Kirsten Gillibrand Drops Out of Democratic Presidential Race

[Zorro]

Source: New York Times

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who presented herself in the presidential race as a champion of women and families, said Wednesday that she was withdrawing from the Democratic primary after failing to qualify for a third debate next month — a development she described as fatal to her candidacy.

Ms. Gillibrand said in an interview that she would endorse another candidate in the primary but had not yet picked a favorite. Though she stopped short of saying she would endorse a woman, Ms. Gillibrand, who has made electing women to Congress a personal cause, said the next president had to be capable of uniting the country and suggested that a woman might be best suited for the job.

“I think that women have a unique ability to bring people together and heal this country,” Ms. Gillibrand said, adding, “I think a woman nominee would be inspiring and exciting.”

But she added: “I will support whoever the nominee is, and I will do whatever it takes to beat Trump.”

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/us/politics/kirsten-gillibrand-2020-drop-out.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Good.

[TeamPooka]

32. Agreed. Subthread: does anyone around here think she's a serious VP candidate? I don't.

I don't see what she adds to a ticket better than anyone else.

[pangaia]

40. Hell no...

[zentrum]

45. No. Not. Never.

[eppur_se_muova]

69. No way. Just compare her to Klobuchar ...

If you want a woman on the ticket, AK brings a lot more centrist, Midwestern voters than most other candidates. KG would drive them away.

[amywalk]

76. NO, nope, nada, nyet

[DIVINEprividence]

34. Agreed

What she pulled on Al Franken was outrageous. If we are getting all "me too" why the silence on Bernie Sander's creepy stag magazine rape fantasies that he wrote. Seriously.

[JonLP24]

44. People did bring that up last primary

Plenty of Bernie haters bring it up.

There is a difference between writing something and unwanted touching.

[regnaD kciN]

2. Somewhere, Al Franken is smiling...

[Thekaspervote]

3. Indeed... pay back is a bitch!!

[onetexan]

10. Yup karma's a b!itch

Sad that we have to say that about one of our own.

[Little Star]

6. Rightfully so!!!!!

[mgardener]

41. She is my senator

But I would not support her after what she did to Al.

[Perseus]

9. I don't think Al Franken would be rejoicing about this, he has a big heart, but I am rejoicing

I have no idea why she thought she had any chance, maybe before the Franken fiasco she could have had a small chance, but not after that.

[brooklynite]

37. No indication that her polling was affected by Franken...

Sanders, Harris and Warren are at the top. Bennet, Booker and Klobuchar are at the bottom. They all took the same position on Franken.

[question everything]

63. Klobuchar certainly did not!

[brooklynite]

68. Yes she did; she just didn't say it publicly.

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who serves in the Senate representing Minnesota with Al Franken, explained Friday that she didn't publicly ask Franken to resign this week because of their relationship.

"I had condemned his conduct early on when the first allegation was made," she told CNN's Dana Bash on "Inside Politics." "I felt I was in a different role as his colleague, that I'm someone that has worked with him for a long time, there's a lot of trust there, and I felt it was best to handle it in that way."

In a coordinated effort, female Democratic senators called for Franken's resignation in rapid fire Wednesday. Klobuchar did not join in that effort and said in a statement at the time that she spoke with him privately. By Wednesday evening, more than two dozen senators -- including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer -- had called for Franken's resignation.

"I talked to him about the fact that you had reached the situation with the mounting allegations and the fact that there was an ethics investigation going on," Klobuchar told CNN Friday.

https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/08/politics/amy-klobuchar-senate-al-franken-minnesota/index.html

[question everything]

72. As she should

Even before everyone jumped on Franken I knew that it was over. That he was losing his effectiveness constantly fighting new allegations. They (Roger Stone?) knew what they were doing. Which means that if Franken is in office again, these "allegations" will resume.

But Klouchar, as a friend, as a decent person, talked to him privately. She did not use this as a jumping board for the next race. As opposed to the rest of them.

