Althouse: Kirsten E. Gillibrand will be the new New York Senator!

January 23, 2009

Kirsten E. Gillibrand will be the new New York Senator!

The NYT reports.

It had to be a woman. Tough luck, Andy!

ADDED: "Ten Things You Didn't Know About Kirsten Gillibrand." They pretty much all boil down to: She's conservative!

79 comments:

John Stodder said...: It's actually a brilliant choice. She's sort of the Jon Tester of New York, by which I don't mean the city, but the creeks and hollers of the rest of the state.; 1/23/09, 2:08 AM
Bob said...: She's a member of the National Rifle Association, too, I understand. Unusual for a New York lawmaker, and will put her at odds with Chucky Schumer.; 1/23/09, 2:12 AM
Host with the Most said...: So he chose someone more conservative.

The majority of Democrats newly elected to the House in both 2006 and 2008 are more conservative than average.

This will be very interesting to watch.; 1/23/09, 2:22 AM
vbspurs said...: Unusual for a New York lawmaker

From what I have read, it might be due to her family's Republican background...; 1/23/09, 2:34 AM
Christy said...: Is she electable statewide when Hillary's term is up?; 1/23/09, 2:56 AM
blake said...: Incumbents generally have an advantage.; 1/23/09, 4:08 AM
Tex said...: Gillibrand voted against the bailout bills. Yay! Yay! Yay!

As a New Yorker, maybe I will finally feel represented by my senator.

Okay, taking a deep breath and calming down now.

Is this what hope and change feels like?; 1/23/09, 4:27 AM
ricpic said...: It has to be a woman, it has to be a black, because identity trumps all;
Once upon a time it used to be capacity, now no white man need apply at all.; 1/23/09, 5:30 AM
ricpic said...: No White Male Need Apply

It has to be a woman, it has to be a black, because identity trumps all.
It used to be a question of capacity, but that was before the great fall.; 1/23/09, 5:38 AM
TheCrankyProfessor said...: I'm not sure Paterson really had to appoint a woman. He had to appoint someone electable and he had to consider his own run for Governor.

Appointing Cuomo would have removed a rival candidate.

Appointing Gilliland actually starts to make it look like he cares about the delicate feelings of Upstate New York (I live in Geneva - 14456) by making at least one of the major statewide officers NOT from the down state. That can only help him at election time.; 1/23/09, 5:55 AM
PJ said...: That whooshing sound you hear is my sigh of relief.

I was a reluctant Caroline supporter when I thought she was the only viable alternative to (Anyone-But-) Cuomo.

But this! Why, it's almost as if the Democrats have decided to take this power thing seriously.

Here's hoping Ms. Gillibrand will soon be promoted again, to senior Senator.; 1/23/09, 6:21 AM
Anonymous said...: Ms. Gillibrand received a standing ovation on the floor of the House from her colleagues for working right up to the day she gave birth to Henry.

Another mystery to keep Andrew Sullivan busy! Who really gave birth to Henry?; 1/23/09, 6:58 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Got it hand it to Paterson. This is his way of trying to get the votes he needs upstate.

Brilliant move .. you got to be blind not see it ;); 1/23/09, 7:06 AM
traditionalguy said...: I think the Kennedy family should come together and avenge Caroline by running her for Governor of NY. The code of the Kennedy Nostra requires it. They can bus in and same day register new New york CORE voters from all over New England, and then if it's close they can re-count and re-count their way to a 5 vote victory. Trust me this is easily done. Next they have Gov. Caroline Kennedy appoint another young Kennedy to the recently empty Schumer Senate seat, folloing Schumer's death from smoking a poisoned cigar he was given on a visit to Cuban Casino.; 1/23/09, 7:15 AM
DaLawGiver said...: Hey, she looks pretty hot, got some meat on her bones and a nice smile. I'd....vote....for her. Plus the NRA thing gives me a woody anyway.; 1/23/09, 7:46 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Senator Casey of Pennsylvania had similar credentials but he has been co-opted into supporting every liberal Dem position. Of course, it does not help that Casey is a dope.

