Kirsten Gillibrand is a star

The big news in New York politics is not that Caroline Kennedy, a deeply private person, preferred to be in private life.

Rather, the big news -- and for Democrats, the good news -- is that Gov. David Paterson has put another crack in the glass ceiling by appointing Kirsten Gillibrand to the Senate.

Gillibrand has it all. She moves with equal ease among Manhattan high-rollers and Delaware County dairymen.

She knocked off an entrenched Republican congressman in a conservative district. When she began, no one but she and then-Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Rahm Emanuel thought she could win.

When he was recruiting her for the congressional race, Emanuel told me Gillibrand was someone special. I paid attention because I recalled the time, a decade or so ago, when Emanuel told me a skinny state senator named Barack Obama was the future of the Democratic Party.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/23/begala.gillibrand/

hmmm... Emanuel recruited her... he's now Obama's Chief of Staff... she gets appointed to the senate... sounds like she has friends in high places...

This makes me suspicious about Gillibrand. Rush was singing her praises because she is supposedly a NRA fan and pro life.

0% rating from NRTL.

ZERO.

ZIP.

ZILCH.

Gillibrand has a 100% rating from NARAL, and 0% from NRTL.

Obama did step on many peers toes but then he came back and smooth waters with "give and take" as well as mutual respect. "Daddy's little girl's has republican operatives and lobbyists on her side as well as the right wing DLC.

You don't have to be GOP to be "right wing" = pro-WAR and pro-TAX CUTS for the ultra wealthy.

We have to be ever-vigilant to wash out the CORPORATIONS first stranglehold of our party that politicos such as HRC and Chuck Shumer represent. The good people of New York State deserve at least one Senator who is NOT right wing/Blue Dog/DLC/New Way. IMNSHO that's just the former 1970s "liberal republicans" being assimilated into our beloved Democratic Party.

With regard to gun rights, I'm all for it because I own guns and fired "expert" in the active duty army. Further, my father taught me how to fire rifles and shotguns on our weekends together in South Dakota. What I find STRANGE beyond belief about the NRA is their attempt to DIVIDE those in the hunting community and those who are primarily for target practice and sport shooting. TRUST ME, if you are worried that "public record" of your firearm will hasten "Big Brother" to come and collect your guns, that is UNSOUND. If our country ever falls into such a dire state, GUN AVAILABILITY will be the least of our problems.

Instead of allowing the NRA to divide us gun owners, we need to openly declare that we are responsible owners of LEGAL weapons.

Remember, "divide and conquer" is the mantra of the RIGHT WING of both political parties? We must not lose sight (no pun intended :P) of what our Party Platform truly stands for: The Middle and Working Class Americans ABOVE the selfish interests of the mega-corporations and their puppet-masters within the ruling political right wing elites. Make no mistake that "Blue Dog" equates to Right Wing-Corporations (Military Industrial Complex) first and foremost AS SOON AS you scratch under the superficial sentiments surface of "Gun Rights," "Fightin' Terrorism" and "Tax Cuts."

Doubt me? FOLLOW THE MONEY ... that will always provide an non-partisan answer that the Right Wing-Conservatives (DLC/Blue Dogs/New Way) are NOT our allies within either party.

:rofl:

You're becoming a parody of yourself.

who is unafraid to call myself an unabashed LIBERAL. In the 1970s, I would be part of the mainstream but after Reagan et.al. (Kirsten's daddy's buddies and former Mentor) savaged Jimmy Carter's reputation and started all sorts of "evildoers" (remember "the threat" = big bad ole USSR is going to nuke us any minute?) you've successfully morphed our entire political system in the USA into one big Right Wing Duopoly. I'm just hoping that we can keep the Corporate Right wing within OUR PARTY in check.

Oh, and quote me ever calling you a marxist

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

law enforcement officers is .... <wait for it> HANDGUNS.

I don't want to take your beloved guns away but there should be NO issue with regard to requiring PUBLIC REGISTRATION (similar to publishing all the good folk who are granted concealed handgun permits) and proper safeguarding and storage of such armaments.

It must be very empowering to dismiss me as "a marxist" but MOST objective people would not judge me so radical. After all, I'm proud of having served my country in the Army. Where we differ is that I am attempting to pull back the curtain on the DLC's little shell game that pits rural gun owners against city dwellers. Us working stiff, average Americans from *all areas and walks of life* have FAR MORE IN COMMON than the right-wing democrats who attempt to divide us while they continue pour BILLIONS into the Military Industrial Complex at the expense of our people's health and education.