[amywalk]

77. Well, if Amy Kloubuchar had worked so closely with him over such a long time,

why didn’t she see it and warn him that if he didn’t stop it, she would have to ask him to resign? And as far as Roger Stone is concerned, I wouldn’t believe anything that clown has to say ever again.

[JI7]

22. i don't think so. Franken will smile when trump is gone

[Jane Austin]

23. And so am I.

Glad she's gone.

[CentralMass]

24. Nah. I don't think that is Al's style.

[DFW]

66. Quite right. It's not.

It's her style, not his.

It's not like anyone thought she had a serious chance at this point. Al probably just smiled a small smile, commented quietly, "well, whaddya know," and read on to the next headline. He knows enough about politics to have seen this coming months ago. It was just a matter of when, not "if."

[customerserviceguy]

4. About time. n/t

[sprinkleeninow]

5. Oopsie. Oh, well... no text

[left-of-center2012]

7. Karma, baby

Throughout the race, Ms. Gillibrand averaged less than 1 percent support in national surveys and struggled to raise money.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

8. Hallelujah !

[Mrs. Overall]

11. Good.

[underthematrix]

12. God's bestie Karma took care of it.

We need her in the Senate

[hlthe2b]

13. Buh Bye... (as predicted the day you announced)

Temper your opportunism, go back to the Senate, and actually help us counter the RW extremism. I still won't forget about Al Franken, but you can help us all move past it.

[rpannier]

18. Curious who you are leaning toward in race for the nomination given 4 Dem Senators

and 1 that caucuses called for him to step down (Bennet, Booker, Harris, Sanders and Warren)
The majority of the caucus called for him to step down
Your senator Michael Bennet (running for Pres) sent out
Sexual harassment and misconduct are never acceptable. I understand Senator Franken will make an announcement tomorrow morning, and I'm confident he'll do the right thing and step aside.

Are not forgetting hat about all of them, or just one Senator?

[hlthe2b]

21. Not going to play this game. She led the charge. She's admitted so and tried to benefit from it.

She essentially staked her whole campaign on having done so and expressed no regret whatsoever. All of which makes her stand out from the others, their culpability notwithstanding.

[murielm99]

47. You are brave to say this.

I agree. When an elected person loses the support of his or her coalition, they should step down. It was unfair, but he knew he had to do this.

I hope to see him vindicated. I hope to see him back in the public eye, or in some type of leadership position again.

[DinahMoeHum]

14. Thank you, Senator.

[SansACause]

15. Bye, Felicia

She never had a chance after the hit job on Al Franken.

[wildflower]

16. I'm sorry to hear that

She has consistently stood up for women, particularly with regard to sexual harassment and assault, and I was glad she was there to keep that issue in the primary.

[LiberalFighter]

17. Rachel will be poofing her tonite.

[yaesu]

20. I'm thinking Rachel will be too busy with the Lawrence O'Donnell thing, keeping her job

to do any poofing, she & Lawrence are feeling the wrath of the orange Con.

[LiberalFighter]

25. What wrath?

[Boomer]

55. Why Rachel?

O'Donnell was the one who jumped the gun on validation, not Rachel.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

19. Well, bye

[keithbvadu2]

59. Yep

[LisaL]

26. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[MurrayDelph]

70. Actually,

I have no problem if it does.

[TNNurse]

27. So now I can say that she was at the very bottom of my list.

She has some good ideas but her attack on Al Franken made me despise her.

[amuse bouche]

28. Could never forgive her over Al. Still bitter about it

[BigmanPigman]

31. So am I.

I don't forgive and forget easily, especially over something so obviously screwed up.

[usaf-vet]

29. :( :(

[TeamPooka]

30. now if the next bottom 6 could do the same we'll be getting somewhere

hopefully there's some serious soul searching over the holiday weekend for the bottom 6-7 out of 20 left, whoever they are.

[Lotusflower70]

33. Good

Time to thin the herd.

