The Curse of Caroline 2: Gillibrand trails primary opponent by 10 POINTS (with many undecideds)!

[camera obscura]

The statistics about Paterson losing heavily to Andrew Cuomo have been posted, but this was buried toward the end of Quinnipiac's findings:

"Rep. McCarthy tops Sen. Gillibrand in a Democratic primary 34 - 24 percent, with 39 percent undecided."

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1284.xml?ReleaseID=1263&What=&strArea=;&strTime=0

That seems crazy to me! Outlier or some really pissed-off New Yorkers?

[xchrom]

1. recommend

[TheWraith]

7. You do know Gillibrand's for gay marriage and McCarthy is against it, right?

Also, McCarthy was in favor of continuing the Iraq War in 2006, when Gillibrand was running against it.

[AtomicKitten]

14. She has a weak LGBT record, in fact, was anti-gay rights until about 5 minutes ago.

Yet the white-wash of her record continues. :eyes:

http://www.queerty.com/gay-orgs-roll-over-on-gillibrands-lackluster-gay-record-20090123/

Gay Orgs Roll Over On Gillibrand's Lackluster Gay Record

Here's why we're frustrated with a lot of mainstream gay organizations. All it took was a hurried late-night phone call between Senator-Elect Kirsten Gillibrand and the Empire State Pride Agenda for that group to get on board with her appointment. And the Human Rights Campaign called her up too and she said to them, ("Oh, yeah, I totally support repealing Don't Ask-Don't Tell" (paraphrasing here), which was all it took for that group to get on board, despite their own study of her voting record indicating that when asked to co-sponsor legislation that would repeal Don't Ask-Don't Tell, she refused.

Gillibrand's positions may have evolved. She may yet be a defender of LGBT rights, but what's she's saying today doesn't square with her voting record. Why are these groups coming to her defense instead of asking the Senator-Elect why she didn't support legislation that would help the gay community previously? HRC says that Gillibrand "supports repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell", but by their own accounting, she doesn't. She also claims to be in support of full marriage equality, a position she seems to have developed, literally, overnight. Can we get some skepticism instead of capitulation? If we don't hold politicians responsible for their LGBT-rights votes (or lack thereof), who will?

[TheWraith]

21. The "flip-flopper" meme aside, there's plenty of record there.

She's on the record in an interview conducted back in November or early December, months before it was thought that she'd be the next senator, talking about her strategy on gay rights:

http://www.insideouthv.com/Features/gillibrand.html

To wit, pass a strong federal civil unions law, then go state-by-state to get the word "marriage" applied, as a way of letting people who might be uncomfortable with it--she specifically cites her mother's generation--to give them time to adjust. She also voted for ENDA.

The fact of the matter is that she does support repealing DADT and DOMA. The idea that if you don't co-sponsor legislation, you're against it, is a completely bogus and made-up test. For that matter, their claim that she "refused" to co-sponsor it is unsourced, and as far as I can tell unsupported by the facts.

Aside from a handful of liberaler-than-thou online pundits, the actual gay rights organizations are happy as hell to have a NY Senator who supports gay marriage and their work. Alleging that Human Rights Campaigign "rolled over" is a farce, since anyone who's watched them knows that they're never silent if they have a complaint.

[AtomicKitten]

23. The LGBT community has plenty of evidence (her record!) to be wary of her recent political makeover.

[ClarkUSA]

2. Good. She's a weak Mitt Romney-like political opportunist handpicked by Chucky Schumer.

[AtomicKitten]

3. Well ain't that a pip?

[SuperTrouper]

4. Holy cow! And McCarthy is already raising money...only time before Maloney jumps in the fray too

:wow:


Paterson and Gillibrand falling under the Caroline Curse...

[vaberella]

13. Who's Maloney?

[Captain Hilts]

5. I like McCarthy, but isn't she a bit old to start in the senate? nt

[SuperTrouper]

8. Tell that to Burris who is older than McCarthy

[Captain Hilts]

15. Yeah, I'd say the same thing.

'Trouper' in what sense?

[SuperTrouper]

19. Burris is over 70 and still has the strength to push and shove in the Senate

[Captain Hilts]

20. But if you want someone with a good chance of getting a leadership position...

you want someone younger. It's not about ability.

[4lbs]

6. We'll see how things look in 18 months or even a year from now.

A lot can change in that time frame. We know that already.

[TheWraith]

9. I would say outliers, plus the fact that she's been in office for about two and a half weeks.

Once people start to know more about her her numbers will go up.

[SuperTrouper]

10. or down. Gilli is no Hillary

[TheWraith]

11. No, she's better than Hillary.

She's against the war, and for gay marriage.

I don't know why some people think Hillary was such a great senator. She voted the wrong way a lot of times to look "tough" in order to bolster her presidential plans.

[vaberella]

16. I thought she was one of the no-good Senators.

But I do know she has a lot of love. I was more a Schumer supporter because of his stance on immigration which is great.

[Captain Hilts]

18. I supported his stance on breakfast cereal prices. nt

[Captain Hilts]

17. Look, if you can't read - reading is comprehending - then I won't waste time trying...

to tell you to read HRC's statement on making her IWR vote.

And, you probably don't know that in '06 Obama said he didn't know how he would have voted on the IWR.

[TheWraith]

22. I've read it, including the part where she says Saddam has WMDs.

And repeats all the talking points about how he's a threat to the world and is going to give terrorists nukes, then sticks on the fig leaf of saying "let's get a few more allies on board before we invade."

Second, that's not at all what Obama said. He said he didn't know what he would have done if he were in the position of those senators, but that in his view, the case for war had not been made. He also acknowledged later that he was dodging the question because he didn't want to outright say right in front of the 2006 election that the people who voted for the IWR were completely wrong.

[vaberella]

12. Is there anyone running besides those two? As a NYer I don't like either. n/t

[SoCalDem]

24. It's early.. there will be several.. count on it:)..

It's not often that a senate seat is "open" in NY.. Of course, some may sit out & wait until '12 when a full 6 yr term is available.. There are probably people who would like to run, but don;t want to run in '10, only to have to do it all over again in '12.

Appointments happen pretty seldom, and I think the 6 yr-clock should re-start when that "next election" comes around..

[liskddksil]

25. Maloney could get in as well

[SuperTrouper]

26. According to the NY Rag...Post, Maloney is raising money as well