Get some rest, you sound cranky.

:evilgrin:

... but I was born and raised in the south.

:evilgrin:

Afterall, Kirsten is short n fiery, just like you, or as your moniker suggests anyway. :shrug:

I'm proud to have risen above my family roots (extended family) who are still ULTRA-RIGHT WING.

I'm happy to be in concert with Stephanie Miller. :loveya:

NOW! "Who wants to scrape momma's tongue?" :rofl:

I only hear rightwingers use that as some kind of pejorative insult.

... but I didn't.

And if you think I did, hit alert.

From articles I've read, one of the reasons Pelosi hates her guts is because Gillibrand voted against the 700 million dollar bailout, among other reasons, such as the two of them just don't get along.

I don't like every single thing about Kirsten, but the more I hear about her, the more I like her. Plus, anyone who goes against Nancy Pelosi's grain is a breath of fresh air!

late edit: I also meant to add that I'm with Gillibrand on the bailout. I know I'm in the minority on that one, but I was never for it either. Kudos to Gillibrand for voting against that. I don't like that she's so pro-guns, but I understand where she's coming from, considering the conservative area of NY that she had to hold onto. She isn't a gun-nutter, though, either, as some would like to suggest.

If Nancy is "concerned," then we have a winner. Nancy has accomplished like 1 thing in 2 years: raising the minimum wage.

democrat representative from California, Jane Harmon. Yes, the "Blue Dog Coalition" is one way for the former GOP mindset to INFILTRATE our Democratic party and push it even further to the pro-corporations first right. :(

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/state_of_change/401083

http://www.slate.com/id/1006689/

On its Web site, the group says that conservative Democrats had been "choked blue" by the party's more liberal leadership. A term you won't hear Democrats applying to themselves anymore is "boll weevil," which is what conservative Southern members of Congress called themselves in the 1950s--it has fallen out of favor because of an anti-civil rights taint. The Senate has its own version of the Blue Dogs, which formed in 1999 and has about 20 members. It is the prosaically named New Democrat Coalition.

http://www.laprogressive.com/2008/11/11/president-elect-obama-no-to-anti-freedom-war-hawk-jane-harman/

The most egregious example of Harman’s disregard for participatory democracy is “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007” - a frightening bill she slipped in the House for passage just over a year ago. HR 1955 is so anti-dissent, so anti-freedom and so McCarthy-like in its establishment of citizen review Commissions that I’ve written on it twice - both times appealing to the public to stop passage of its Senate clone, S 1959, which luckily has not yet come up for vote. Unfortunately, Mrs. Harman was so covert when sneaking in “1955″ that no citizens could lobby to stop it.

------------------------

To be honest, I think that I have more respect of the TRUE "moderate republican" fiscal conservatives of the 1970s who were mostly non-interventionist rather than the war-mongering, pro-corporate "Blue Dogs" OR "Third Way" :wtf: small "d" democratic politic ans.

Decide for yourself? Are these organizations for "The Investor Class" or "the American People?"

Blue Dog Coalition = http://www.house.gov/ross/BlueDogs/

Third Way = http://www.thirdway.org/products/136

The Democratic Leadership Council = http://www.dlcppi.org/

Read up on the Blue Dog Coalition and her votes. Yeah, I think if she stayed in the House, she could have morphed into "Jane Harmon" military industrial complex promoting member. :thumbsdown: :scared:

He even said that. He said national security is his number one priority, meaning terrorism as it exists today. That doesn't make him a war monger.

So could you be a little more specific as to why Kirsten is a war mongerer? Anything specific you can cite with some links that back up your claim?

Check out AT & T's lovefest for them:

AT&T thanks the Blue Dog Democrats with a lavish party

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/25/blue_dogs/

Amazingly, not a single one of the 25-30 people we tried to interview would speak to us about who they were, how they got invited, what the party's purpose was, why they were attending, etc. One attendee said he was with an "energy company," and the other confessed she was affiliated with a "trade association," but that was the full extent of their willingness to describe themselves or this event. It was as though they knew they're part of a filthy and deeply corrupt process and were ashamed of -- or at least eager to conceal -- their involvement in it. After just a few minutes, the private security teams demanded that we leave, and when we refused and continued to stand in front trying to interview the reticent attendees, the Denver Police forced us to move further and further away until finally we were unable to approach any more of the arriving guests.

