Why has,t Kirsten Gillibrand gained traction

[Da2017]

She is polling worse than Klobuchar. She tied with Delaney. She has to be the biggest disappointment.

[AN63093]

We've had this thread somewhat recently (a month?), but my answer then, which I'm sticking to:

Gillibrand never caught on for two reasons:

1.  What Adam said- she subliminally reminds people of Hillary.  Now this may be unfair, but it's happening, even if perhaps it's mostly on a subconscious level.  She looks sorta like Hillary.  She's positioned herself as the "women's issues" candidate, which also reminds people of Hillary (again, fair or not).  Every other female candidate has something that makes people not think of Hillary.  For example, with Harris, she's black.  With Warren, she's focused on economics and you also have the whole Pocahontas thing (which again, fair or not, people think about when her name comes up and it makes people think about things other than Hillary).

2.  She doesn't have a base of support.  The "women's vote", to the extent that it exists, is not a tribal voting block that is singularly looking for a female candidate, and even if it was, there are better options out there that check more boxes (Harris, etc.). 

It's as simple as that.  I don't think the whole Franken thing really matters that much.  The timing was just never right for Gillibrand.  Let's say Clinton exited politics and never ran in '16 and instead Biden ran/lost to Trump, or maybe Clinton ran but lost to Biden.. something along those lines.  Gillibrand could very well be the frontrunner right now.

[Crumpets]

Give her time. I agree with AN63093's answers, but I think she will still at least have her time as the flavor of the month at some point.

[NyIndy]

Give her time. I agree with AN63093's answers, but I think she will still at least have her time as the flavor of the month at some point.

It might be in the Debates. She's a good orator. If she's able to qualify for the 3rd debate (Where I assume a lot of winnowing to take place) she could be in good shape

[NYSforKennedy2024]

1 - The Majority of Dems aren't forgiving her for what she did to Al Franken.

2 - As others say, she has a stark resemblance to Hillary and the Democratic establishment.

Coming from a Kirsten supporter, it has been a disappointment so far. Hopefully, the debates boost her.

[Inmate Trump]

For the same reason that 15 or so others aren't gaining.  There are too many candidates, and she doesn't stand out like she needs to in a crowd this large.  She's bland and not noteworthy.

[John Dule]

Because she's horrendous.

[Grassroots]

Because 4th wave feminists turn people off.

[Progressive Pessimist]

It probably is for reasons as superficial as her being "Hillary 2.0" and rightfully expressing disgust at Al Franken's conduct.

[Fuzzy Bear Loves Christian Missionaries]

I see Gillibrand as insincere.  Her "Woke" persona these days is pure opportunism and it shows.

[CMB222]

Because she's horrendous.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I see Gillibrand as insincere. 

Hilarious coming from a Trump fan.

[OSR stands with Israel]

1 - The Majority of Dems aren't forgiving her for what she did to Al Franken.

2 - As others say, she has a stark resemblance to Hillary and the Democratic establishment.

Would also add that she flipped flopped more than any candidate in the race over the past 10 years . 10 years ago she was a staunch Blue Dog Democrat and now she is a super liberal democrat so that type of change screams opportunism .


Joe Biden yes has moved to the left but he is still clearly running as the Moderate candidate in the race and he also wasn’t as conservative as Blue Dogs were anyway  .

[Horus]

Gillibrand is the only Dem who could make me possibly consider voting 3rd party even against Trump.

[Fuzzy Bear Loves Christian Missionaries]

Gillibrand is the only Dem who could make me possibly consider voting 3rd party even against Trump.

When all of this started, I thought Gillibrand might be one of the more reasonable Democrats that I could consider voting for.  Now that she's pretending to be "Woke!", she manages to look silly to all sides.

[Yank2133]

I see Gillibrand as insincere.  

Hilarious coming from a Trump fan.

I don't normally agree with Fuzzy, but he is right about Gillibrand.

The whole metoo thing just looks opportunistic given her relationship with the Clintons.

[darklordoftech]

She doesn’t stand out.

[Alben Barkley]

I see Gillibrand as insincere. 

Hilarious coming from a Trump fan.

I don't normally agree with Fuzzy, but he is right about Gillibrand.

The whole metoo just looks opportunistic given her relationship with the Clintons.

She stabbed the Clintons in the back, too, with her comments about how Bill should have resigned. So now she’s managed to alienate herself from just about everybody in the party.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

She appears to be very Hilaryish, doesnt stand out like she is, and take her same positions, in NY

[Yank2133]

I see Gillibrand as insincere. 

Hilarious coming from a Trump fan.

I don't normally agree with Fuzzy, but he is right about Gillibrand.

The whole metoo just looks opportunistic given her relationship with the Clintons.

She stabbed the Clintons in the back, too, with her comments about how Bill should have resigned. So now she’s managed to alienate herself from just about everybody in the party.

She was campaigning with him just a year before saying he should have resigned. It was ridiculous that she pretended to be "woke" on that issue.

[Crumpets]

Gillibrand is the only Dem who could make me possibly consider voting 3rd party even against Trump.

Why?

[Kleine Scheiße]

I get the distinct feeling that she's waiting for a breakout debate performance. If she doesn't have one by the third debate, she should drop out at that point, but she's certainly qualified enough to deserve a fair chance. She could be a very powerful compromise candidate.

[James Monroe]

Because Al Franken apologizes have taunted her name in defending a sexual assaulter against a brave women who dared to tell the truth about her senatorial colleague. Just look at the hatred some Democrats have for her that are not due to ideological reasons but petty bitterness, where she went against the grain by asking Franken to resign his seat, therefore sparking rage among the crowd that has turned on her since.  Sad to see such misogyny being displaced in our Democratic Party.

[Cory]

I see Gillibrand as insincere.  Her "Woke" persona these days is pure opportunism and it shows.

[JG]

Because of Al Franken apologizes have taunted her name in defending a sexual assaulter against a brave women who dared to tell the truth about her senatorial colleague. Just look at the hatred some Democrats have for her that are not due to ideological reasons but petty bitterness, where she went against the grain by asking Franken to resign his seat, therefore sparking rage among the crowd that has turned on her since.  Sad to see such misogyny being displaced in our Democratic Party.