Gillibrand is right-wing because her district is right-wing.

[BurtWorm]

She will be forced to move leftward if she wants to represent all of New York and get reelected. She also owes David Paterson big time.

I choose to remain hopeful for the time being. I like the way the world is moving these days. It's doing fine all by itself.

[SoCalNative]

1. who's Gilliland?

it's GILLIBRAND

[Dennis Donovan]

5. The dude on the island?

:D

[BurtWorm]

6. Hey, little buddy.

:patriot:

[aquart]

2. Thank you. But I don't need Paterson sucking up to conservatives.

I'm disgusted with him.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. I voted for her 2X...

Given the choices we've had in NY20:

[BurtWorm]

7. I would have voted for her too,

:toast:

[Dennis Donovan]

9. We had that drunken load Sweeney for 8 years, and Gerald Soloman before that...

Kirsten's not been a shining example of progressivism, but she's been okay most of the time.

[BurtWorm]

11. Has to be better than that asshole Sweeney.

A drunken toad would be better than Sweeney.

[brooklynite]

4. She is not "Right Wing"...

What she ALSO is not is "Left Wing"...she's a centrist Democrat, as are many Democrats outside of NYC.

While New York is liberal by national standards, NYC is liberal by New York standards. Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler will never have a problem getting re-elected, but that doesn't mean they're competitive in a state-wide race (remember, this is the same state that elected Al D'Amato and George Pataki for 18 years).

[BurtWorm]

8. Well said,

I do think she's going to have to stay close to the center-left to get reelected.

[blm]

15. A Clinton-Lieberman Democrat? Dems need that neocon wing of the party to SHRINK, not grow.

.

[Occam Bandage]

16. Hyphenating unrelated words do not make them any less nonsensical.

Gillibrand is strongly anti-war and pro-civil-liberties. The one and only blemish on her record on that front is her vote for the compromise FISA bill, which isn't really much next to her 100% rating from the ACLU.

[blm]

19. Clinton and Lieberman are unrelated politically? All 3 stayed in full support of Bush's decisions

on terrorism and Iraq war until Lieberman lost his primary race, only then did both Clintons start backpedaling on their own support when HRC needed to move leftward for her presidential primary race.

But from 2001-2007, Clintons and Lieberman were on the same page - the same page with Bush.

BTW - I don't mind giving Gillibrand a chance at all....I just don't want a Clinton clone in office at a time when the left is finally making some progress.

[brooklynite]

17. I'm a Clinton Democrat as well...

as are many other New Yorkers.

[blm]

18. You agreed with HRC's siding with Bush's war agenda from 2001-2007? You sided with Bush's decision

on terrorism and his Iraq war strategy the way Bill did from 2001-2007? Or weren't NYers thinking about any of that as they idolized the 'Clintons' and kept a blind eye to their closeness with the neocon agenda of BushInc?

[brooklynite]

21. No _ I also disagree with President Obama's oppostion to Gay Marriage...

fortunately, I don't make voting decisions on a single issue.

[Occam Bandage]

10. Gillibrand is not right-wing at all. The only issues

she might reasonably called "right-wing" on are the 2nd amendment and immigration, and I support 2nd-amendment rights since the Heller case (and yes, Howard Dean had an A rating from the NRA, too). Take a look through her issues ratings; she's a "centrist Dem" the same way McCain was a "centrist Republican"--a few sops to the other side mixed in with a party-line record.

http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=65147

[customerserviceguy]

14. Good point

the Heller case pretty much set the law for many years to come on firearms. In upstate NY (as well as many, many other parts of the US) hunting is just a normal part of the way of life. Even if you don't personally hunt, if you live in one of these areas, you almost always know someone who does.

I remember my lady's union sending out mailings to all of the membership exhorting them to vote for Obama with the plea "He won't take your guns." If that's true, and Heller is the established law on the subject, then what's the problem with Gillibrand's votes on Second Amendment issues? The only way that Heller is going to be done away with is a Constitutional Amendment, and in this case, that's even more impossible than the fundies trying to get an anti-equal marriage amendment.

[mmonk]

12. We don't need another Blue Dog but I will reserve judgement

on her until I watch her as a Senator as opposed to being a member of Congress. Any Democrat that wins a conservative district owes the Democrats that voted them in as well. The idea that Republicans have been pragmatic the last 8 years and thus we must compromise with their ideology at every turn instead of expressing a vision that represents something different is a false one, especially since more people were voting on a theme of change. People sometimes respect someone that stands up for their own position.

[TreasonousBastard]

13. You got it. She is the..

REPRESENTATIVE of her district, not the dictator, and she's lucky she nailed Sweeney when she did.

Do not be surprised when we see the spectacle of her hanging out with Paterson helping out upstate when he runs for re-election. And do not be surprised when she digs into the Clinton moneybags for both their campaigns. I missed her campaign, not living anywhere near there, but I hear she's a real pit bull out on the stump, something our Governor will certainly appreciate when she's by his side.

In fact, do not be surprised if her connection to the Clinton cash machine makes her one of the most important Democrats in the state-- just like Hillary herself held far more power than any junior Senator would be expected to hold.

(Personally, I'm thinking she'll be a more effective Senator for New York than Schumer is or Hillary was.)

[riverdeep]

20. What about her is so terrible?

She voted AGAINST the $700 billion boondoggle, and is for second amendment rights. Voting for the entire constitution and for not allowing the rich to dip into the pockets of the poor and middle class with, as was entirely predictable, no oversight, isn't wacko right-wing. This isn't Michelle Bachmann we're talking about.