Sounds like a primary challenge is in order.

When will ol’ Blue be up for re-election? 2010 or 2012?

Yay! One less Blue Dog in the House of Representatives, for a district surely meant to be represented by a GOP. And McCarthy’s primary challenge will bring a needed contest to a party that too often hews to incumbency protection in NY state.

She’s one of those damnable blue dogs. Is it bad to promote one to the Senate, or good to remove one from the House?

Both!

2010 for the two-year balance of the term, and then 2012 for a full six-year term of her own, should she survive the primary and the general in 2010.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F…..ngress.png
This is her current congressional district – a real geographical buffet here – Adirondacks, rich people in Saratoga, dairy farms in Delaware and Otsego counties and a bit going south of Albany.

Question the media seems split on: is is a hard G or a soft G?

Paterson makes her seem that she walks on water…… I really wanted Nadler…. dang

Gregg, thank you for not titling your post Worst. Selection. Ever.
*g*

Dugg right here; please join me!

Oh my god…D’Amato standing beside her. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I’ve never heard of this person. She seems to have strong background. Like most politicians, her voting record is consistent with the congressional district she represents- and will certainly change when she moves into a statewide position.

This pick, though, seems likely to cost dems a house seat. That’s not smart politics.

Did. Dugg (as Brindle)

OT:
Why isn’t THIS being told?
Specter’s block on the Holder confirmation is the most egregious of the Republican resistance to Obama’s nomineess. I can’t figure why this isn’t on the front page. the repukes are so scared Holder is going to prosecute their “leaders” for crimes, esp the midnight ride of Gonzales and Card to Ashcroft’s bedside to try and force him to sign off the illegal wiretapping….then, Bush illegally signed it himself!!!

The statute of limitations on this crime runs out in March, so the Repukes are trying their best to delay this qualified Attorney General pick for their own nefarious reasons, claiming they are not “satisfied with the Mark Rich pardon”. Everybody needs to call Specter’s office and demand he release this “hold” on Holder. Right away. This is a very little used rule Specter has invoked and it’s all about the delay of justice.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/…..refer=home

I dislike Blue Dogs. Think they are flying under the radar.

Why the F*** did this happen?

Paterson said he wanted someone not white/male and/or someone with upstate ties. She fits both criteria.

It’s Jane’s fault. /s (ducking)

What does this over clapping mean….. it seems that excessively long….

She has just come out in favor of gay marriage. Much of her “Blue Dog” title comes from her association with the NRA. I suspect that the blue dog disguise has been a way of getting re-elected in a very gooper district. She may be OK-

She seems pretty liberal to me, compared to the rest of the Senate. And it may or may not cost a House seat, we’ll have to see.

This is another example of a media driven circus. CO had a senator sworn in yesterday. Was there any coverage? Michael Bennet will have the same vote as Kirsten Gillibrand. The media loves a circus and if there isn’t one they will make their own.

sooo wonder who bent paterson’s ear???? surely not his dad!!! does gov think this move will help him get re-elected hmmmmmm?

Be a clown, be a clown.
Clowns work better in a circus.
I think it’s funny when they cut to a press conference like this one, and then sit and complain if it’s late. They could just keep covering ongoing news, and then cut to it when it does happen. But, they’re not asking my advice.

Hope you are correct. We don’t need another D voting with the Rs.

Many so-called Progressives, such as the leader of this Website and other blogs it’s obvious we read, were beyond vocal in their distain for Caroline Kennedy for this office. Yet, to my knowledge, they did not mount a campaign for any other candidate that would be acceptable to them, despite the fact that they, like Gov. Patterson, knew for months this choice would be necessary.

We now have a Blue Dog Democrat in this post, a politician who has some of the same positions as Sarah Palin, a Senator who may choose to vote against policies proposed by President Obama, as she did when she represented a very conservative Congressional district.

Many of us who consider ourselves to be liberal Democrats are very adept at criticizing those who stand against our interests, but if we are not prepared for either unity or leadership when a gigantic opportunity presents itself, what good are we?

It seems to me it would have been smarter to leave her in the House, even though I don’t care much for Blue Dogs. The district she represented might now be more likely to go back to R.

We’ll see how she does in the next two years.

gee you had different screen name earlier today….. same line but different name…

“supported the renewal of Bush tax cuts”

indefensible!

Backing Bush tax cuts is not a good sign. Paterson made a really bad choice or are there really no liberal Democrats left in the state?

“The district she represented might now be more likely to go back to R.”

:-) A Blue Dog D really is an R.

