One Drawback of Senator Gillibrand
By Jimmy Vielkind
ALBANY—Representative Kirsten Gillibrand's name is persistently circulating--along with many others--as a possible replacement for Hillary Clinton in the Senate, but the idea may dissolve if Democrats think that would mean sacrificing a congressional seat.
Gillibrand's district, the 20th, is spread across 10 upstate counties from Columbia to Essex and was represented by conservative Republicans from 1978--when Republican Gerald Solomon defeated Representative Ned Pattison, a Troy Democrat (the district no longer includes Troy)--until 2006.
Republicans still hold a 70,000 voter enrollment edge in the district and it was considered a safe seat until Gillibrand defeated scandal-damaged incumbent John Sweeney, a race was as much lost by Sweeney as won by Gillibrand.
She handily earned re-election this November over Republican Sandy Treadwell, who never mounted a significant challenge in the district for his "blue dog" opponent, who got an "A" rating from the N.R.A. this year.
Naturally, Republicans are eyeing the possibility of moving right back in if she leaves.
"If it's an open seat, we will have a very strong position to fill," said Jasper Nolan, longtime chairman of the Saratoga County Republican Party. "I think we just have to work that much harder, and maybe things will have changed a bit by then."
Nolan said he had already been contacted by multiple people--he would not name names--who said they would be interested in the seat if it becomes available. If Gillibrand were to leave, the seat would be filled in a special election and candidates for each party would be chosen by an agreement of the involved county party chairs--in this case, ten of them.
The district is trending bluer, but the odds would still be against a non-incumbent Democrat.
"They'll never win it back, even with the counties it comprises leaning more blue," said Alan Chartock, a political science professor at SUNY Albany and radio host. "But we're not talking about a House of Representatives that will be controlled by one vote anymore, so that dynamic is less important than it used to be."
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Thats good the democrats
Thats good the democrats need an uostate republican to cut up in reapportionment.
Gillbrand for Senate? Hell Yes!
Our Representative Gillibrand is smart and has demonstrated her alignment with Upstate sentiments and interests. Having been raised Upstate, and by living and having family and friends here, Gillibrand gets the unfaddish mix of charitableness and independence that characterize the fundamentally centrist Upstaters, all the while having the sophistication and worldliness required to hob with the nobs. I'm not a Democrat, and certainly not liberal, but I support her appointment enthusiastically. She's OK.
Kennedy is the political Jini to the self-servers who want to rub her lamp once she's ensconced in office. Like the Jini, she knows this well but will play along and assert her freedom after the big wishes are granted. If that were the whole of the story I could forgive these bald maneuverings.
Kennedy is, unfortunately, not constituted to serve all of New York State. The philosophical box she's defined over the years is thoroughly disjoint from Upstate rural and small city sentiments. Having to endure the decidedly Downstate brace of Senators Schumer and Clinton (and especially Schumer,) an appointment of Kennedy will simply compound the Upstate sense that we're treated the same way the rest of America treats Canada. Would you want two staunchly conservative Senators from Warrensburg and Milton representing the whole of New York State? No, neither would I. By that same token, I don't want two staunchly liberal Senators from New York City representing the whole of this diverse state in perpetuity. Patterson may claim the appointee has to earn the Senate seat two years hence by election, but face it: incumbents have an overwhelming advantage, and a Kennedy machine could charm and spend all challengers into their political graves. Putting Kennedy into the Senate seat is knowingly infecting a body politic with something it can never shake.
Lastly, Alan Chartock? That little whiff of ego who lapped up Mario Cuomo's drool on their regular WAMC radio show? Please. He's as right as a stopped clock.
i hate you
gilibrand are u retarded u dont go on tv and say ashma is a dizeze u stupid women ps.dont vote for kennidy
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