Kirsten Gillibrand: Hey, Stop Talking About How Hot I Am

She's just so offended old codgers like Harry Reid are drooling over her.

I asked Gillibrand is she feels she’s being over-sexualized.

“No,” she replied after speaking to the Times Union editorial board. “You know, Harry Reid was making a joke. He also complimented my work with him on reg reform. I think the mayor was being nice. He was just being kind. So, of course women like candidates and like people, to focus on the work that they’re doing and of course we would prefer more reporting on the legislation we’re fighting for and what we’ve accomplished, but you know, at the end of the day….”

She sighed.

Then she posed all glammed up for Vogue. Must be tough playing with the kids in your office while wearing a slinky black cocktail dress and pumps.

Senate Democrat Incumbent: Hey, I'm New Here in Washington!

Even facing nominal GOP opposition in New York, Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand doing her best to distance herself from her own party. Forget the fact the name Obama isn't mentioned, it's curious that in this spot the word Democrat is neither seen nor heard.

She pretends she's for "transparency," whatever that means these days. That's funny since she voted for ObamaCare before even reading the bill.

Elected to Congress in 2006 before assuming Hillary Clinton's seat in 2009, Gillibrand claims she hasn't been in Washington for long. Four years seems plenty long.

The occasional incumbent/establishment carnage witnessed again last night seems to have inspired Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the cutting her first TV spot.

“I haven’t been in Washington long, but I’ve been there long enough to know things are broken,” she says in opening the ad.

She closes it by saying congress shouldn’t be able to give itself raises.

So, don’t blame her, and her colleagues don’t deserve a pay raise. Got it?

For all the babbleheads and political "experts" cackling over Christine O'Donnell today, at least she's not shy about telling you what party she represents, unlike Democrats who are running for the hills.

'They Did the Right Thing - They Just Didn't Do It the Right Way'

Don't these clueless Democrats realize The Obama does what he wants, when he wants, their feelings be damned?

It's all about The O, suckers.

Democrats complain they were blindsided when President Obama weighed in on the Ground Zero mosque and handed the GOP a new club to beat them with.

Capitol Hill Democrats, including those facing tough races, were not told in advance before Obama's Friday night speech defending Muslims' rights to build a mosque in lower Manhattan.

While Mayor Bloomberg knew ahead of time what Obama intended to say at the Ramadan dinner at the White House, New York Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand were kept in the dark, sources said.

Now if I recall correctly last Friday I wasn't paying much attention to the news but could swear there were media accounts that Obama was addressing the Muslim dinner in Washington. Oh right, there were.

Now considering the mosque issue has been a red-hot one for several weeks at least, Obama would be pandering to this esteemed group and word was out he was likely to speak about it, how can these buffoons Schumer and his puppet Gillibrand be caught off guard? What, was Chuckie busy rehearsing a speech about the evils of baggage fees or something? Or is he just too feckless to take a stand and be prepared to defend it?

Several Democratic campaign operatives complained that without a heads-up, they did not have the time to war-game how to handle questions from the news media or GOP attacks.

"They did the right thing - they just didn't do it the right way," lamented another Democratic source.

They've had several months to "war-game" a response. Considering Schumer and Gillibrand are the senators from New York, one would think they'd have a clue or would have taken a position by now.

Assorted thoughts and reaction on the mosque here.

U.S. Senator Encourages Illegals to Fill Out Census

For this alone Kirsten Gillibrand should be removed from office. I guess I'm clinging to some arcane notion that our elected officials were to uphold the laws of our nation. Then again, Gillibrand wasn't elected to the Senate.

Stand and be counted - or we can't get government cash.

That's the word from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and New York Secretary of State Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez, who said Monday that it's safe for undocumented immigrants to fill out 2010 U.S. Census forms that will hit city residents' mailboxes this week.

"Invisible people do not count in this country," Cortes-Vazquez told reporters at a lower Manhattan news conference. "Invisible people do not have a voice."

The city lost out on hundreds of millions of dollars in federal and state funding over the past decade because only 55% of New York City residents mailed in 2000 Census forms, woefully short of the 67% national average.

Census figures help determine where government cash goes for hospitals, school services, public housing, social services, food stamps and other programs, and how many seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Twice the story mentions government cash, as if it's the government that earns the money. The government produces nothing. It only takes from those who earn that cash. It's taxpayer cash, and I do not want it going to illegal aliens.

