Gillibrand's the One. Is She the Right One?

NB: Shout out to my good friend Wayne Barrett from the Village Voice for his reporting on this story. He was one of if not the first to report that Gov. Paterson's choice would be Kirsten Gillibrand.

So it looks like Upstate New York Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand will be Gov. Paterson's choice to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate.



Already the choice has roiled the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, at least inside the state. Yet for a lot of reasons, the choice is smart politics.

The logic against Gillibrand's runs along several progressive fault lines. She's got a 100% rating from the National Rifle Association. She even opposes any limits on the sale of semi automatic weapons or so-called cop killer bullets. Her position on immigration isn't what anyone would call enlightened. She voted against both financial services bailout bills supported, ironically, by one of her current champions, Sen. Chuck Schumer. That won't endear her to New York City residents.

But wait, there's more! She supported the Bush tax cuts, backed continued funding for the Iraq war, and generally described her voting record as one of the most conservative in the state.



She opposes gay marriage (while supporting civil unions). Even though she was an ardent backer of Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, it's pretty obvious they don't see eye to eye on any number of issues.

Even with all this, and the possibility of several primary challengers next year, the choice makes political sense. Gov. Paterson knew he needed to replace Hillary Clinton with a woman. Once Caroline Kennedy dropped out, an upstate woman made the most sense. While watching the NY-1 program, "Inside City Hall" last night, I was struck by the number of phone callers who knew quite a bit about Gillibrand's record, and thought she'd be a good choice.

Voting for her certainly won't be a problem for ethnic voters in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Some of them might even be induced to vote for Gov. Paterson's re-election as well. Keep in mind Gillibrand defeated a long standing incumbent Republican to win her seat in Congress in 2006. There's no way she could have won by taking policy positiions favored by downstate liberals.

Besides, if anyone in theory bears responsibility for the rise of Kirsten Gillibrand, it's Caroline Kennedy. If you believe she was the governor's first choice for the job, the mess created by her last minute departure demanded a quick and clear response.

Kirsten Gillibrand is certainly no perfect vessel. This is politics, and everyone knows there are no perfect vessels. Assuming David Paterson doesn't change his mind, he'll announce her as his choice later today.



If she wants to win a full term, she's going to have to rethink some of her more "Blue Dog" positions, especially on gun control.

Yet in the end, she will be measured by what she's able to bring to the state in the way of jobs and stimulus money. New York, like the rest of the nation, is hurting economically. If she's successful there, she'll win next year.

What do you think? Is Kirsten Gillibrand the right choice?