I was very happy that Gov. Paterson chose to give Gillibrand a chance, and separately, that he did not choose Caroline Kennedy, although I do feel bad for the leaks at the end. I think Caroline will be fine. She is liked, and her reputation will recover.
I have been sobered up on the Gillibrand pick though. She is an outsider to about 50% or more of the Democratic party in New York, and regardless of how much she reaches out, it will in the end be up to the City to decide whether or not they can trust her. She needs to spend a big majority of her time from now on winning the trust of her constituents in the City and its surrounding suburbs, and convincing them that a huge part of her voting record and positions were as her responsibility to represent the views of her more conservative district, and that she will not be the same as Senator. If she cannot win the trust of the City, she will lose. Whether she can do that is not only up to her but up to them. I am wishing her the best, really.
No! NYC always decides these things. I'm so sick of upstate being ignored, which is why I actually support upstate making our own state. I'm happy we finally have an upstater elected to state-wide office.
if upstate became its own state they would be in dire economic straits. Keep in mind upstate NY gets far more tax dollars than it actually pays in on the state level.
Fact of the matter is Gillibrand is going to have to change her image a bit and fit it better with the rest of the state if she is going to have any chance at a prolonged future in the state. Keep in mind almost 65% of the state's population is within NYC, Long Island, Westchester & Rockland counties. She is going to have to reach out to this part of the state. She has started to take some steps in the right direction, but if she winds up keeping her more conservative record she had in the House, she will have some problems.