Bilingual English-Spanish forms are being sent to nabes where more than 20% of the population speaks a language other than English, and community groups are reaching out to their constituents to urge immigrants to be counted.

Immigrants are people who come here lawfully and it sure doesn't appear that the pandering Gillibrand understands this.

Possible New Challenger for Gillibrand?

With both Harold Ford on the Democrat side and Mort Zuckerman on the GOP (or independent) side both bowing out this week as potential challengers to New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, another name has popped up in recent days, although this is the first I've seen of the name Dan Senor.

Dan Senor, the husband of CNN's Campbell Brown and a former Bush administration foreign policy adviser, is eyeing a run as a Republican against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, The Knickerbocker has learned.

Senor has been meeting with people recent weeks around the state - including "political people and money types," said one source.

Senor has already spoken with state GOP chairman Ed Cox, The Knickerbocker confirmed.

Senor is the founder of Rosemont Capital LLC, and brings to his resume the fact that he was among the civilian officials who served the longest in Iraq as the post-Saddam Hussein government was being established.

"I think he's very interested," said a Republican source. "He's very bright, would be a strong candidate."

The reason I happened across Senor today is the possible conflict of interest his wife would have if he entered the race.

CNN is facing a sticky situation if anchor Campbell Brown's husband -- former Bush White House adviser Dan Senor -- decides to run as a Republican against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

The network will have to decide if Brown can keep hosting her 8 p.m. nightly news show -- or if she would be compromised by the conflict.

Precedents regarding TV news personalities and their politically elected spouses go both ways.

Former "Dateline" anchor Maria Shriver was bounced by NBC in 2004 shortly after her husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was elected governor of California.

But Gail Huff, the wife of recently elected Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, continues to work as a reporter for Boston TV station WCVB.

CNN yesterday declined to talk about the potential dilemma.

"We don't comment on hypothetical situations," a CNN spokeswoman said yesterday.

But Senor is now being talked about in Republican circles as the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination after Daily News owner and real estate mogul Mort Zuckerman took himself out of the running Tuesday night.

Honestly I don't think Brown staying on the air would rpesent any problem. For one, there are only about three Republicans still alive that watch CNN and her ratings are so anemic it couldn't possibly make any difference considering Democrats so greatly outnumber Republicans in New York State.

In the past month, it has seen some of the lowest ratings ever on CNN. One night last week, the audience dropped below 350,000 viewers.

The other possible contender on the GOP side is former Governor George Pataki, who spent 12 years in office and didn't exactly leave the best legacy, but he could beat Gillibrand.

In a similar finding to a Marist Poll released Tuesday, Rasmussen Reports has New York's Democratic senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, running neck-and-neck with former Gov. George Pataki.

Gillibrand leads Pataki, who has not announced he would run, by a statistically insignificant 44 percent to 42 percent with 4 percent preferring some other candidate and 9 percent undecided. The margin of error is 4.5 points. The poll was conducted March 1.

Considering the problems Democrats currently face in New York (see Paterson, Rangel, Massa), their brand is lagging and the GOP certainly should be able to capitalize if they get their act together.

Now, if only someone would step up and take on the 800-pound gorilla, namely Chuckie Schumer.

Zuckerman Not Running in New York; Gillibrand Demands Paterson Resign

Yesterday it was Harold Ford, today it's Mort Zuckerman. Is there anyone who will run against an un-elected incumbent?

The field in the battle for a New York Senate seat became a little clearer Tuesday when Mortimer B. Zuckerman announced he would not join the race.

Mr. Zuckerman, chairman and publisher of the Daily News, said personal and professional reasons were behind his decision not to challenge Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

"I was encouraged by many major political figures in New York to look closely at running for Senate," Mr. Zuckerman said.

"However, at this time, it is very difficult to see how I can devote the necessary time to either a campaign, or to working in Washington, if I were to win."

Mr. Zuckerman pointed out that he has a young family, which is the most important focus in his life.

So what's left? George Pataki? Not the most inspiring possibility.

Meanwhile, the suddenly empowered Gillibrand gave her thanks to the lame-duck David Paterson by asking him to resign tonight. Yes, the guy who appointed her. Now that's some loyalty!

A besieged Gov. Paterson retreated into bunker-mode Tuesday, holing up in his mansion as demands he resign rained down - even from his hand-picked senator.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand lowered the boom as the exploding scandal claimed another scalp: State Police Superintendent Harry Corbitt said he'll retire at the end of Wednesday.

