Bill O'Connor wrote: > Two thirds of New Yorkers don't know who the hell Gillibrand is, so she > has no name recognition. Now, I realize that *nobody* knows who Tasini > is, but a lot of city folk look down there noses at Gillibrand, who > I've heard referred to as "Tracy Flick" at times.(I never saw the movie)
not knowing who "Tracy Flick" is, I was curious and found this at the Huffington Post: > Gillibrand unpopular among peers By PATRICK O'CONNOR & GLENN THRUSH | 1/25/09 11:02 AM EST Within the high school gossip circle that is New York’s congressional delegation, Kirsten Gillibrand’s nickname is “Tracy Flick” — a not-so-flattering reference to the over-eager, blonde, bubbly and viciously competitive Reese Witherspoon character from “Election.” Gillibrand, the newly appointed junior senator from New York, has never been shy about her political ambitions — or her willingness to vault over older, more experienced politicians. That aggressiveness and self-confidence has endeared her to the powerful politicians who share her impatience to get ahead — including Hillary Clinton, whose seat she’ll take; David Paterson, who appointed her to it; and Chuck Schumer, who’ll be the senior senator to her junior. But many of those who know Gillibrand best — Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation — weren’t exactly high-fiving over the pick, and not just because several wanted the job themselves. “Nobody really likes her,” sniped one New York City-area member, speaking on condition of anonymity. “She's smart and capable, but she's rubbed people the wrong the way,” said another. “I think she's going to get a serious primary in 2010,” opined a longtime state Democratic operative who supports Gillibrand. Many members of the state’s congressional delegation skipped Gillibrand’s announcement in Albany, mostly citing other commitments. And one notable absentee was sending a message: Pro-gun-control Long Island Rep. Carolyn McCarthy says she’ll run against Gillibrand to protest the new senator’s pro-gun record and perfect NRA rating. [didn't she drop out?] As Politico reported earlier this year, Gillibrand alienated some of her colleagues by trying to leap-frog up the seniority ladder in late 2008, vying to take a vacant seat on the Ways and Means Committee that had been slated for Buffalo-area Rep. Brian Higgins. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was peeved at Gillibrand over the move, but the two have reportedly mended fences — and the speaker delivered a smooch to Gillibrand during her swearing-in ceremony earlier this month. But that wasn’t the first time Pelosi was taken aback by the 42-year-old Gillibrand’s chutzpah: In 2005, Gillibrand surprised the then-minority leader at an event in New York City by announcing she intended to take on incumbent Republican John Sweeney, a Democratic aide said. Still, in Washington, where fear is a more valuable commodity than fondness, the former corporate lawyer has earned a fast reputation as a prolific fundraiser, raking in more than $4.6 million for her first reelection effort to the House. And even her detractors admit she had a geographic edge over other hopefuls, hailing from a more politically conservative upstate district, which makes her a more attractive ticket-balancer for Harlem-born-and-bred Paterson, when both run in 2010. As he announced his choice of Gillibrand Friday, Paterson said he was choosing “the best candidate to become the next United States senator from New York.” For herself, Gillibrand said: “I realize that for many New Yorkers this is the first you’ve heard my name, and you don’t know much about me. Over these next two years, you will get to know me. But much more importantly, I will get to know you.” Gillibrand’s colleagues on Capitol Hill hope her big promotion will make her more senatorial, complaining that she wasn’t much of a team player in the House — a charge, fittingly enough, that dogged Schumer for years. “She going to have to prove [her ability to cooperate with colleagues] to a lot of people in the delegation,” an aide to one New York Democrat said Friday. Republicans are already playing on that perceived discord to undercut her support in the state. Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, issued a statement Friday suggesting her selection “has angered the left wing and created a real schism in the Democrat Party.”< -- Jim Devine / "All science would be superfluous if the form of appearance of things directly coincided with their essence." -- KM _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