It will be interesting to see if that happens to Gillibrand.; 1/23/09, 8:12 AM
Anonymous said...: Calling Bob Casey, Jr. a dope is an insult to dopes everywhere.; 1/23/09, 8:15 AM
bearbee said...: According to Wiki she is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.

Article written in Nov 2008
The Woman Who Might Take Hillary's Senate Seat; 1/23/09, 8:20 AM
kjbe said...: This was always more about what was best for Paterson than anything about Kennedy.; 1/23/09, 8:24 AM
Justin said...: Christy said...

Is she electable statewide when Hillary's term is up?

Absolutely. In fact, I think she'll command an even larger majority than Hillary, because she'll siphon a lot of up-state votes from whoever the Republicans put up against her.

As a New Yorker, I'm really satisfied with this choice.; 1/23/09, 8:32 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Justin:

Yeah but can Gillibrand even win in a heated primary against a well-funded died-in-the-wool liberal from New York City??; 1/23/09, 8:35 AM
Anonymous said...: With the amount of boodle they're going to be handing out these next two years, I will be astonished if any incumbent anywhere loses a re-election bid.; 1/23/09, 8:41 AM
Justin said...: Yeah but can Gillibrand even win in a heated primary against a well-funded died-in-the-wool liberal from New York City??

Good point. I really think the only person she has to worry about is Cuomo, and I think Paterson will keep him in check. Cuomo has a really good shot at becoming governor, once Paterson's run is over.; 1/23/09, 8:46 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Justin:

How about Bloomberg? He certainly has ambitions beyond the mayor's office.; 1/23/09, 8:55 AM
The Counterfactualist said...: New York state isn't as liberal as people think.; 1/23/09, 9:08 AM
chickelit said...: I think the choice is inspired. I don't much care about NY politics, other than the symbolism
But I do wish we'd get that sort of senate representation out here in CA, instead of just two gun-loathing ladies from San Francisco.; 1/23/09, 9:11 AM
joewxman said...: the downstate democrats here in the peoples republic of the state of ny are running around completely unhinged! I'm just loving it. Carolyn McCarthy...the one issue (anti gun) congresswoman from long island is already announced she will run against her in the democratic primary.; 1/23/09, 9:32 AM
The Dude said...: "died-in-the-wool liberal" - that phrase has such a nice ring to it.; 1/23/09, 9:47 AM
Simon said...: This is all well and good as filler, but I think that the real question everyone's hanging on is whether Titus would do her.; 1/23/09, 9:49 AM
Cedarford said...: It was a great pick by Governor Paterson. He gets a Centrist woman to replace a Senator that at least now and then went on a Centrist path. With Speaker Silver, Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bloomberg, and himself all Manhattan residents, and his predecessor Eliot Spitzer and Chuck Schumer a former Brooklynite in the top power positions in New York...it would have been a bit much to show the 19 million New Yorkers that only 1.6 million fellow Manhattanites matter to Manhattanite Dave Paterson with a Caroline Kennedy pick. Or all the other NYC people mentioned..most who worked or represented Manhattan at some time or the other.; 1/23/09, 9:49 AM
David said...: Anything to keep Andy Cuomo boxed in, please. He is Eliot Spitzer without the charm and moral fiber. Beware the government funded prosecutors, the real threat to liberty in America today.; 1/23/09, 10:09 AM
vbspurs said...: Anything to keep Andy Cuomo boxed in, please.

You know, Caroline's vacillation of whether she was in or out really reminded me of Cuomo's old man, Mario.

It was said that Bill Clinton offered him a Supreme Court justiceship, and Mario told him he'd get back to him. He accepted it. Then rescinded it, then called back to say maybe, and that he was still weighing all the options.

Clinton grew exasperated. Enter Ruth Buzzi.

Cheers,
Victoria; 1/23/09, 10:12 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Wow. A more conservative woman from the non urban area who is a NRA member, who just had a baby and who can relate to the 'common' people.

Why, it's almost as if they had picked a "Sarah Palin" look alike :-P; 1/23/09, 10:14 AM
vbspurs said...: In honour of David, I'm starting an "Andrew Cuomo is like..." series. Me first!