It was really the perfect symbol for how the Beltway political system functions -- those who dictate the nation's laws (the largest corporations and their lobbyists) cavorting in total secrecy with those who are elected to write those laws (members of Congress), while completely prohibiting the public from having any access to and knowledge of -- let alone involvement in -- what they are doing. And all of this was arranged by the corporation -- AT&T -- that is paying for a substantial part of the Democratic National Convention with millions upon millions of dollars, which just received an extraordinary gift of retroactive amnesty from the Congress controlled by that party, whose logo is splattered throughout the city wherever the DNC logo appears -- virtually attached to it -- all taking place next to the stadium where the Democratic presidential nominee, claiming he will cleanse the Beltway of corporate and lobbying influences, will accept the nomination on Thursday night.

The only other media which even attempted to cover the AT&T/Blue Dog event was Democracy Now -- they were also barred from entering. I was on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman this morning to discuss what happened. They put together a 5-minute video montage, including our efforts to enter the event and interview the guests, which they broadcast before my segment. The video and my segment can be seen and/or heard here -- it begins at the 1:00 mark. A transcript will be posted shortly.

There's nothing unusual about this event -- other than that it was more forcibly private than most and just a tad more brazenly sleazy. The democracy-themed stagecraft inside the Convention is for public television consumption, but secret little events of this sort are why people are really here. Just as is true in Washington, this is where -- and how and by whom -- the business of our Government is conducted.

----

Make no mistake: The Right Wing DLC/Blue Dog/New Way politicians are NOW attempting "a power grab" for control over OUR Democratic Party in the Senate of Schumer's/Clinton's prodigy "Kirsten."

Is that not correct? :shrug:

Like I said in another post, I don't like a few things about some of her votes, either, and I don't like anything that could associate her to the NRA. I hate the NRA and everything about it, but I'm not going stand here and harp on one or two things about Gilibrand as if that's all that she is about.

that would be an implausible thing to expect.

All that matters is that the House members manage to get along and be able to discuss the bills and come to an agreement. Love among the members....that's for high school students.

I would have voted no too.

for saying that because I pretty much got put through the grinder here whenever I said I was against the bailout in past discussions about it.

That should be a plus for her, not a negative.

:7

With the way Pelosi is whining about Kirsten, it tells me that we've finally got some up and coming stars in this party who dance to the beat of a different drum than Nancy's. How refreshing.

I read that Pelosi did everything she could to talk Paterson out of choosing Kirsten. I guess our Governor didn't pay any attention to Nancy "please don't impeach my good friend, George Bush" Pelosi.

I bet that it was Caroline.

;-)

How could she be a star when she hasn't done anything? They said exactly the same thing about Palin and look where she is -- back in Alaska making a fool of herself every chance she gets.

I really fucking hate it that people not from my state keep telling me about how wonderful she is. HEY ASSHOLES we HAVE HER. WE KNOW what she is. You can get all happy about a corporate whore, but I can't. Upstate is red, yes, but if you knew anything about how people vote there you would understand that NOBODY actually represents their interests except to exploit them. It's just sad.

:hide:

If so, then what exactly has she done to piss you off, other than using that burned out DU meme that she's a corporate whore?

If not, then maybe you should realize that if it wasn't for someone like Gillibrand, who knows what it takes to appeal to the locals, there would be one more Republican district in NYS.

She has bent over backwards supporting whatever it politically expedient at the time. Saying she's better than a repuke is damning her with faint praise, and seeing how Upstate NY is constantly shit on and rarely gets any kind of real representation I'm not surprised another establishment Dem with Albany and NYC connections is getting rewarded. She doesn't appeal to locals as much as she is the lesser of two evils when you look at Sweeney. Hardly a great choice. That seat has been held by much more liberal people,so I don't really buy the fact that she must necessarily swing conservative to garner support.

"She boasts that her voting record was "one of the most conservative in the state." Fantastic :eyes:

so she is not the "lesser of two evils when you look at Sweeney". She beat Sweeney in 2006 where she was an upset winner, but she got re-elected in 2008 by handing that rightwing moron Sandy Treadwell his ass on a silver platter, not a small feat for a Democrat to do in a red area of our state.

