NY-SEN: Kirsten Gillibrand launches reelection bid

[RandySF]

NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is kicking off her reelection campaign.

The 56-year-old sent out an email to supporters on Thursday announcing her 2024 bid. “I wanted you to hear it first,” the email said. “Kirsten is running for reelection to the United States Senate in 2024.”

Gillibrand has served as New York’s junior senator since 2009, taking over the seat vacated by Hillary Clinton.

Her campaign announcement comes as Democrats are scrutinizing their performance in New York, usually considered a stronghold for the party. Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections flipped four congressional seats, including one held by the head of the House Democrats’ campaign arm, while Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul defeated Republican Lee Zeldin in the narrowest win in a governor’s race in nearly three decades.

Gillibrand has made a point of carving out relationships with Republican colleagues on bipartisan legislation. She is best known as one of the leading voices in Washington against sexual harassment and military sexual assault, and is a proponent of equal pay and family leave proposals.





https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-politics/ap-new-york-sen-kirsten-gillibrand-launches-reelection-bid/

[LakeArenal]

1. I support her because she's a Democrat.

If NY likes her great.

I will never think fondly of her EVER….

[Mme. Defarge]

3. Al Franken -

never forget.

[suegeo]

8. Gillibrand's behavior is insulting to women, says Ricki Seidman.

[link:https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/29/the-case-of-al-franken|]

Also, Gillibrand admits in Jane Mayer's piece that she did not speak to any of the accusers. And no background checks were done on the accusers, if I remember correctly.

Added bold face is mine.

Gillibrand’s call for Franken’s resignation triggered an immediate backlash. Ricki Seidman, a Democratic communications consultant in Washington, who worked with Anita Hill during Clarence Thomas’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings, in 1991, immediately posted a scorching response. “As a victim of sexual assault, you are cheapening my experience by leading a call for Senator Franken, who has been a champion for women, to step down based on the flimsy accounts that have come to light to date,” Seidman wrote. “Knowing of far worse behavior in the Senate, and FAR worse behavior among Republicans like Donald Trump and Roy Moore, the fact that you are equating Senator Franken with them, I find abhorrent and INSULTING to women.” Major Democratic donors, including Susie Tompkins Buell, the co-founder of the Esprit and North Face clothing lines, who had backed Gillibrand in the past, also turned against her. Buell told me that Gillibrand’s move was “opportunistic,” adding, “It was like a vigilante thing, it was so fast and so presumptuous. I hope women learn from this. You can’t rush to judgment. You ruin people’s lives.”

[iemanja]

14. She is wrong

https://time.com/5042931/al-franken-accusers/

Senators have no right to inappropriately touch their constituents. And why exactly is it that you all continue to blame Gillibrand for something that may male senators, including Bernie Sanders, likewise did? Why is it that women are always at fault for the actions of men? And how is it that all the male senators get a pass?

[Trueblue1968]

26. i don't like her one little bit.

[brush]

4. Same. When her name comes up I think of what she did...

to AL FRANKEN.

[NYC Liberal]

5. Do you also think the same when the names of the 36 other Democratic senators

who called for him to resign come up? Including people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren?

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/06/full-list-senators-call-for-al-franken-to-resign-282175

[brush]

6. No. But we both know Gillibrand started the whole thing.

IMO she was ambitious, hoping to increase her national profile, but she was also incredibly naive and ran with the unfounded Roger Stone/Leeann Tweeden dirty trick and threw Franken under the first bus coming.

[suegeo]

9. Naive and or not very smart

The Junior senator from New York wanted to earn her chops around sexual harassment/assault and championing women. She had the opportunity to "do" the investigation of the allegations properly. Alas, she blew her chance.

Instead, she didn't even talk to the women who slimed Franken.

She missed the chance to show that whatever the "crime" was, would be proportional to the punishment. Instead she jumped to the most severe punishment.

Isn't she a trained lawyer? Does she not know about sentencing guidelines and proportion?

