Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand Appointed to Hillary’s NY Senate Seat – Check This Lady Out!

Hey! Somebody qualified got the job! Will wonders never cease? (P.S. She was a strong Hillary supporter! See below.)

According to the NY Times:

Representative Kirsten E. Gillibrand, a little-known 42-year-old upstate congresswoman selected to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the United States Senate, said Friday afternoon that she would focus on passing legislation that would provide financial relief and create jobs for New Yorkers.

At a news conference at which Gov. David A. Paterson announced her appointment, Ms. Gillibrand, who is considered a centrist and is known for her bold political moves, also expressed support for investing in high-tech industries, health care, transportation infrastructure and small businesses, and said she would call for tax cuts for middle-class families and lower property taxes. … (continued below)

Ms. Gillibrand said she aspired to follow in the footsteps of Mrs. Clinton. While she acknowledged that many state residents did not know her name, she pledged to “bring upstate and downstate together, to work on behalf of all New Yorkers.”

“I can look someone in the eye and hear their concern, and hear their priority, and then do something about it,” said Ms. Gillibrand, who is to take office on Sunday.

…Paterson said that he was “95 percent” sure on Monday that he wanted to select Ms. Gillibrand, and that by Tuesday he had grown more confident of his decision.

He said he saw in Ms. Gillibrand a “new kind of leadership.” While downstaters have been known for being condescending to upstaters in the past, he said, “they will never condescend to Kirsten Gillibrand.” Mr. Paterson said he was particularly impressed with Ms. Gillibrand’s command of financial issues, saying, “She can talk you A to Z about agriculture, and A to ZZ about Wall Street.”

Why, she sounds positively Hillary-esque! Just what the doctor ordered.

(Photo: August 2006, New York Times)

The governor, however, did acknowledge the sometimes confusing nature of the selection process, which lasted weeks, and apologized, saying he was merely trying to be transparent.

“In retrospect, I wish I had not shown all of you the wrestling match” of the decision-making process, he said.

No kidding, Governor. With the confusion, and frankly, irritation, of Caroline Kennedy’s name being so heavily bandied about for this post, we can see why he feels that way. This whole drawn out mess was not very well handled. Some very powerful forces pushing for Caroline Kennedy to get this appointment, and some irate New Yorkers pushing back, didn’t make the situation any easier.

I have nothing against Ms. Kennedy-Schlossberg, but just did not feel she was qualified for the job. The last thing any of us needs right now is anyone else unqualified to assume a position of great responsibility.

And then there’s this nice bit:

Charles E. Schumer, the senior senator from New York, said it was important to have a senator from upstate New York, calling Ms. Gillibrand “one of the most aggressive and effective young members of the House.” He said Mrs. Clinton had also expressed support for Ms. Gillibrand.

I understand she is also a staunch Hillary supporter. Only fitting under the circumstances for someone competent, who also had Hillary’s back, to get her seat — if you’ll pardon the turn of phrase.

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.

I am going to leave out the rest of the rigmarole that surrounded the drama of Caroline Kennedy possibly getting this seat. Of course, the NY Times attributes a selfish motivation of Governor Paterson in making this appointment:

Ms. Gillibrand’s selection was a careful political calculation by the governor, who will run for his second term as governor in 2010, when Ms. Gillibrand will also be on the ballot. The choice reflects Mr. Paterson’s thinking that his selection should be someone who can help him attract voters in key demographics — in Ms. Gillibrand’s case upstate New Yorkers and women.

Ms. Gillibrand, lives just outside of Albany, with her husband, Jonathan Gillibrand, a financial consultant, and their sons, Theodore, who is 5, and Henry, who is 6 months old. Ms. Gillibrand, who had never held public office, won her seat in 2006 against great odds, defeating a four-term Republican incumbent in a race that turned intense and nasty in its final days.

She proved to be a formidable candidate, raising millions of dollars and assembling a campaign organization that aggressively exploited the personal and political baggage of her opponent, Representative John E. Sweeney, who frequently found himself on the defensive.

This next NY Times piece Gillibrand Is a Centrist With a Tenacious Style fills in a little more detail I think you’ll find interesting – and mostly heartening:

[Ms. Gillibrand] has married a relentless political and fund-raising style to a centrist brand of politics.

Ms. Gillibrand (pronounced JILL-uh-brand), a 42-year-old lawyer and mother of two young children, had never held political office before defeating a four-term incumbent in a vastly Republican district in 2006. Her district extends from the flatlands of the Hudson Valley to the mountainous North Country.

She comes from a politically connected family; her father is a prominent state lobbyist who once had close ties to former Gov. George E. Pataki, a Republican, and her grandmother was prominent in the formidable Albany Democratic machine. Ms. Gillibrand worked as an intern for a Republican senator, Alfonse M. D’Amato, and clerked for a federal judge appointed by President Ronald Reagan.

Her politics, perhaps reflecting her conservative district, cannot be easily charted along a left-right axis. She earned a high rating from the National Rifle Association and opposed efforts to extend state drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants. At the same time, she favors abortion rights, voted to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq and to extend middle-class tax cuts, and she has opposed privatizing Social Security. She raises large sums of money from Wall Street, but voted against the first bailout bill last fall; that vote angered some Democratic leaders in Congress.

Alan Van Capelle, the executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, a gay rights group, said that he spoke by phone with Representative Gillibrand on Thursday night and that she spoke in favor of same-sex marriage. This would make her the first United States senator from New York to endorse gay marriage; Charles E. Schumer, the state’s senior senator, opposes it.

Gutsy. It looks as though she’s made of some tough stuff and might be a rising star in Washington. We shall see. I am just happy to be able to report that, in my view, a qualified person got a job, rather than someone being coddled or pampered into the seat.

I have seen enough of that treatment to last a lifetime.

Congratulations, Senator Gillibrand.

Caption: **FILE**In this Oct. 26, 2006 file photo, former President Bill Clinton holds up the hand of Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democratic lawyer who is running against three-term Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y., at a rally in Albany, N.Y. Gillibrand emerged as a leading contender Thursday night Jan. 22, 2009, as New York Gov. David Paterson closed in on a decision to fill the state’s vacant Senate seat, according to party officials monitoring events in the wake of Caroline Kennedy’s abrupt withdrawal from consideration. (AP Photo/Jim McKnight, File)