Whoa!
I have stayed pretty damn quiet about my choice for Presidentup until now. The truth of the matter is that I currently know of at least five, and maybe six, candidates I could get behind in a big way.
Kirsten Gillibrand isn’t one of them.
In a desperation, she is now offering t-shirts in exchange for a $1.00 donation. It’s a frantic effort to meet the donor threshold for the next Democratic debate.
If you ask me, they are way overpriced.
And she’d have to pay me a whole lot more than a dollar to wear one.
WOW! Talk about blowing though campaign funds you don’t have!
1I get the feeling from her that she is stunned about how poorly she has been received. On paper she looks good. In person not so much.
Did she really think we’d all forget about Al Franken?
2Ms. Gillibrand did underscore the need for Democrats to stop immediately throwing folks under the bus as soon as a bad story emerged. Her political downfall can’t happen soon enough.
3She lost my respect when she knee-capped Al Franken. Nothing she’s done since has changed my opinion!
4Before anyone formally announced, and one did not run, there were two candidates who I thought were disqualified by the lack of strength in their physical voice. Kirsten Gillibrand was one of the two. Her voice is too thin to distinguish whether she is an alto or a soprano. But it will be her finances that end her campaign before her vocal cords collapse.
Thanks for playing, Senator Gillibrand. Now please roll up your sleeves and help prepare for a Democratic Senate. There are many ways to serve your country. Be proud serving in the Senate, your country needs you and about 60 more Democratic Senators.
5Just yesterday, I heard some talking heads discussing the fact that a bunch of people were spending more money to get up to the donation threshold than they were taking in. At the time, I thought, “Well, when that happens, it’s time to shuck
6the whole thing.”
I guess I now know who they were talking about.
I’m a big Gillibrand fan and was very hopeful that she’d get traction (but the whole Franken thing unfairly maligned her amongst the boys that create opinion on the internet…wonder why).
Anyway…can you provide a link where Gillibrand supporters can go to donate and get a shirt? I’ve got two young daughters and I reckon feminist history will shine well on Gillibrand when all is said and done.
7She is my Senator.
8I will not support her for POTUS and if somebody, runs against her, that is who I will vote for.
Grandma Ada, Ditto.
Getting rid of him was a huge lose for the judicial committee.
If she were by some miracle the nominee, I couldn’t vote for her
9Took a bit of searching, but the link is here for any other Gillibrand fans: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/kgtshirt
I know she’s not well liked, but I desperately hope she’s our next majority leader because she’s tough as hell and a great politician (being marginally meaner than the rest of the dem caucus to a serial sexual harasser aside). I went and ordered 4 for the whole family (assuming I did it right)
10I don’t support Gillibrand for a variety of reasons including Al Franken. What I don’t understand is why Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker are getting a pass on Al Franken. They and Chuck Schumer were right there helping push him out. Along with others. But I will vote for her if she is the nominee. I won’t like it but she’s certainly better than letting 45 have a 2nd term. (I say this thinking she is not going to be the nominee.)
11Many of us said at the time that she was throwing Al Franken under the bus because she saw him as her chief rival for a White House run. And while I would vote for ANY Democrat over the Orange Fungoid currently acting as Tweeter-in-Chief, there are certainly much better choices out there.
12Attezz, as Jane is oft telling me, in my neutrality I have the ability to offend all sides. Only one person is responsible for Al Franken’s resignation. That would be Al. Best scenario is he did so to avoid embarrassment to his family, but in doing so he took away a powerful voice in the Senate. His choice, family over country, a difficult choice for many.
Whereas Senator Gillibrand took a stand. Maybe not a popular stand, but it’s something that her critics would love to see in other Democrats. One of the often heard critiques whether deserved or not about Democrats is that they lack “spine.” She demonstrated otherwise. May history serve our children well.
Here’s a link to her website with the store. https://kirstengillibrand.com/
13thank you all who remember Al Franken and stay adamant against her. Too many people either don’t remember or don’t care. Klobachar also piled on but then apologized.
14With her exploitive attack on Al Franken, Gillibrand installed her own ceiling. She still can’t see there’s nothing for her on the other side, because it isn’t glass. More like cast in iron.
15I read the Jane Mayer article on Franken and though it was very sympathetic towards him, I came away thinking he’s kind of creepy in a too close, too touchy, too kissy, presumptuous way. I don’t think he’s a sexual predator though. He probably would still be a senator if the revelations hadn’t come at such an unfortunate time for him.