[brush]

10. Agreed. She was gullible too to just immediately jump at...

Stone/Tweeden dirty trick without an investigation and maybe, or maybe not, proportionate punishment.

[brooklynite]

11. So you're saying an obscure (at the time) Jr. Senator could sway the entire Conference?

Pretty impressive…..

[brush]

24. Come on, you know what happened as well ans most...

of us here.

[brooklynite]

28. And what DIDN'T happen was "Gillibrand knocking out a potential Presidential opponent"

...which was the standard conspiracy theory around here.

You can argue whether Frankel's behavior warranted it, and whether the number of accusations changed the political dynamics, but this was in the middle of the "Me Too" movement and there was little tolerance for what was seen as sexual harassment.

[brush]

34. I don't know about her knocking out a contender...

but she was the ambitious and gullible one who ran with the Stone/Tweeden dirty trick in instigated the whole campaign against Franken.

[iemanja]

33. Read Celerity's post

https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=17556111
It shows you don't know what happened.

[brush]

36. Gillebrand was ambitious but gullible and ran...

with the Stone/Tweeden dirty trick and instigated the whole campaign against Franken. She probably hoped to increase her national profile as an advocate for women, an admirable goal, but the Stone/Tweeden dirty trick was the wrong vehicle for that.

Most of the other Dem senators felt they couldn't afford not to come along.

That's what happened. Sounds like your memory is a bit fuzzy.

[iemanja]

40. In other words, the facts are irrelevant to you

You're going to repeat the false narrative because you don't want to know the truth. Kamala Harris was the first to come out. I do find it fascinating that Gillibrand has become the fall gal in spite of that. That obviously serves some purpose on the part of her detractors.

It wasn't "ambition." it was something called integrity, and it wasn't about Tweeden. It was the 7 other women who came forward, the ones you ignore. It obviously didn't help Gillibrand's career, so the ambition story makes no sense.

[brush]

41. Wrong again. I listened on satellite radio when the Stone/...

Tweeden dirty trick (Franken''s time in the barrel) story broke and Gillebrand, being interviewed, was the first out of the gate to run with it.

There's a reason why Gillibrand's name is associated with being behind Franken having to step down.

She started it.

[NYC Liberal]

12. There were six other Democratic Senators who wanted him to resign

before the Politico story. They told Schumer this.

On December 1, 2017, seven female Democratic senators—Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Claire McCaskill, Mazie Hirono, Patty Murray, Maggie Hassan, and Catherine Cortez Masto—met with Chuck Schumer to tell him that most of them were on the verge of demanding Franken’s resignation. At least one of them had already drafted such a statement, and the group’s resolve hardened further when some of its members learned of an impending Politico story that contained a seventh allegation, by a former Senate staff member.

Gillibrand was the first to go public, but she was followed almost immediately by others. There were 36 by the end of the day.

Schumer sat on the edge of his bed while Franken and his wife, who had come to lend moral support, pleaded for more time. According to Franken, Schumer told him to quit by 5 p.m.; otherwise, he would instruct the entire Democratic caucus to demand Franken’s resignation. Schumer’s spokesperson denied that Schumer had threatened to organize the rest of the caucus against Franken. But he confirmed that Schumer told Franken that he needed to announce his resignation by five o’clock. Schumer also said that if Franken stayed he could be censured and stripped of committee assignments.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/29/the-case-of-al-franken

[maxsolomon]

15. The Democratic reaction to controversy is to throw it overboard immediately.

ACORN comes to mind.

[iemanja]

19. There were 8 women who came forward

Some of whom were his constituents. https://time.com/5042931/al-franken-accusers/
Pretending it was all about Tweeden ignores the facts. And the reason for blaming Gillibrand and not the male Senators who likewise called on Franken to resign is to ensure patriarchy is reinforced. Then there is the fact that blaming it all on Gillibrand speaking out infantilizes Franken by imagining him to be so weak one woman's suggestion toppled him. The argument doesn't even make sense.