[jaysunb]

35. Bye n/t

[BlueTsunami2018]

36. She kneecapped Franken for THIS?

I sure hope all four of her supporters stay on board and don’t attempt a “Bernie Bro” style sabotage campaign. 🙄

[dchill]

39. The ambition, it burns.

[dchill]

38. Her best move yet.

[Polly Hennessey]

42. Good.

She did this to herself. Also, after watching and listening to her I have doubts she would have made the grade with or without Franken.

[Bengus81]

43. Aw shucks......no mileage from throwing Franken under the bus

Hope that's a lesson learned................

[NonPC]

46. Yeah, But Would She Support Franken?

I want Al to run as the Democratic nominee. I think he could break this whole thing open. Wonder if she would live up to her promise to support the nominee? Wouldn't that be sweet?

[StevieM]

61. I would love for Franken to be the Democratic nominee.

My first choice ticket would probably be Al Franken for president and Sally Yates for vice-president.

I also like Tom Vilsack as a possible running-mate. I think Hillary should have picked him in 2016.

I am not sure if Franken would enter the race while Amy Klobuchar is still in it.

If Franken entered he would immediately start taking a whole lot of voters from Biden, Warren, Harris and Buttigieg. I could actually see him winning the nomination and winning the presidency.

[RANDYWILDMAN]

48. Oh so sorry for her...

Not,
Bye Bye!!!!!!

[calimary]

49. Good.

Two words: Al Franken

[SergeStorms]

50. I've never been so proud...

to recommend a post in all my time at DU. She's my Senator and I'll vote for her (unless another democrat runs against her in a primary) but I can honestly say she's not on my christmas card list.

[The Wizard]

52. Maybe Franken will

run against her in the primary.

[RhodeIslandOne]

51. I hope it was worth it, Gill.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

53. And so the winnowing begins.

As well it should.

[Kurt V.]

54. Meanwhile a bunch of mediocre dudes stay in.

she has my utmost respect.

[ancianita]

56. I appreciate her voice for women, and hope she becomes a force in the Senate.

[suegeo]

57. K.G. Flubbed the Franken matter.

K.G. Did not speak to any Franken accuser. How can she say the accusations were credible when she didn't speak with or listen to any accuser? Not one.

She could've used her cred to expose Roger Stone for the 🐀effer he is. She could've ordered basic background checks, extensive checks, that could of turned up Putin knows what.

Any $ she has left should go to support Tina Smith of Minnesota. Or the DFL.

I really dislike the Jr. Senator from New York. Schumer doesn't rate well either.

Gillibrand blew it.

[bucolic_frolic]

58. We don't need the trite "bring people together" and "inspire"

We need brass knuckles and policies to reverse what we can, the wisdom to know what to do, and the determination to see it through

[hay rick]

60. I think I found the Al Franken appreciation thread! nt

[DFW]

67. Be patient

We have about three posters on DU that only show up to bash Al Franken the second his name appears.

The thread was about Gillibrand pulling out of the presidential race, anyway. She was doing neither herself nor the race any good in the first place, so she made the right decision in any case.

[amywalk]

62. I think she will have a very long time to reflect on what she did to

ruin a good man’s reputation and career. She didn’t feel it was necessary to take any time to investigate the charges, go over the so-called “evidence” and make a decision after the trial instead of before it. She wanted to be president and thought she could ride the wave of #MeToo’s right up to the front door of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. She made a blatantly political move to rid herself of a future opponent and elevate her #MeToo cred, but it turned out to not only be a colossally bad move, it was staggeringly stupid. Without all of this mess, she would have been a top 3 contender and perhaps, the first woman president. I wonder if she thinks it was worth it?

[brooklynite]

74. I suppose so...she'll be re-elected to the Senate as long as she wants to

[BootinUp]

64. May offend a few but... Happy Dance!

Don’t trust her frankly.

[Brainfodder]

75. I like your levels, FRANKLY nice touch!

I am not explaining, nope.

[Upthevibe]

65. Her calculated and (IMHO) manupulative, and

egregious actions (that at the time I think she viewed as a perfect opportunity) regarding Al Franken really backfired. I'm glad she's out...

[brooklynite]

73. Good thing the other Senate candidates got a pass, right?

[Demonaut]

71. who?