"I'm a cop, a good cop," Corbitt told the "Capitol Tonight" cable show last night. "For my own health, for my own sanity, it's the right thing."

The most shocking evidence of Paterson's crumbling world came from Gillibrand, a little-known upstate congresswoman before Paterson plucked her from obscurity last year to fill Hillary Clinton's vacant seat.

Bloomberg Clone to Seek Gillibrand's Seat?

Seems far-fetched to me, but hey, his buddy Mike Bloomberg bought himself the mayoralty of New York and look what it's done for him. He now gets to tell us to regulate our salt intake.

Seriously though, considering Kirsten Gillibrand will probably square off in a Democrat primary against Harold Ford, Mort Zuckerman could well finagle himself a spot as an independent or possibly as the GOP candidate.

Mortimer B. Zuckerman, real estate tycoon and publisher of The Daily News, is considering a run for the Senate seat now held by Kirsten E. Gillibrand, according to two people told of the discussions. Mr. Zuckerman regards Ms. Gillibrand as vulnerable to a challenge and is convinced that, at a time of economic tumult and political unrest, his background as an outsider to government, and his record as a businessman, will appeal to the state’s electorate, these people said.

He would be the latest boldface name to weigh a run for the seat this fall; the former Tennessee congressman, Harold E. Ford Jr., is mulling a primary run against Ms. Gillibrand, a fellow Democrat, and will make a decision in the next few weeks.

You know what I'm waiting for? Somebody, anybody to man up and take on Chuckie Schumer. He's vulnerable, folks, and what greater joy could come this November 3 than seeing him get the boot in the impending Republican tsunami? Zuckerman certainly has the dough to take him out.

Mr. Zuckerman, 72, is known as a Democrat, but if he runs, it would likely be as a Republican or independent, to avoid participating in a costly primary.

In doing so, Mr. Zuckerman would be following the path of his close friend and fellow media executive, Michael R. Bloomberg, who switched his party affiliation from Democratic to Republican to run for mayor of New York City.

Mr. Zuckerman, whose fortune is estimated to be at least $2 billion, owes most of his riches to the real estate industry. He founded Boston Properties in 1970, and is now chairman of the board. He bought The Daily News in 1993.

Larry Kudlow has also been considering running in the GOP primary and I'm sure he and Zuckerman are well acquainted. Zuckerman obviously is a savvy businessman who's supposedly soured on Obama, but would the New York GOP be willing to take a flyer on him? Do they even have a more palatable candidate?

Worth noting: Zuckerman is one of many to fall prey to Schumer pal Bernie Madoff. Sticking it to him or his puppet Gillibrand would surely be some sweet revenge.

Gillibrand to Appear With Disgraced 9/11 Truther

I guess Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's puppet master Chuckie Schumer has let her stray off course. Do they not realize having someone facing a tough re-election appearing with the radioactive Van Jones isn't exactly the image you want New Yorkers to see?

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand will make a joint appearance at a forum next month with controversial lawyer Van Jones, who left the Obama administration last year amid outrage over his past remarks about 9/11.

The Agenda Project is sponsoring the event at the Harvard Club in Midtown, and is expected to focus on jobs as the talking point.

Late last year, Jones stepped down from his post as a White House environmental adviser amid revelations about his efforts to suggest that the government had a role in the Sept. 11 attacks.

According to the Washington Post, Jones will be speaking about the Obama jobs agenda. Funny, but I thought the White House gave him the boot?

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Parakeet Says What?

New York's junior senator whined quite a bit the other day when Hrold Ford called her a puppet and parakeet of Charles Schumer. Well, it sure seems Ford is on to something. How else can the unelected Gillibrand explain her voting record being 98% in synch with her puppet-master?

Tweet, tweet -- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand really is a parakeet!

Her Senate voting record is a near perfect duplicate of her senior New York Democratic colleague, Sen. Charles Schumer, a Post analysis reveals -- with the two agreeing 98 percent of the time.

The two peas in a pod have been in near-perfect synch through the full gamut of issues since Gillibrand was appointed to fill Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate seat -- from the budget to climate change and hot-button social concerns like gun control.

Out of the nearly total 400 votes cast since she was sworn in one year ago yesterday, Gillibrand has parted ways with Schumer just eight times, according to an analysis of both lawmakers' records.

Gillibrand voted with Schumer, a powerhouse lawmaker who has helped clear the primary field for her re-election, even more closely than she did with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

She voted with Reid 95 percent of the time, disagreeing on several amendments when Reid backed Republican amendments to provide greater protections for gun owners.

