white male consumer

So David Paterson announced Hillary’s successor, and it’s my very own congressional representative: Kirsten Gillibrand. Paterson’s choice seems politically expedient. Gillibrand is a solid fundraiser (the 2008 election was the most expensive on record), savvy and ambitious enough to perhaps succeed in the 2010 special election and become a name brand in her own right. If the pick works out, it could also give Paterson a needed upstate boost.

So far the main complaints have been that she’s perhaps too conservative and whether there were other senior, more appropriate options. Certainly Gillibrand isn’t a household name outside of the area. But I’ve supported her as my representative in Congress and she’s arguably as good a replacement as any for the senate seat.

Gillibrand beat John Sweeney in 2006 (that alone makes her OK in my book). Sweeney was a four term Republican congressman who voted along the lines of the Christian Coalition 69% of the time and whose positions included escalating the “war” on drugs, a ban on gay marriage, and social security privatization. Sweeney was named one of the “20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress” in a 2006 report by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. He was instrumental in the 2000 Florida recount fiasco, cementing Dubya’s misbegotten presidency (R.I.P.). And in January 2001, Sweeney crashed his Jeep into a utility pole coming from a bar, resulting in a power outage in my very own neighborhood. The state trooper on the scene did not administer a sobriety test or even allow the fire department to be called to direct traffic. Sweeney stayed in office till 2007. Sheesh.

Gillibrand runs with the Blue Dog Coalition, but bear with me. It’s not a deal-breaker. She’s got a certain left-of-center flair, for our district, anyway – favoring stem cell research and gay marriage, tax cuts for middle income families and state healthcare programs for children. Her position on gun control proves to be a non-issue for me. Gillibrand was raised in the Capital Region, and most of the 20th district is classic, gun loving rural country. She attempted to make a loopy “Hunting and Fishing Holiday” to commemorate responsible gun use, but otherwise believes in enforcing current laws on the books (she also supported 2007′s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Improvement Act). She espouses fiscal “responsibility” which, frankly, sounds pretty neat in an age of trillion dollar a year deficits. She very naturally supports investment in local infrastructure and agriculture (not to mention high tech) and that should translate well to the upstate as a whole.

Gillibrand campaigns hard, has two children (one of which born last year, while she held office), and is plugged into the state political machine (the nightly news might underestimate this). She’s a bona fide Democratic example of a woman successfully juggling both personal life and political career. She does put the junior back into “junior New York Senator” after heavyweight Hillary, but give it a moment and see what happens.

All indications are that Paterson wanted to fill Hillary’s seat with a woman. Understandable. After Caroline Kennedy’s crude campaign and unimpressive performance in the spotlight, Gillibrand seems a logical, dare I say qualified, choice. Here’s hoping.

Two quotes from a rush piece on TIME.com:

“As a child she was loud and talked constantly. She talked so loud we had her hearing tested, but it turned out her hearing was fine and that she just wanted to get her point across.”
— Polly Rutnik, Gillibrand’s mother. Albany Times-Union, May 13, 2007.

“I think politically [the pick] will help the governor, it will help the team. She will do some things for them upstate … Conservative democrats are winning so politically it might be a plus. It gives balance.”
— Rev. Al Sharpton, on the benefits of Gillibrand’s selection. FOX News, Jan. 22, 2009