...Andrew Cuomo is like Ted Kennedy, except without the driving skills and great liver.; 1/23/09, 10:15 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: New York state isn't as liberal as people think.

Quite so. And San Francisco doesn't represent the values of most of California either.; 1/23/09, 10:19 AM
Bob said...: Only in NYC is Poughkeepsie considered "Upstate". Its what, maybe 35 miles upriver? This isn't going to radiate with us yocals in Buffalo or Rochester or Syracuse.; 1/23/09, 10:28 AM
AllenS said...: ...Andrew Cuomo is like Ted Kennedy, except he doesn't know what a wind farm is.; 1/23/09, 10:30 AM
Kurt said...: She was a college classmate of mine. I barely knew her, but based on what I've learned about her career since she won her congressional seat, I'd say that while I'm definitely no Democrat, she's probably the best of the Democrats that Patterson could have chosen. I'm not sure how much of a centrist she really is, but she's certainly more of one than Cuomo or Carolyn McCarthy. I think she's moderate enough to appeal to a wider range of voters in the state (making it difficult for the Republicans to run against her), and she's young enough that she could hold on to the seat for the Democrats for many years to come.; 1/23/09, 10:30 AM
David said...: Turns out Kirsten went to Dartmouth with my son. My son is a steady judge of people and disinclined to gossip, especially unreliable gossip, so if he will venture any opinion at all, I will share it.; 1/23/09, 10:33 AM
vbspurs said...: This isn't going to radiate with us yocals in Buffalo or Rochester or Syracuse.

Never mind the yokels in Buffalo and Rochester, Bob. What really counts is if Kirsten Gillibrand gets Alice Mason's seal of approval.

"She raised $1.5 million from fifteen couples one night at a dinner for the first-running Bill Clinton and Al Gore. She raised more for Jimmy Carter than any other individual. She also brokered many of the changes that occurred in the social acceptance of individuals in New York cooperative apartment houses.

Once upon a time there was an Alice Mason dinner every three or four weeks and the world came to her door to break bread with the world who came to her door.

From Arab sheiks to Wall Street titans, from media tycoons and their messengers, movie stars, and famous authors. Aileen Mehle writing as “Suzy” recorded the goings-on in her inimitable and shrewd wit, casting the Mason dinners as one of the most sought after invitations in New York."; 1/23/09, 10:46 AM
Kurt said...: That's interesting, David. I wonder if your son's impressions would be similar to mine. I was actually quite surprised to hear (in 2006) that she was running for Congress, because she never struck me as the political sort, nor was she the campus activist sort. Both of those count as positives, in my book.; 1/23/09, 10:47 AM
Anonymous said...: Andrew Cuomo is like Bob Casey, Jr., except he couldn't ride his father's governorship into the U.S. Senate.; 1/23/09, 10:48 AM
vbspurs said...: Andrew Cuomo is like Titus, except without his hog-riding talents.; 1/23/09, 11:05 AM
dbp said...: Andrew Cuomo is like his father, except he is only semi-selfmade.; 1/23/09, 11:14 AM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: I don't know anything about this Kirsten chick buy my main requirement is she fabulous?

Fabulous is a requirement.

And I don't ride hogs Victoria. I am a top. How many times have you heard this and still think I am a big bossy bottom.; 1/23/09, 11:15 AM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: David Patterson is pretty cool by the way.; 1/23/09, 11:16 AM
chuckR said...: I know what boys like
I know what guys want
I know what boys like
I know what's on their minds

Nah nah nah nah nah,
nah nah nah nah nah

I know what boys like
I know what guys want
I know what boys like
Boys like, boys like ...

!!POWER!!

Tough luck for Andrew of the Cuomo dynasty. Glad to see it happen.; 1/23/09, 11:17 AM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: Kirstin is kind of cute. Looks like she has some nice tits. There is milk in those tits...I like that.

I wanted Anthony Weiner.; 1/23/09, 11:18 AM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: She better be a diva as well. We require divas in New York.

This aint Alabama you know.; 1/23/09, 11:28 AM
vbspurs said...: You know, the funny thing is that I always thought "hog riding" was the guy (or gal) on top. Somehow. Err, yeah.

