Gillibrand to take Hilliary’s Seat
Ah, and I was gonna have fun with all the inside-HUD dirt I collected on Andrew Cuomo too. (Think "Sub-Prime Loans are Good" for starters.)
Gov. David A. Paterson has selected Representative Kirsten Gillibrand, a 42-year-old congresswoman from upstate who is known for bold political moves and centrist policy positions, to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a person who spoke to the governor early Friday.
The governor will announce his selection at noon in Albany. An aide to Ms. Gillibrand confirmed that she had accepted the appointment.
Ms. Gillibrand is largely unknown to New Yorkers statewide, but is considered an up-and-coming and forceful lawmaker in her district and has gained considerable attention from Democratic leaders in Washington.
Mr. Paterson made his final decision shortly before 2 a.m. Friday after a marathon series of phone calls and deliberations with his top aides, according to the person who spoke to him. He began making phone calls to other contenders about 9 p.m., and had notified most of the other contenders by midnight. By then, the only two candidates who had not heard from Mr. Paterson were Ms. Gillibrand and Randi Weingarten, the president of the United Federation of Teachers.
One of Mr. Paterson’s preferences had been to select a woman to replace Mrs. Clinton.
Given what's happened with the replacements of the Illinois and New York Senate seats, I'm grateful if anything - God forbid - would ever happen to good ole' Herb or Russ before their terms expire Wisconsinites will replace them with a special election. In fact, this was how the state put the late Bill Proxmire (D) in the Senate when Joseph McCarthy died in office.
And would you believe this feeling's not because of all the backroom dealing, the patriarchial warfare, the seats for sale, and other power plays? No, it's the Affirmative Action picks.
Look at it, even before his arrest for selling the pick; Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was under pressure to put a black man in Barack Obama's seat. He ended up doing that. Meanwhile, New York Governer Patterson was, and appears to have bowed to, immense pressure to put a woman in Hillary Clinton seat.
Makes you wonder if there'd be outside pressure to put in a Jewish white guy in the Senate if Wisconsin didn't go to special election instead. My favorite wackjob from Appleton would have the inside track.
On the plus side, liberals apparently aren't pleased with the Gillibrand pick.
Gillibrand is a Blue Dog Democrat, which is the name moderate Democrats gave themselves so people stopped confusing them with Republicans. Gillibrand is a pro-gun, fiscally conservative "Democrat." Blue Dog Democrats are the people who cower at the word "liberal," and fail to acknowledge that the only gains we -- as a country -- have made regarding civil rights were because of those dreaded, damn liberals.
Sounds like a female version of Moynihan.