Ex-Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford Jr., who lives in Manhattan and is preparing for a possible primary challenge to Gillibrand, this week ridiculed her as a "parakeet" who mimicked what party leaders told her to say.

Earlier this week, Gillibrand insisted she was independent.

"It's absurd, it's insulting, it's very far from the truth," she told The Post in response to Ford's charges that Schumer tells her what to do.

"Certainly, no one tells me how to vote. I make my own decisions."

Critics beg to differ.

"Sen. Gillibrand doesn't speak unless Chuck Schumer allows her to talk," quipped GOP consultant Susan Del Percio on NY1's "Inside City Hall" this week.

While representing an upstate district in the House, Gillibrand achieved the lowest "party unity" score of any New York Democrat, earning a score of 91 out of 100 in 2008 rankings compiled by Congressional Quarterly which track party-line votes.

Her differences with Schumer don't appear to follow a strict pattern, and frequently came on votes Republicans set up to put Democrats in a tight spot.

They split twice on the left-leaning community action group ACORN, when Gillibrand opposed amendments to deny federal funding to the controversial group, while Schumer voted for them. Both passed.

ACORN is left-leaning? I really believe today's media would refer to Josef Stalin as left-leaning, or probably even call him a moderate.

'It's Interesting the Unelected Senator is Spending Her Time on Twittter'

I just love a good Democrat civil war, and these two seemingly are going at it daily. It's very close to getting nasty and personal. I can't wait.

An hour after tweeting her outrage at Harold Ford Jr. for dubbing her a "parakeet" of Democratic leaders, Gillibrand laced into her potential primary rival in an interview with The Post, branding him a phony and saying he's spinning a "fraud" image as a political outsider.

Gillibrand -- who has been accused of having party leaders and well-placed surrogates do her heavy hitting for her -- spoke shortly after slapping back at Ford Jr. with her "Twitter" account, saying she wouldn't let her young child name-call that way, a move that was heavily mocked by her near-opponent's team.

"I really don't know who Harold Ford thinks I am but I'm not gonna be pushed aside (by) his banker buddies," she said.

Ford had told The Post's Fred Dicker on his Talk1300am radio show on Monday that neither Gillibrand nor her political patron, Sen. Charles Schumer, is keeping New York's interests in mind, and accusing his would-be rival of being a "parakeet."

She followed up the too-cute email play with an unprompted phone call, saying, "This guy aspires to be a US senator?"

"Him calling me names doesn't hurt me but it affects New York because it distracts from issues," she added, saying, "All we know about him is his record which is abysmal for New York."

And she blasted his payroll tax-cut ideas as "a regurgitation of failed Bush" policies.

She called ideas that she's a puppet of Schumer "absurd, it's insulting, it's very far from the truth....my record, if anybody would bother to look at it, is that I fight for the poeple I represent."

She added, "The fact that he says he's an outsider is ridiculous. It's a fraud."

Ford spokesman Davidson Goldin lashed back hard, saying, Ford is someone "who will focus on creating jobs for New Yorkers, so it's no surprise the unelected senator seems so afraid of losing in an actual election.

"It's interesting the unelected senator is spending her time on Twitter rather than fighting to create jobs for New Yorkers," Goldin added.

The Ford camp appears eager to make an issue of Gillibrand's having represented the evil Big Tobacco.

"She started her career as a tobacco apologist and after being appointed senator in a backoom deal, has spent her time kowtowing to Washington insiders," he said. "She takes positions that hurt the people of New York, whether it's raising our taxes or killing jobs. And her rock bottom approval numbers prove that New Yorkers are well aware of this. Undoubtedly she is too."

Ford: Gillibrand a 'Weak' Puppet

A couple of years ago an upstart black politician took on the establishment candidate and did remarkably well for himself. Well, at least until he was sworn in.

Fast forward two years and here we we have another upstart black politician gunning for the establishment candidate in New York and he's not as well received.

Funny how that is. But Harold Ford isn't daunted and is now upping the ante.

In his toughest comments to date, Harold Ford cast Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Monday as a "weak" puppet of the state's political establishment who has failed to connect with voters after a year in office.

"There is no doubt that Sen. Gillibrand is weak in many places across the city and the state," Ford told the Daily News in an interview. "At best, there is interest in hearing an alternative."