Not a good sign- but I normally assume that polticians have few if any inflexible principles other than getting re-elected. I predict that she will be reborn as a liberal now that she represents the whole state and wants to be re-elected.

heard on the radio that KG’s dad is/was a lobbyist and/or local pol. So she’s second generation politico. sorry for the gossipy nature of this comment. no linky.

sounds as if she only supported maintaining the Bush tax cuts for low and middle income people:

Issues and positions
Gillibrand is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.[3] She opposes gun control.[4] She supports extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for middle class families; stem cell research; and the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act.[5] Gillibrand opposes attempts to partially privatize Social Security.[6] She strongly supported passage of the 2008 Farm Bill.[7] Gillibrand broke with former Governor Eliot Spitzer on the issue of illegal immigration, opposing his plan to issue New York State drivers licenses to illegal immigrants.[8] She supports same-sex marriage.[9] [10]

wiki

Her father was a public defender I believe.

yup — Paterson thinks this helps him upstate. It doesn’t.

Schumer is the one who made this happen (i guess it was all if Caroline fell apart) — he needs to be challenged next time — for sure.

I will never vote for Paterson or Gillibrand. Thanks a lot, Jane.

people very vocally pushed Maloney over and over at many sites and in public too — the problem was that Kennedy hurt all the other possibles, and sucked all the air out of the room.

With the next Census, NYS will probably have to reduce by one Congressional District in any case; it is possible that Paterson will divide the district up and give things out to Hinchey and Arcuri and whoever is up in the Adirondacks.

The interesting question is “Why not Cuomo”?

Schumer is on now, babbling. This is the type of person he loves — more conservative than the public clearly wants — and able to raise millions.

Oh well.

I’m sure she’ll represent the interests of conservative New Yorkers just fine, and every now and then she might be persuaded to go along with some crackpot liberal notion. Blue Dogs can be surprisingly liberal when they want to be.

So it’s not a total loss.

I’m not an authority but have heard that particular district was gerrymandered for the previous incumbent (whom Gillibrand defeated). I also have heard rumors that it is likely that NY State will lose a House Seat after the census in ‘10.

Looks like there might be a convergence of opportunity and reality there. What better than to have the NY Governor, Dem majority NY Senate and Dem majority NY House doing the re-districting in ‘10?

I bet Paterson got assurances of money and big help for his election (and for the state?) if he went along with DC’s pick — I think he’s been told they’ll take care of Cuomo (either by giving him a DC job, or doing a Spitzer?)

No, ‘fraid not.

This is gonna come as a shock to a lot of you…..but out there in the real world, nobody actually gives a shit what Jane Hamsher thinks.

We’ll never know why Caroline Kennedy withdrew from consideration, but it’s a safe bet the FDL Fatwa had nothing to do with it.

Don’t believe me? Just ask Ex-Committee-Chair-Ex-Senator Joe Lieberman, Numero Uno dead-or-alive on Jane’s shit list for three years now, how bad he’s hurting.

Guess I owe you a coke or somethin’, huh?

More on the new senator from wiki

She actually sounds OK to me:

Born into a politically connected family, Kirsten Rutnik was born and raised in Albany, New York; her parents are Douglas P. Rutnik, an attorney with the public defender’s office, and Polly Noonan Rutnik, also an attorney.[1]

After attending Albany’s Academy of the Holy Names, she graduated in 1984 from Emma Willard School in Troy, New York, the first all women’s high school in the United States.

She graduated from Dartmouth College magna cum laude and received her law degree from the UCLA School of Law in 1991. She served as a law clerk on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Personal
She splits her time between Greenport, Columbia County, New York and Washington D.C. with her husband, Jonathan Gillibrand, and their two children. Their son, Theodore, was born in 2004. On May 15, 2008, Gillibrand gave birth to her second child, Henry Nelson Gillibrand, making her the sixth woman to have a child while serving as a member of Congress.[2]

Legal career
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

During the Clinton Administration, Gillibrand served as Special Counsel to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Andrew Cuomo. She worked on HUD’s Labor Initiative and its New Markets Initiative, on strengthening Davis-Bacon Act enforcement, and on drafting new markets legislation for public and private investment in building infrastructure in lower income areas.

As an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell and a partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner, Gillibrand worked on a wide range of legal and policy-related issues. She represented many pro bono cases, including abused women and their children, and tenants seeking safe housing after lead paint and unsafe conditions were found in their homes.

She was the Chair of the Women’s Leadership Forum Network and was on the Boards of the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee and the Commission on Greenway Heritage Conservancy for the Hudson River Valley. She also served on the Advisory Board for the Brennan Center for Justice.

Gillibrand said she was against granting the Telecom companies immunity, but then she capitulated. Me not likey.