Whew, are you all glad I didn't finish Med School.; 1/23/09, 11:34 AM
vbspurs said...: She better be a diva as well. We require divas in New York.

Conservative. Pretty. NRA-backed. Mother of many kids.

Congratulations, New York State! You got yourselves your own Sarah Palin.; 1/23/09, 11:35 AM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: Is that Al D'Amato behind her?; 1/23/09, 11:37 AM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: I have no idea where the 20th district is. I have never even heard of Red Hook or Glen Falls or Delhi. It sounds so exotic. I wonder what the hog is like up there.; 1/23/09, 11:41 AM
David said...: News Flash:

My Dartmouth grad son reports of the new Senator from New York: "I didn't know her."

But he said she was the subject of a laudatory article in the alumni magazine (surprise, surprise.)

At least I got to brag about my kid going to Dartmouth.; 1/23/09, 11:45 AM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: I don't care about the gun shit, never an issue for me one way or another.

Is she a fag hag? Fruit Fly? That is important to me.; 1/23/09, 11:46 AM
David said...: Titus: "I wanted Anthony Weiner."

Titus, I thought any weiner at all would do. Or have I misunderestimated you?; 1/23/09, 11:47 AM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: OHHHH she just said marriage equality. I smell a hag for the fags. She also said women's rights. Pro abortion. Yea, very conservative.; 1/23/09, 11:50 AM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: I said Anthony Weiner not Anthony's weiner.

I am very selective about my choice of weiners.

My loaf was greasy this morning and required multiple flushes. Even after multiple flushes I had to get the scrub brush out and clean a few poop remnants from the throne. Those things like to hang onto the bowl for dear life.

How were your morning loaves? I wish more here would share their loave stories. I think it would bind us more closely.

Loaves.; 1/23/09, 11:53 AM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: Enough of the Obama blackberry stories. Who gives a shit.; 1/23/09, 11:55 AM
Trooper York said...: Andrew Cuomo isn't made.

It was his grandfather on his mothers side that was a made man. That's why Super Mario couldn't run for President.

Don't you know anything.; 1/23/09, 12:07 PM
Anonymous said...: Plus the NRA thing gives me a woody anyway.

OMG!!111!!

The Obama Miracles are happening already!!!111; 1/23/09, 12:10 PM
Joe said...: She's arguably a traditional democrat; what democrats used to be before turning into socialists. They now call themselves Blue Dog democrats. I'd like that group and the similar group on the Republican side form a new party called, say, The Non-Asshole Party so some of us wouldn't have to hold our nose so often when voting.; 1/23/09, 12:14 PM
PJ said...: Andrew Cuomo is like his father, except with Andrew the dithering is a feature, not a bug.; 1/23/09, 12:34 PM
bearbee said...: Seems pretty centrist overall:
Kirsten Gillibrand On the Issyes; 1/23/09, 12:36 PM
drew said...: I think that Gov. Patterson has grasped the fact that an over-Liberal appointee to the Senate seat will be viewed at the time of his (Patterson's) reelection campaign as a mistake. Better to appoint a centrist Democrat, and force the Republicans further to the right with their Senate candidate.

Most people don't recall that Al D'Amato was a Republican senator from NY state for a number of terms, and while not an arch-conservative, he was nonetheless a "R", rather than a "D". Mainstream Democrats are very conscious of the party-affiliation and caucus-participation numbers in the Senate these days, and keeping the seat in the "D" column might actually be worth annoying the hard left in NY State.

Besides, the hard left in NY State doesn't exactly control even the downstate part of the political landscape - they can't seem to get over their continual outrage over some sort of largely meaningless insult or position. Remember, another one of the purported "applicants" for this positon was Randi Weingarten, who has pretty much pushed the NYC schools system back into the Middle Ages via the teachers' union. Now that would have been an appointment with some political baggage!; 1/23/09, 12:46 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Just heard Gillibrand on the radio. Who am I to rush to judgment (never stopped me before) but Gillibrand sounds as dopey as Senator Bobby Casey........"she will represent the ENTIRE state".

More platitudes. Today we settle for nice-sounding innocuous platitudes.