Gillibrand’s behavior at the time seems a bit of a self serving gamble. Rather than working to see that Franken’s accusers received a fair hearing and that Franken himself received a fair hearing she chose to jump out ahead of the process in order to make headlines and gain political support. It backfired.
Her political positions have seemed rather opportunistic in the past and I think her actions in the Franken case are consistent with that characteristic.
16Selling the t-shirts at a loss is another example Gillibrand’s opportunism – taking advantage of a loophole to game the system. I think people are right in their skepticism, as her commitment to principle seems a little fluid.
17Franken and Uncle Joe belong to the ‘no sense of personal space’ club. mostly boys club but some women do it too. might be harmless (harmless-adjacent?) but can also make some recipients extremely uncomfortable. as far as some of the prez candidates staying in the Senate or switching to run for the Senate, yes please. i read an article that referred to a switch to a senate race as a ‘fall back’ for low polling Dems in the prez race. NONONO. getting a blue majority and representing your state and the country well is NOT a fall back decision. let’s call it political practicality instead.
18Some of the commenters here seem to be ‘Democratic’ classical examples of the old trope of the ‘crabs in the bucket*’ [Rethugs almost never destroy their own, no matter how bad].
If what “Diane says: She is my Senator.
I will not support her for POTUS and if somebody, runs against her, that is who I will vote for.”,
and a few others hint at,
means that Ms. Diane et al WOULD VOTE for Comrade Donnei if Gilliabrand were our nominee, my expressed thoughts about her/them would get me banned here, so I’ll just shut TF up… very obscene etc thoughts indeed, I’ve had it with ‘that type’ of “purity Democrats”.
Damned psuedo-Dem fockers had better learn to STFU and vote for -anything- with a “D”, or we ARE doomed to a fascist Trumpian czarship dystopia forever.
JFC, how stupid can some get?
.
* The crabs that will pull back down into the bucket any crab that gets up near the top and is about to get out. As I used to catch tasty blue crabs at Boca Chica and SPI beaches, it’s mostly a true thing.
19One dollar for what’s bound to become a collector’s item? I’ll put it away next to my Willkie button and my Harold Stassen bumper sticker.
I feel like Al Franken was penalized for being a comedian in a previous life (the damning photo of him fake-groping a sleeping woman who became a right-wing media star was taken on the way back from a USO tour). And it ran straight into the buzzsaw of #MeToo. No Republican would have had to resign over something so trivial. Gillibrand led the charge against him but that’s not why she’s failing to gain support now — she just hasn’t stood out from the crowd.
20I agree with Sandridge. Though I’ve been critical of Gillibrand in two previous comments, I would absolutely support and vote for her in any contest against any republican. Purists who would rather lose to the gop than vote for anyone they don’t 100% support are the bane of the Democratic party.
21People. People. People.
22Any mature adult is a better choice than tDump. Come on!
I’d get behind anyone, even Tom Steyer, if they were nominated by the Democrats. Sandrige and lumkin are right. The Purists in the party are the death of the party and the re-election of a pure a**hole.
I like,even admire, the work that Gillibrand has done on sexual abuse in the armed forces. And I generally agree on her policy positions, as far as she’s expressed them.
But dammit, I just don’t like her much. Franken aside, there’s something about her I don’t trust. She comes across to me as grasping and opportunistic. So I’m fine with her continuing in the Senate. She works hard, and seems to be on the right side of most issues. But we can do better for president.
Ignoring policy considerations, which candidate do I like best as a person? Warren. Hands down.
23lumpkin and Richard J. Bennink, thanks, y’all get it. That purity crap helped take down HRC, look what happened…
.
Meanwhile, over on Wall Street, a meltdown seems to be in progress, again. Lots of ‘recession’ chatter, hang on.
DJIA down almost 800pts/3%, crude back down, gold up.
