...

[Qanisqineq]

51. ditto what JCMach1 said

I like Hillary but I can't say I care much about the woman Paterson chose.

[madrchsod]

49. right of center democrat..ooops..a liberal republican

well if she wants to get elected she`ll have to tow the party line....

[NashVegas]

52. LOL. Such Marketing

Except for invested political watchers, Hillary Clinton voters in 49 states most likely never even heard of Gillibrand until two days ago and, as of now, most could hardly be moved to care.