[Trueblue1968]

27. Some WERE NOT NAMED!!! !!!! ANON PEOPLE don't count in my book.

[iemanja]

31. Not all of them were anonymous

Three (besides Tweeden who is dubious because of the political nature of her accusation) were named. Do they count? I suspect not. Some others were Democratic staffers too. Let's be honest here. None of them counted precisely because they accused Franken, who is seen more valuable than the lives of eight women. The same for the soccer player who just got off on six counts of rape. Men always matter more, regardless of how many accusers come forward. And you wonder why they don't disclose their names. Their lives would be destroyed if they have. And let's not pretend if would have made one bit of difference to the Franken apologists if all eight had given their names.

And why are you all casting Franken as so powerless he couldn't withstand the call of one woman, who as Celerity pointed out was not the first to speak out---Kamala Harris was. https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=17556111

[Trueblue1968]

44. i didn't say ALL of them did I ?? I. SAID. SOME. OF. THEM. Read my note again please.

[Owl]

17. Yes

[Bettie]

2. Was this ever in doubt?

She's not really old enough to retire and she'll be reelected unless something stupid happens.

Of course, they are probably developing an entirely fictional character to run against her right now!

[brooklynite]

7. No...nor is the outcome of the election.

FWIW, the Democratic voters in NYS aren't fixated on Al Franken and won't be "punishing" her.

[iemanja]

13. When is Bernie going to be punished for calling for Franken to step down?

https://www.timesofisrael.com/bernie-sanders-tells-al-franken-to-do-the-right-thing-and-resign/

Why is it that it's women who are always held responsible for the actions of men? That people 1) blame her for Franken's behavior and 2) ignore the male senators that similarly called for his resignation is all about propping up patriarchy.

[maxsolomon]

16. Every Senator who threw Franken overboard should be held accountable.

They won't be, because unseating a Democratic incumbent is nearly impossible & fraught with peril.

Gillebrand hitched her wagon to that effort, but they all were too hasty. Just like they were with ACORN.

[iemanja]

18. They aren't though, are they?

https://www.timesofisrael.com/bernie-sanders-tells-al-franken-to-do-the-right-thing-and-resign/

Always Gillibrand, precisely because she is a woman.

Not to mention the fact this whole attitude infantilizes Al Franken by imagining that he was so weak all it took was one woman calling for his resignation for him to succumb.

[maxsolomon]

21. Murray and Harris are women.

So, the "it's misogyny" argument gets a bit debatable. I don't know why everyone's focused on Gillebrand, except that she was out in front of everyone else.

It was clear (at least to me) at the time that it wasn't JUST Gillebrand; it was the majority of Dem Senators that chose expediency over process. They were trying to defeat Roy Moore.

It was a RW takedown, masterfully conceived and executed. Just like when Dems threw ACORN under the bus.

[iemanja]

22. 8 women came forward

including some constituents. I understand the convenient narrative depends on ignoring facts, but they do exist.
https://time.com/5042931/al-franken-accusers/

[Sympthsical]

29. There's another dimension about Gillibrand that goes unspoken

Last edited Fri Jan 13, 2023, 02:04 PM - Edit history (1)

Shortly before the Franken situation, she criticized another figure for their sexual behavior. An unmentionable that is verboten to examine how problematic it really all was.

That's when the little intraparty knives came out for her.

Franken was just a pretext for getting at her for that initial unforgivable. That's why she got singled out. The rest is just revisionist narrative.

The thing is, it worked on some people. And the false narrative has gotten repeated so much over the years, people just think it's true now. As you keep pushing back against, she was far from the only person to say something about Franken. I guess people wanted to primary 38 other senators? Because I never saw that.

She stuck out for one reason. And the fact I'm talking around who she criticized and how the campaign against her got going on account should say something about how it all went down. It's not an honest discussion people will ever want to have. At least, not people who lived through that person's heyday. People my age DGAF.

