[OFFICIAL] Kristen Gillibrand for President thread

why it will never be possible to trust Kristen Gillibrand on anything

https://slate.com/news-and-politics...-explain-her-pro-gun-anti-immigrant-past.html

 

John Hinderaker considers the Gillibrand announcement and compares Gillibrand to Amy Klobuchar, whom he considers to be a more formidable candidate

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archi...nd-the-democrats-best-faux-moderate-woman.php

 

Kristen Gillibrand's greatest weakness

". . . Gillibrand's announcement did nothing at all to dispel what are bound to be her biggest weaknesses in vying for the Democratic nomination and taking on the Republican Party: her close ties to Wall Street, her fondness for the social liberalism of well-off urban hipsters, and her status as a leading representative of the entrenched establishment of her own party."​

https://theweek.com/articles/817951/kirsten-gillibrands-biggest-weakness

 

I actually laughed out loud

 

wasn't going to post this link but reading through it made me aware of her legal work for Phillip Morris. I think Mirengoff's point about the "world's most sanctimonious party" is well taken:

". . . Gillibrand is an ambitious member of what may be the world’s most sanctimonious political party. Thus, she will have to tie herself in knots defending her innocent decision to represent Phillip Morris."​

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/01/notes-on-gillibrand.php

 

I think the WSJ editorial board had a bit of fun with this one. "Like Mrs. Clinton, Ms. Gillibrand plays up her gender more than her ideas. . . . Authenticity will not be her strength."

https://www.wsj.com/articles/gillibrands-me-too-moment-11547769164?mod=hp_opin_pos3

Gillibrand’s Me-Too Moment
Like Hillary Clinton, she’s running as the women’s candidate.
307 Comments
By The Editorial Board
Jan. 17, 2019 6:52 p.m. ET

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joined the 2020 presidential race this week, and you might call it her “me too” moment. We mean that in the sense that like Hillary Clinton she is running first and foremost as a woman candidate representing women’s interests. “I’m going to run for President of the United States,” she told a friendly TV interviewer on Tuesday, “because as a young mom I’m going to fight for other people’s kids as hard as I would fight for my own.”

Like Mrs. Clinton, Ms. Gillibrand plays up her gender more than her ideas. The 52-year-old is probably best known for her outspoken role in the #MeToo movement. She and former Senator Al Franken used to be squash partners, back before he was accused in 2017 of groping women. Ms. Gillibrand nevertheless was the first Senator to demand Mr. Franken’s resignation, calling it a “moment of reckoning.” Around that time she also made news by saying that, in retrospect, Bill Clinton should have stepped down in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky affair.

Other Democrats soon lamented that Mr. Franken had quit too quickly, without getting a full hearing. Big donors, including George Soros, accused Ms. Gillibrand of railroading Mr. Franken for her own political benefit. Philippe Reines, a longtime Hillary Clinton aide, jabbed on Twitter: “Over 20 yrs you took the Clintons’ endorsements, money, and seat. Hypocrite. Interesting strategy for 2020 primaries.”

This is merely Ms. Gillibrand’s latest political makeover. From 2007-09 she was a Blue Dog Democrat in the House, representing a rural upstate district that went twice for George W. Bush. She wanted to make English the official language, and she railed against “amnesty” for illegal immigrants. She boasted a perfect rating from the National Rifle Association and told reporters that, for protection at home, she slept with two long guns under the bed.

The jolt leftward started in 2009. Mrs. Clinton became Secretary of State, and Ms. Gillibrand was elevated to fill the newly vacant Senate seat. By 2010 the NRA had downgraded her to an F rating. Today, Ms. Gillibrand wants to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while saying that President Trump’s positions on the issue are outright “racist.”

Ms. Gillibrand now says her old positions simply weren’t thought out. “I came from a district that was 98% white,” she said last year. “I didn’t take the time to understand why these issues mattered, because it wasn’t right in front of me. And that was my fault. It was something that I’m embarrassed about and I’m ashamed of.” Apparently this daughter of a legendary Albany lobbyist spent years at Dartmouth College and UCLA, and then worked at big Manhattan law firms, and somehow these issues never came up. Authenticity will not be her strength.

Believable or not, Ms. Gillibrand easily won re-election in November with 67% of the vote. She also ended 2018 with $10.5 million in cash on hand, second among Democrats to Elizabeth Warren. As Ms. Gillibrand passes the hat down Wall Street, the money will keep piling up. Maybe she can tap the Clintons’ network, too, if she has convinced them to forgive her.

Asked last February if she had spoken to them recently, Ms. Gillibrand demurred. “I don’t wanna talk about that, but—I can tell you one thing,” she said. “Hillary Clinton is still my greatest role model in politics.”

Now there’s a slogan for 2020.

Appeared in the January 18, 2019, print edition.
​

 

kind of the default response to EVERYTHING around here, isn't it