Even Jane is allowed to make a boo boo once in a while and she is actually quite well read in the “real world”. I do agree that the opinions of people here had not a whit of influence in a decision that was quite obviously bought and paid for, he just needed Carolyne to get out of the way hence the delay. The DLC is just not giving up and to hell with the “real world” progressives.

soft G

Her dad is in bed (politically) with Al D’Amato

Just for the record, I’ve never posted on this or, for that matter, any other blog or Website using a different screen name. I have better things to do than waste my time filling out bogus registration applications. I’m even registered at HGTV under the name Jukesgrrl.

Followed Obama’s lead eh?

i wondered if that was him — appalling. why’s he there?

oh — ugh! we don’t need him back pulling strings.

didn’t they promise a Committee seat to Kennedy or hold one open or something? Is that now Gillibrand’s?

Perhaps, but she was very much in the Clinton camp.

Hope she does a good job and supports dem agenda.

Of course there has to be a special election for the House seat vacated by the DLCer and that seat could well go to a gooper. Well done Patterson you have given the Dems an effin conservative gooper lite and given another House seat to the goops. How much did they pay you for that?

If Gillibrand is liked by D’Amato, Schumer, and the NRA I don’t think it’s looking good for a progressive agenda.

“I do not support the demands of the President to grant blanket retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies who have been accused of breaking the law in aiding in unwarranted wiretapping. As a lawyer, I believe that the U.S. Court system can fairly assess innocence and guilt. The Administration’s refusal to present information to Members of Congress regarding what actions these companies engaged in further complicates the situation. I believe that this issue is a distraction from the core mission of the FISA program, which is to protect the American people.”

Kirsten Gillibrand
5 March 2008

she was asked about McCarthy and almost said “anti-gun” but stopped herself — she went on and on about how she’s a hunter from a hunting family and that upstate people kill their own turkeys for thanksgiving (?!?) , etc.

How close is the NY Democratic Party to the Illinois Democratic Party?

Kirsten Gillibrand
5 March 2008

20 June 2008 Voted FOR immunity

PolitickerNY on her — (not good)

… That Gillibrand, an upstate Blue Dog Democrat, is more conservative than most of the other candidates for Clinton’s seat is no secret to, say, her fellow members of the New York congressional delegation. But relatively few New Yorkers statewide even know who she is, let alone what her positions are.

In particular, Gillibrand does not like gun control. Her campaign web site boasts, “She has been an ardent opponent of legislation that will curb the Second Amendment for responsible gun owners and currently has a 100% voting record with the National Rifle Association (NRA).”

Her posture on immigration is also distinctly not that of a mainstream New York Democrat. On a page of her House web site that shows a passport resting on an American flag, she clearly states, “I am firmly against providing amnesty to illegal immigrants,” and highlights her sponsorship of a measure that proposed bulking up on border patrol agents and fencing along the border.

On the issue of gay rights, Gillibrand received an 80 out of a 100 rating from the LGBT advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign. That was the lowest score out of New York’s Democratic representatives. According to the Human Rights Campaign, she voted against the repealing of “Don’ Ask, Don’t Tell” legislation, opposed legislation that would grant equal tax treatment for employer-provided health coverage for domestic partners, opposed legislation to grant same-sex partners of U.S. citizens and permanent residents the same immigration benefits of married couples and opposed legislation to permit state Medicaid programs to cover low-income, HIV-positive Americans before they develop AIDS. …

Good points. I’m not really up on NY politics, except for what I get from the NYT, which is mostly NYC oriented.

That’s a good one- I’ve had many Thanksgiving dinners in Rochester and the turkeys all came from the supermarket.

I don’t know how many New Yorkers live upstate- say a million? Would be fun to see em all out shootin turkeys at the same time- could limit the population problem

Before you tell me ‘fraid not, there was an s/ included in my comment. That means snark. I was referring to a great amount of comments on this site criticizing Jane Hamsher for her questions regarding CK’s qualifications.
I hope that clarifies it for you.
PS – I’ll take comments from anyone about what I say, but I always hold them in the context of what’s been discussed here previously, and what I know about the commenter.
Does that let you know how I take your response?

good grief

Caroline Kennedy committed to the progressive agenda.Gillibrand committed to the corporate agenda(DLC).Funny how at times the “viirtues” of your own escapes you.

Big agree. Specter is one of the few senators who is both very very smart and very very funny (he always says his Single Bullet Theory is his greatest achievement). It sounds like he’s using extortion by threatening to be a huge boil unless he’s nominated to the Supreme Court, and soon. In exchange, Pennsylvania’s Gov. Rendell can appoint a Dem (like himself) to the Senate. Deal?

yeah, I got your snark. Sorry I didn’t include an /s of my own, as it appears mine went over your head.

As far as how you take my comment, no need to clarify, because I don’t care.