In either case, she is not the lesser of two evils, she is a Democrat.

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

One, that line you quoted is from one article which is the sole source for claiming she said that. Second, you ignore that even that article includes the following just below that quote:

"She won praise Friday from the Human Rights Campaign for her stands on gay and lesbian issues; from NARAL Pro-Choice America for her support of abortion rights; from the Sierra Club for promoting "clean energy and green jobs;" and from the old-line liberal Americans for Democratic Action for supporting liberal causes while representing a conservative area."

Further, you clearly don't know about her professional or electoral history:

"During the Clinton Administration, Gillibrand served as Special Counsel to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Andrew Cuomo. She worked on HUD's Labor Initiative and its New Markets Initiative, on strengthening Davis-Bacon Act enforcement, and on drafting new markets legislation for public and private investment in building infrastructure in lower income areas.

As an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell and a partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner, Gillibrand worked on a wide range of legal and policy-related issues. She handled many pro bono cases, including abused women and their children, and tenants seeking safe housing after lead paint and unsafe conditions were found in their homes.

During her employment at the firm, she represented Philip Morris (now Altria) from 1995 to 1999, during major litigation including defense of civil lawsuits and FBI criminal probes. Her campaign finance records show that she had received $23,200 in contributions from some of the company's employees.<8> Gillibrand freely discussed her Philip Morris work with the Albany Times-Union, stating that she had voted in favor of all three anti-tobacco bills in that session of Congress, that she did not try to hide her work for Philip Morris and had spoken about it before to other reporters. She stated that most of her work consisted of assisting the company in assembling documents in response to subpoenas, and that as an associate she had no control over which clients she worked for.<8>

She was the Chair of the Women's Leadership Forum Network and was on the Boards of the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee and the Commission on Greenway Heritage Conservancy for the Hudson River Valley. She also served on the Advisory Board for the Brennan Center for Justice."

Sweeney wasn't the only one she ran against: she beat another Republican by two to one despite him dropping millions of his own money on the race.

Jerry Solomon? Jerry was NEVER ANYTHING close to a liberal... and he held that seat for 20 years. So if you are going to say that much more liberal people have held the seat you are gonna have to go back before 1979.

She looks so fuckable for a 40-something female politician ...

The jury is still out on whether she's a "star" or just a turd in the punch bowl. Her elevation into the public eye just may facilitate her being both. No worries. The scheduled 2010 election will be the final arbiter.

:shrug:

:shrug:

:shrug:

And now people are learning about her, as she was relatively obscure. Hence, her blue dogginess is coming to light. Not exactly rocket science here.
http://www.house.gov/ross/BlueDogs/Member%20Page.html

:shrug:

I voted in her district so I knew who she was. However, she is unknown outside of Albany circles, so people are just learning about her and seeing that she is a Blue Dog. Honestly, why try to push on such stupid, small points instead of dealing with the larger issue which is now NY has a shitty Blue Dog senator to the right of Clinton.

I'm not following you.

Edit: ahh I see what you're getting at! Pff. :evilgrin:

She's pro-gay-marriage, Clinton isn't. Gillibrand is in favor of Medicare-for-all, Clinton isn't. Gillibrand has a 90% lifetime rating with the ACLU, Clinton had 73%.

She's just not perfect in some people's eyes on DU, so they're harping on a couple negatives instead of pointing out everything that's good about her.

I am appalled by her signing an amicus brief on behalf of the NRA. http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=3451 IMO that's pretty wingnutty. Same with her views on border fences. But then again I live in San Francisco.

Although we are all Democrats under this capacious tent, it's no big surprise our ideology is diverse. Our conversations should remain on the civilized discussion of ideology which is infinitely more interesting than devolving into personal attacks as is so often seen here at DU.

I'm not thrilled with the appointment for the above reasons, but it's only temporary. Like I said, NY'ers will weigh in in 2010 and will be the final arbiter. Yeah democracy!

I can't understand why it's always a few negatives that people seem to dwell on, when in fact Kirsten Gillibrand has done such a good job overall and she is helping to turn a red area into a little more blue. So she isn't perfect. I don't like anything that possibly associates her with the NRA either, but I'm not going to throw her overboard when I know that she has accomplished some pretty amazing things in a reddish area of our state.