China markets up. But Prez Tariffman knows how to win a tariff war, yes he does [aannd negotiate with Kimmy & the DPRK]…
China is totally stiffing ‘Murikan farm products too, hope the R-voting aggers choke on it.
https://www.morningstar.com/markets
https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/201908148477/stocks-fall-as-bond-yields-flash-a-recession-warning
24Maybe because I came of age and a Democrat under Senator Harry Reid, any candidate with whom 100% agreement on everything was in the offing would scare the pants off me. That said, the 2020 election is as Sandridge and others have stated, not the time to worry about purity tests. Lazy SOB that I am, will rely of Ms. JuanitaJean Herownself to warn me off former Republicons who are ‘switching’ party to avoid the stench emanating off IQ4.5, but are otherwise Republicon to the core of their evil insides. So yeah, I’d vote for Senator Gillibrand, a lietime Dem. Should Ben Sasse switch party, dog and Ms. JuanitaJean Herownself please help me. IQ4.5 and Mikey Dense are that dangerous, but so are ‘normal’ Republicons. Beware the concern trolling of Pear Conway; he and the Mare are up to something.
I could be very happy with either Senator Harris or Warren, but any sworn/proven Democrat is good by me over any Republicon, even one trying out a “D” jacket for the first time, ergo suspect.
25Jane & PKM, I’m not even mildly ‘picky’ [not sure if ever was, can only think of one [nominal] R I ever voted for, a JP, because I knew him]. There were some Ds I just left blank I guess [known crooks].
Today, if it walks, flies, swims, crawls, slithers, oozes, or just lays there, if it’s a “D”, it’s F’in A OK with me…
26Even Rep Henry Cuellar, who sort of slithers, but only in the general E. Be voting for the progressive Cisneros in the primary; she doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in our S TX hell [100+ degF everydamnday] of beating him, but WTH.
I cannot forgive Gillibrand for leading the charge against Franken. However, if it were a choice between Gillibrand and Trump, she would get my vote. I would hold my nose and vote for any Democrat to defeat him.
27In the picture of Franken and the Republican, there is hand in the picture. And his brother took the photo. So there were two witnesses to his molestation. The other complaints were from women who said he put his hand on their bottoms while taking a picture. I can see any politician getting careless about their arms and hands after standing for smiling photos with strangers. I’m not about to say he did or didn’t grope them. The others, IIRC, said he tried to kiss them. Maybe he did, who knows? But we know that whole mess was started by Republicans. I have no idea who the others were. But I live in a state where the Democrats permitted the Republican best friend of Dan Patrick to file to run against him as a Democrat. If Gillibrand is the nominee, party purity or not, I won’t be voting for her. It’s not like they had proof that he was a Cosby or Weinstein. She used the Me, Too. movement to rid herself of competition. IMO, she was not thinking of all of us as much as she was thinking about herself.
28But then, with the talk of student loan forgiveness and free medical care for undocumented, the only way Trump will be defeated is if they haul him off to the looney bin.
I am voting for the Democratic nominee in the general. Period . I hope it’s not Gillibrand. She may not be the only one who kneecapped Al, but she led charge, to my recollection. I know it was his choice to resign, and I’ve heard of explanations as to why, but if he had gotten the immediate investigation he requested, my guess is he would not have resigned, nor had to. More than that, I question her judgment, considering that she keeps buying ads in spite of all the negative comments she gets in response to them . And this dollar free T-shirt thing reeks of desperation.
29IMHO, the next presidential election is a foregone conclusion. Given the Russian hackers tRump will win again. Thanks to Moscow Mitch we will not have an honest election. The Dems in the House have tried but he is a committed Russian troll.
30Given the electronic/computerized system it will be hacked again. No doubt about it. The only alternative is a return to the paper ballots.
Before Franken gillibrand ran as the nra’s girl for the house and was a good little nra soldier until she realized that in NY state senate race that he slavish loyalty to ammosexuals wouldn’t work so she flipped for political expediency.
31She has done this on a number of issues.
To me she has exposed herself as a craven self promoter who will flip on a moments notice for what ever position she feels would benefit her.
Right or wrong her actions during the franken imbroglio fit right into that pattern.
“Concern” is always secondary to personal advancement.
My impression of Ms. Gillibrand: “Butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.” On the other hand, she smirks!
32K is correct. Gillibrand was an NRA gal as a congresswoman from a very red district in NY when she was appointed to Hillary’s seat in the senate and I wasn’t terribly happy with that choice. But other than the Franken debacle, she has been a very good voice for New Yorkers and sexual assault victims in the military. Run for President? Not sure why she’s doing that and hope she and a lot of the others in the field start concentrating on turning the Senate blue.
33@Grandma Ada
34+1