On the other hand, TGIF. Is the bar open yet??; 1/23/09, 1:07 PM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: What was the Republican party before it became a bunch of southern christianists?; 1/23/09, 2:23 PM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: I would like to see Kirsten's milkers.

Bob Casey is such a dope-what does that say about Rick Santorum-I guess really dopey since he got beaten big time by Casey.; 1/23/09, 2:24 PM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: I have to admit Jeff Sessions from Alabama and David Vitter from Louisiana are very special though. I love those guys. Oh and Thad Cochran the big porkmeister from Mississippi is delish. And what can one say about Saxby Chambliss? Totally fabulous. Yes, they are the poorest and least educated states in the country but they are still some of the most patriotic.; 1/23/09, 2:28 PM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: You know some of those southern republican senators attended some hangings in their youth. There is a noose or a hood in their closets.; 1/23/09, 2:31 PM
TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...: Oh and Hailey Barber-the name says it all. Fat, butt ugly, talks like a red neck...but oh so incredible. Love him.; 1/23/09, 2:34 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: I bet Titus liked Sen. Corker.; 1/23/09, 2:39 PM
Beth said...: I don't see how "they pretty much all boil down to: She's conservative!" Items 2, 3 and part of 4, okay (didn't Obama vote for the excrebale FISA amendment?), and 5 and 6 are abstracts - no real action involved. Items 1, 7, 8, 9 and 10 - what do they have to do with conservatism?

And, apparently, she's in favor of same-sex marriage - a more liberal stance than Hillary's, to be sure. Or maybe libertarian is the right word, and that would explain her NRA rating as well.

The Advocate quotes her as saying "I will advocate for marriage equality, women’s rights, preserving Social Security and the retirement that our seniors seem to be losing every day, and call for significant investments in education." If that's conservative, then, I guess I'm conservative, too.; 1/23/09, 3:30 PM
JAL said...: Check out last line of New Republic article: 10. She has a child under one year old: a son, Henry, delivered this past May -- just hours after Gillibrand sat through a marathon 13-hour Armed Services Committee hearing. Take that, Sarah Palin!

Weird.

Childish.

Boy, did SP ever mess with their minds.; 1/23/09, 6:01 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Joe,

"Non-Asshole Party"

Not a bad idea. The founders could even incorporate it under the name New American Party so that the overly-sensitive could be unaware (or pretend they were unaware) of the actual name that insiders all used.

:-); 1/23/09, 6:18 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Beth,

Welcome to the fold! (It's a real big tent we've got here.); 1/23/09, 6:25 PM
Beth said...: Kirk, so glad to hear that conservatives are now embracing all I hold dear!; 1/23/09, 7:06 PM
Cedarford said...: TitusI'mSorrySoSorry said...
What was the Republican party before it became a bunch of southern christianists?

From 1968 until 1996 it was a National Party, except in little blips like Watergate, competitive throughout America except in Hawaii, DC, and Massachusetts. It combined moderate and conservative elements, and was known from Nixon until Dole and Dubya's era as the party of bold ideas and competency.

RIP.; 1/23/09, 8:13 PM
traditionalguy said...: Titus... When lynchings were still sort of allowed by the authorities in georgia (up to 1949 or so) every one was a proud Democrat. There were only about 12 republicans in Georgia in captivity then and they were seen as Zoo exhibits of strange forms of life. I think this had to do with a President named Lincoln and various Radical Republicans in Congress, like Thadeus Stephens, during the Armed Occupation experienced by the Georgia people whose Money had all been "replaced" because it was only Confederate money. As Dem. Zell Miller explained, while speaking as keynoter for the Repubs. in 2004, Georgia voters had no patriotic place left to go and turned to the repub. Bush. They sure as heck never want to live thru another surrender followed by occupation by an enemy Army, which they believe the Democrats are now stupid enough to cause by joyfully disarming and turning over the United States'authority to a the World government and a replacement World currency. FYI, I am a life long Dem. I am also a Chritianist, at least a PCUSA version of one, but I like to listen and learn from all sincere, intelligent persons, including you. Free speech for all, all the time is my only fighting issue.; 1/24/09, 11:55 AM