No wonder Al D'Amato looked like a proud uncle at her press conference.

She's no star to me but I can see how she's a DLC wet dream for you.

:rofl:

BTW, lots of pukes are registered as Dems - just in case you didn't know that.

Desperate desperate!!

BTW, lots of pukes are registered as Dems - just in case you didn't know that.

Like who?

This is a matter of public record. Check the CNN and MSNBC transcripts... they mentioned it everytime they discussed Gillibrand's family.

that doesn't make him a "puke," not does it prove someone erroneously identified as a family member fabricated the NY voter file info.

Desperate? Are you talking about the people who are desperate to make this woman sound less conservative than she really is?

:shrug:

You tried to discredit that information by mistakenly claiming her relative wrote the information.

:shrug:

I would think they were paid operatives for the Blue Dog Coalition but I would hate to think any organization would pay such dolts.

... tried to discredit it by claiming her relative wrote it.

..showing her father is Democrat.

YOUR reply was: LOL - that was written by one of their family mbrs, check the name.

I haven't said squat about any "voter files"

mtnsnake: He is a lobbyist and a registered Democrat (mtnsnake then provided a link to information from the NY voter file proving her father is Democrat.)

Justitia: LOL - that was written by one of their family mbrs, check the name.

wyldwolf: so you're saying the family member fabricated the NY Voter file???

Justitia: huh? WTF are you talking about?

wyldwolf: the information from the link is from the NY voter file

Justitia: What's that got to do with people trying to make her seem less conservative than she really is?

wyldwolf: Post #46 had information from the NY voter file showing her father to be a Democrat... you tried to discredit it by claiming her relative wrote it.

Justitia: Again, what does that have to do w/people trying to make her look less conservative than she is?

wyldwolf: again, how does your mistaken claim her relative wrote that make the NY voter file false?

Justitia: who said the voter file was false? I only saw that in YOUR posts. Are you confusing me w/someone?

wyldwolf: in post #46, a link with information from the NY voter file was presented showing her father is Democrat. YOUR reply was: LOL - that was written by one of their family mbrs, check the name.

Justitia: Who ever said anything about voter files? I sure didn't - those are YOUR posts. I haven't said squat about any "voter files"

I'm not into crazy conspiracy theories like that, sorry.

simply because you thought the info came from one of her relatives. :rofl:

Isn't there a crazy conspiracy forum on here for that?

Sorry, not my thing. I don't post crazy theories on hacking voter files, not interested.

I think your "voter file conspiracies" are whack.

:rofl:

Again:

mtnsnake: He is a lobbyist and a registered Democrat (mtnsnake then provided a link to information from the NY voter file proving her father is Democrat.)

Justitia: LOL - that was written by one of their family mbrs, check the name.

And our conversation was over way long ago.

Like I said, I don't want any part of your "voter file conspiracies".

I'm not a conspiracy nut, sorry. Sell that kind of crazy somewhere else, k?

... based on who you THOUGHT the author was. :rofl:

Show me a single post where I mentioned "voter file" conspiracies that you go on and on about.

I'm beginning to think you are a seriously unhinged individual, and that going back and forth with you is only furthering your delusions over these conspiracies.

:rofl:

mtnsnake: He is a lobbyist and a registered Democrat (mtnsnake then provided a link to information from the NY voter file proving her father is Democrat.)

Justitia: LOL - that was written by one of their family mbrs, check the name.

This is beginning to feel like an unsafe situation - goodbye.

The last part of the guy's name who posted that article was "nik", as is the last part of Kirsten's dad's name. Honest mistake was made.

Did you confuse Rutnik with Skurnik?

lol

and getting hardons over Blue Dog candidates. You won, corporate influence and interests now control the huge swaths of the Democratic party. Is it necessary to gloat over the misfortune of small farmers, environmental activists, struggling blue collar workers, etc.? Yeah you would fit in juuuust fine in Albany.

when she unseated 4 time incumbent Sweeney in 2006 and got re-elected in 2008 by beating a ruthless prick of a Republican, Sandy Treadwell, who ran some of the nastiest rightwing commercials against Kirsten Gillibrand in the history of this state.

Kirsten Gillibrand is a DEMOCRAT, period. There is a fucking D after her name in case you haven't noticed.