Oh, good.

i know! it makes upstate sound like Kentucky or something.

her sudden “conversion”, and today’s statements that she’s now a liberal are totally belied by her votes and actions in the past.

absolutely the wrong choice for us, and for the country.

not that close, i’d say.

altho now that the whole party apparatus (and personnel) has moved to the right with Kaine at DNC and “bipartisanship”, etc — it all seems to be DINO now. ugh.

ugh — Obama: “she worked to strengthen public and private partnerships”

Great. Not. Can we now start to support Caroline to replace the Blue Dog we’ve been given?

i’m native to NYS, born in NYC and have lived in 70’s rural (Putnam Co. back in the day), 90’s NYC and spend time in the 20th Congressional District. There is a need for all of NYS to be represented as its interests are complex.

It’s a solid choice. I know Kirsten and she will make an excellent Senator. Her positions represent her constituants. She listens, is transparent (see the website) and is availible. That and she knows her issues and makes decisions based on thoughtful review of the issues. I’m progressive — but believe me – “anti-gun” would not have won the 20th District. Purity will not keep us in the majority.

fyi – her victory in 2006 put us over the top (i.e. Dem majority in the House). Her opponent was the “brooks brother rioter” John Sweeney. Sweeney deserved to be defeated – but boy was it tough as he was the established GOP boy king.

I’m thrilled and Senator Gillibrand will do us proud.

Thanks, Katymine.

ugh — Obama: “she worked to strengthen public and private partnerships”

Remember Obama’s pre-election support of that toad in, I think it was KY or TN? Someone absolutely horrible, when there was a good Progressive candidate?

Talk about throwing Progressives under the bus — who is taking lessons from whom vis-a-vis Obama & Patterson?

Thats the first thing that caught my eye also.

we now start supporting a challenger that actually and accurately reflects our views and needs as New Yorkers. Kennedy was not that person, and Gillibrand isn’t either.

i look to Schumer — this is his doing, and is exactly like all the other people he’s funded, recruited, and supported in Senate races all over the country.

I suspect Cuomo made a few enemies in NY. He went after Spitzer as much as anyone did, and I’m still trying to understand why. From the outside, it looks like he was way too ambitious for his own good, and too dangerous for the Democratic establishment to give any more power to him.

All I can say is, Caroline Kennedy doesn’t look so bad now, does she? Whatever her weaknesses, she would have voted as a progressive most of the time, and could have been independent of the other Democratic powers in DC. I suspect that’s why she was torpedoed, rather than it having anything to do with her inexperience or inability to deal with the press.

but was she really torpedoed? If her midnight “withdrawal” was because she found out it wasn’t going to be her, who torpedoed her?

Paterson doesn’t have the power bases — or the support — to counter the combination of Obama, Teddy and other DC Dems, the media, Bloomberg, and the “magic” of the name.

to bad its not a (theoretical) liberal like Kennedy.

But hey what you gonna do?

2 years in the congress with a conservative agenda, nice background.

and I agree its seems this appointment is at least 20 – 40%+ a Palin pol.

And a rising star (of the DEMOCRATS…)!

is tht true that she supports same-sex marraige. Did not know that (it has not been reported on NPR and a few other news sources I have seen).

Seems a pretty big thing to go into a report on her “blue dog” status.

Course reporting almost always sucks, back to either doing more homework (that reporters should be doing) – or more likely missing what is going on in the world while trying to keep above water.

Sadly Chucky aint going anywhere.

…I don’t follow?

Might be time to check the Wiki also – wonder if it was edited last night or anything. Not tin-foil just interesting questions as its happened before.

and to hell with what the majority wants.

So much for representation.

Yeah, up state needs lots or representation – to bad the millions in the city get nothing more than a fart in their face.

HAAHHAHHA S.P.E.C.T.R.E in the SCOTUS…?

I think that would really kind of take the sheep’s clothing off the wolf it would be so obvious. So Obama is going to appoint him?

What is he 80 years old and the single-bullet JFK killer.

Wayne Barrett has some very interesting stuff on the money angles, and other connections to state GOP and Schumer, etc —

Is Gillibrand Too Republican to Replace Clinton?

What is it with the upper Dem party apparatchik? Of all the choices Patterson and the Dem party ass-hats had, they chose another Blue Dog (translation: Republican in Dem clothing?)

These Dem party dimwits are still stuck in decades of the past, thinking that nobody wants a true Dem as a representative – they would rather have a Repub who calls themselves a Dem.

Well, I’m thinking “wait and see” on Gillibrand… it sounds like she has made a good solid effort in representing her district… now she must represent her entire state – so let’s see how that goes…

Dissing Caroline Kennedy worked about as well for Jane as the blackface caper.