[iemanja]

32. Gillibrand has what people despise most

integrity over tribal loyalty.

[SunImp]

43. +1

[suegeo]

20. I don't think Franken did anything wrong.

I don't believe the accusations against Franken. So I myself, am not blaming Gillibrand for Al's innocent actions (or non-actions, because I don't believe he groped anybody at the state fair as one anon woman claimed.)

We'll never know, because Gillibrand blew her chance to investigate.

I believe the entire affair was RNC dirty tricks. Roger Stone is scum. Nobody did a background check on accusers, Tweeden was a right-wing operative.

Also, this OP is about Gillibrand...so that's the senator I, myself, am commenting about. I cannot speak for anybody else in this thread.

The "what abouts" only seem to dilute what Gillibrand's actions were. Diluted here, in this post, about her re-election bid.

I would not bring up Bernie Sanders, or others, in an OP about Gillibrand.

[iemanja]

23. Why don't you believe any of the eight women?

https://time.com/5042931/al-franken-accusers/

Because you like Franken? Because they are women? Because only women victimized by Republicans deserve to be listened to because they serve a convenient political purpose?

[Polybius]

37. He admitted to this:

[Celerity]

25. Every single Dem Senator except for the 3 on the Ethics Committee, then Menendez (who was in a

federal corruption trial then and chose not to speak), and finally Manchin (the only one who told him to NOT step down, the other 4 would have for sure told him to resign if they could have) either publicly or privately told Franken he had to go.

Many of the rest of the Dem female Senators all met for weeks (it was NOT just Gillibrand) before they decided (when new women, including a Dem staffer, came forward) to go public. Schumer signed off on it. Gillibrand was the first by a few minutes to call for him to resign (she did it on Facebook), but she was followed (it was coordinated by them all) by many others.

The first Dem to go on TV and call for Franken to resign was................ Kamala Harris, less than an hour after Gillibrand did her FB.

Women senators coordinated calls for Al Franken to resign

https://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/senators-al-franken-resignation/index.html

Nearly three weeks after sexual harassment allegations first emerged against Sen. Al Franken, a wave of Democratic senators — in coordination and following a flurry of text messages and phone calls — called for his resignation in rapid succession Wednesday morning.

Starting around 11:30 a.m. ET, the senators posted statements in a coordinated effort, one after the other, on social media, saying the Minnesota Democrat should step down.

Some comments were elaborate, lengthy and loaded with a moral message. Others, like that of Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, were straight to the point. “Al Franken should resign,” she simply tweeted.

Link to tweet

Within the next 90 minutes, 16 Democrats – 10 of them women – and one Republican senator – Susan Collins of Maine – had publicly urged their colleague to vacate his seat.

Yet the myth of the all-powerful, evil, Machiavellian junior Senator from New York, who single-handedly used her Svengali-esque power to enthrall almost all the rest of the Dem Senate (including all of the leadership) to do her nefarious bidding has been etched in stone here for even longer than I have been a member.

What is almost always left out are the other women who came forward. Instead it is 99% focused on Tweeden. If it was just Tweeden, Franken would still be a Senator, and also, going the other way, if Gillibrand was not that involved, he would still have resigned. She was not a make-or-break cog.

[iemanja]

30. Very good information

Bookmarking. Thank you!

[Sympthsical]

35. This should be pinned to the top of every thread about Gillibrand

Thank you for putting it together.

[BlueCheeseAgain]

39. Thank you for this.

[BlueCheeseAgain]

38. I never understand why folks ...

(1) blame Gillibrand solely, or mostly, for calling on Franken to resign, and
(2) minimize what Franken was accused of. By the time he resigned, he had a lot of accusers, including Democratic ones.

Even if one only cares about the end result, we ended up keeping the MN Senate seat.

[11 Bravo]

42. While almost certainly preferable to any Republican, she's not my cup of tea.

Al Franken, on the other hand, was one of the smartest, hardest-working, and most eloquent members of the US Senate.
I (and the country) miss him every day.