Kirsten Gillibrand on the Kavanaugh Fallout, What She Expects in the Midterms, and Her 2020 Plans

[oberliner]

Kirsten Gillibrand, the New York senator who may run for president, does not sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Late last month, however, she grabbed a seat in the room for Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony against Brett Kavanaugh, to get a personal view of the proceedings.

That searing morning didn’t change her view of the midterms, but it did further confirm her view that today’s Republican Party simply doesn’t value women, says Gillibrand, a longtime advocate for women — including those running for office — who’s been dubbed “The #MeToo Senator” by 60 Minutes and “the Senator from the State of #MeToo” by GQ.

She’s been busy since then. Gillibrand hasn’t been the highest-profile campaigner for other Democrats (that distinction goes to Barack Obama and Joe Biden), and she’s stayed away from states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, where the presidential primary process will begin, just as some of the other potential White House contenders — Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris … — have inched closer. But Gillibrand’s political group, Off the Sidelines, has backed more than 90 women candidates running for office in 2018, and in recent days she’s swung through four states that voted for Trump, but where Democrats now have clear shots at electing statewide candidates.

In the last two weeks, she visited Arizona (for Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema, the Democrat running for Jeff Flake’s vacant Senate seat), Tennessee (where Democrats are trying to pick up another GOP-vacated Senate seat), Michigan (with Gretchen Whitmer, who’s favored to reclaim the state’s governor’s mansion for the party), and Georgia (with Stacey Abrams, who’s looking to become the first African American woman elected governor of any state, and congressional candidate Lucy McBath). She’s headed to Pennsylvania on Friday for her colleague Senator Bob Casey and four women candidates running for House seats.

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/10/kirsten-gillibrand-on-kavanaugh-fallout-and-her-2020-plans.html

[Demsrule86]

1. More division before the midterms...I guess.

[oberliner]

2. What part of the interview did you find divisive?

The piece highlights all of the campaigning that she has been doing for Democrats across the country for the midterms.

Her comments seemed to be all about unity, not division.

[enough]

3. Interesting that the comments on this story at NY Mag are overwhelmingly about

Al Franken. And overwhelmingly negative on Gillibrand.

[oberliner]

4. That is strange considering what a strong Democrat she is

One would think there would be broad support for her campaigning for Democrats across the country.