New York Governor David Paterson has chosen Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to replace Hillary Clinton. From the New York Times:
Gov. David A. Paterson has selected Representative Kirsten Gillibrand, a 42-year-old congresswoman from upstate who is known for bold political moves and centrist policy positions, to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a person who spoke to the governor early Friday.
The reaction was not all positive, as some of the more left leaning elements of the Party have objected:
If Mr. Paterson was hoping to quiet the tumult over the selection process by picking Ms. Gillibrand, there were indications that he may not get his wish. Ms. Gillibrand, who has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, is controversial among some of the party’s more liberal leaders downstate.
Representative Carolyn McCarthy, a Long Island Democrat and ardent gun control activist, said Thursday that if Ms. Gillibrand got the job, she was prepared to run against her in a primary in 2010. Ms. McCarthy was elected to Congress after her husband was killed in a gunman’s rampage on the Long Island Rail Road in 1993.
The saga ends for Caroline Kennedy, and in a pretty bad way, with the Governor’s staff sniping at her, and stories popping up about unpaid taxes and nannies. Once more a campaign falters due to the lack of homework, or a hubris that believes homework does not matter.
My thought that Andrew Cuomo would be the pick was far off base. Wrong again!
Bill Manzi.com 
Mayor Manzi:
As much as I would want a Republican to be picked, I think Mario Cuomo or his son Andrew would have been a better more electable choice.
Gerard
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Andrew Cuomo was preferred by more New Yorkers. Perhaps the urge to replace Hillary with another woman gave her the edge. No matter, I’m sure the 2010 primaries will be rich with good candidates, including Mrs. Gilibrand.
-FM
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Your Honor,
She’s a gun toting, pro-life Blue Dog Democrat who represents a largely Republican area.
Holly hell to break loose.
Wow.
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Well, the gun-totin’ part is right, but she’s no Blue Dog … from the NY Times ….
”
She earned a high rating from the National Rifle Association and opposed efforts to extend state drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants. At the same time, she favors abortion rights, voted to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq and to extend middle-class tax cuts, and she has opposed privatizing Social Security. She raises large sums of money from Wall Street, but voted against the first bailout bill last fall; that vote angered some Democratic leaders in Congress.”
And later in the article … a supporter of gay marriage. I wouldn’t count that vote red yet, sir. 😉
More interesting to me is that former NYS Senate Leader Bruno(R) finally got indicted: this is the guy that Elliot Spitzer was going after while governor, before he was outed (hum, wonder where those photos came from?).
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/nyregion/24bruno.html?hp
-FM
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Fred,
Your right she is not pro-life. But, she is not the darling of the New York liberals.
She will be hosed at the next election. Unless, of course, she slides left, which is my bet.
What is curious to me is why you take interest in the Bruno affair. Was it because he was corrupt or that he was a Republican going down?
Jules
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Governor Paterson, I like the pick.
She voted against the bailout.
A populist with a backbone?
AIG and Citi, etc. are going to fall or be nationalized. A controlled fall, liquidation of the bad companies debt, would be really tough for a little but a boom for mainstreet over the longer term.
Either way, tough times ahead, I’d rather see the bad companies die a quick death.
Than several generations of stagnation and chaos.
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Mayor
I met Kirsten Gillabrand a couple of years ago in Boston when I spoke at a fundraiser for her.
There were only about 8-10 people at the fundraiser, few people attended since no one thought she had a chance of winning. I had never heard of her but my daughter, a friend of a friend, asked me to attend.
What was striking was how young she is, and looks– I mistook one of the waitresses for her.
Bill, do you remember when the politicians looked old? What happened?
Jim Fiorentini
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Jim,
I have not had the pleasure of meeting the Senator, but I do agree that she has a youthful appearance. As to your question about what happened to older looking pols I was wondering the same thing myself. Then I looked in a mirror!
Bill
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Mr. Speaker:
If you followed the tit for tat between Spitzer and Bruno and enjoyed political blood sport, you would understand.
And to answer your question, both.
-FM
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Fred,
Do you think Bruno dropped a dime on Spitzer?
Jules
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Mr. Speaker:
Yep.
-FM
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