So there goes your whole bullshit theory. You don't get to fucking come here and tell me what I should or shouldn't appreciate for MY FUCKING DISTRICT.

all for yourself? HAHAHAHAHA!!

And no, I don't speak for the entire state, just as YOU don't speak for my district at ALL. As someone who votes in that district, and whose father is an anti-war activist who has tangled with Gillibrand on many occasions, I would really rather you stop telling me what the fuck I should think about a politician I have known about for quite some time.

For gods sake, just because I said maybe you should appreciate what Gillibrand has done as a Democrat, it doesn't mean I'm telling you what the fuck you should think about a politician. Good grief, calm down.

:evilgrin:

:evilgrin:

:hi:

Her father is a Republican and a GOP powerbroker/lobbyist who worked for Al D'Amato. Why do you think Al D'Amato was behind her?

Are you talking about the Mitchell interview?

Her father must've changed his voter registration recently knowing that his past would not look good. Not that a Democrat
can't spring from the loins of a Al D'Amato Republican but her father is well-known in NY political circles as a Republican
powerbroker who used to work loyally as one of Al D'Amato's lieutenants, his present voter registration notwithstanding.

:)

Idiot. :eyes: Honestly there is no point in even trying to discuss this with you. You've made up your little mind and there is no way in hell you are going to change my opinion of a xenophobic war monger trophy hunting Albany establishment Blue Dog.

Not bad!

You gotta keep it loud and tight. Booya!

A question...

Do you have any opinion about the Glens Falls/Queensbury area, as far as living near there? We're toying with the idea of moving in a couple years, and that's one of the areas that really interests me and my wife because we want to be close to the Adirondacks. The only thing that bugs me is that there are more Republicans than Democrats in that area, according to the sites that cover demographics, but everyone tells me the people are really great there. It seems like an area that has a lot to offer, as far as areas that are still close in proximity to the Adirondacks.

I grew up in Delaware County, and it doesn't get much redder than that. Honestly people find a way to get along despite politics. My parents' best friend is a lesbian who runs a horse farm, and for a while she was getting mistreatment from the locals, like refusal to deliver hay or higher prices. After 10 years, people just kinda got used to her and now she's part of the landscape like anyone else.

I haven't spent a lot of time in that area, mostly just driving up 87 to go to rugby tournaments but it's right next to Lake George so you're going to get an interesting mix of townies and vacation people. I don't think the area is as impoverished as other places in Upstate NY, as I said before I'm from Delaware County and there are some very bleak places there. I would love to live up near the preserve, you have marvelous proximity to the parks and you can just jump on 87 if you miss civilization :evilgrin:

I appreciate your insights on that.

Now, back to the fighting!! :evilgrin:

j/k :)

Our mountains are older and have more wisdom and, well, trees :evilgrin: Of course, I'm a Catskills girl and you're an Adirondacks guy..on guard! Just kidding, I can't really stay mad at anyone who loves Upstate NY.

:hug:

:)

Unless you have proof?

She was a very well known Democratic activist, legendary in the Albany area.

How about her mother?

In short, Gillibrand is the kind of Democrat who can win in blood-red upstate New York. Her membership on both the Agriculture Committee and the Armed Services Committee has allowed her to become an expert in policy areas some Democrats shy away from.

I've also seen Gillibrand in the big city. Gov. David Paterson spoke at a Gillibrand fundraiser I attended in a posh penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park. Gillibrand had given birth to her son Henry a few weeks before. Where she got the energy and the enthusiasm I'll never know. Even veteran Manhattanites came away impressed.

Listening to Gillibrand speak of how Hillary Clinton inspired her, I couldn't help but see parallels to Barack Obama. Our new president has described himself as part of the Joshua Generation -- the African American leaders who have come after pioneers like John Lewis, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Perhaps Kirsten Gillibrand is part of the Joshua Generation of women leaders, inspired by Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and so many others who blazed the trail Gillibrand is now following.

Watching the jubilation of the Obama inauguration, some feminist friends worried aloud when a woman might break through the way President Obama has. "I'm still not able to tell my daughter that she can be president," one friend said.

My own strong belief is we will see a woman president sooner than most suspect. And perhaps she will come from the ranks of the female Joshua Generation.

So I guess Huzzah cause she is a woman! :eyes:

I'd prefer she be liberal.