Ford, a former congressman from Tennessee, is mulling a Democratic primary challenge against Gillibrand and said he expects to make up his mind within the next 30 days.

But he insisted that what's driving his decision is not how much money he can raise or what politicians are behind him, but rather the complaints her hears from voters about government in general - and Gillibrand in particular.

New poll numbers suggest Gillibrand is vulnerable, although Ford hasn't exactly widened his profile with voters.

Ford certainly isn't off base claiming Gillibrand is a puppet.

Sen. Chuck Schumer is more than just a political mentor to Kirsten Gillibrand -- the powerhouse fund-raiser has been using his Midas touch to give the little-known senator's war chest a boost, The Post has learned.

The financial ties between the senators run deep, judging from a review of their campaign finance records, as well as interviews with donors.

* Nearly 150 of the 476 political action committees that are Schumer contributors also gave to Gillibrand, according to an analysis of 2009 data by The Post.

* Nearly 300 individual contributors of $200 or more to Schumer also opened their wallets for Gillibrand, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics at The Post's request.

* Schumer has personally lobbied big donors to "help" Gillibrand, who is regarded as vulnerable to a primary challenge.

Other Democrats see weakness with Chucky's puppet.

"I think she hasn't solidified herself yet," Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx), a Gillibrand backer, told The News. "It's hard being a junior senator to Chuck Schumer."

Indeed, the one thing voters do seem to know is that Schumer and the White House have been working some overtime to protect the politically anemic Gillibrand from a primary.

Now, even that seems unlikely. Largely because of Gillibrand's weakness, former Tennessee congressman Harold Ford - until last week a virtual unknown in New York - was able to parachute into the race and establish himself as a plausible, if longshot, possible challenger in a matter of days.

True, Gillibrand still beats Ford by a hefty 19 points, according to a Marist Poll released Friday. But for Gillibrand, the poll's more troubling number was her flimsy 24% approval rating among voters - and the 25% who had no opinion of her at all.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Schumer to Harold Ford Jr.: 'You Are One Great Candidate'

Chucky Schumer sure loved him some Harold Ford Jr. just a few years ago. So did Barack Obama. Now, however, Ford wants to run against Chucky's sockpuppet, and the Democrat machine wants no part of him.

Ah, good times.

President Obama and Sen. Chuck Schumer were for Harold Ford Jr. before they were against him.

In 2006, both men - who were senators at the time - heaped praise on Ford Jr., then a Tennessee congressman seeking to join them in the Club of 100 in his home state.

Politics for the betterment of everyoen is "the kind of politics Harold Ford exemplifies, and that's why I'm here today," Obama said at an event, according to the Associated Press.

"We've got a spirit of hope in the campaign of a young man who represents everything about the future of America right here in Tennessee," Obama said at another point, according to the Tennessean.

There was more.

"You are one great candidate," Schumer told Ford during the '06 race, according to the Los Angeles Times.

And Congressional Quarterly quoted schumer saying he was a "great fundraiser and has a national following."

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Wonderful: 9/11 Trial Tab Now Estimated at $1 Billion

Just last week the tab was at $200 million annually. But like with anything involving Obama, that's probably way low. Well, it's possible it'll cost that amount each year, but expect it to go on for at least five years. Those of you living in New York? Prepare to dig deep, suckers.

Big Apple taxpayers could be on the hook for as much as $1 billion in security costs if the trials of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four other terrorists drag on for as long as experts think they will.

That's a staggering sum of money, and New Yorkers shouldn't be required to cover it on their own.

The best solution, of course, would be to deep-six the trials altogether. Terrorists belong at Gitmo -- not in court.

Failing that, President Obama & Co. by rights need to come up with the cash to finance their own folly. All of it.

Fat chance there, too.

So the top guns of New York's congressional delegation need to step up to guarantee that the federal government does right by the city.

Yep, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Reps. Jerry Nadler and Charles Rangel, that means you.

Given the way the fearsome foursome rolled over for the billion-dollar hit ObamaCare stands to put on New York, we're not optimistic about the KSM expense.

But their responsibility is clear.

In a letter to Obama's Office of Management and Budget, Mayor Bloomberg notes that preparation for the trial will cost approximately $216 million. Later costs will be about $200 million a year.

Figure the cumulative trial bill to be at least $1 billion (no way they'll be done in less than four or five years).

Why Are New York Democrats So Afraid of Harold Ford, Jr.?

Let's see: He's clean and articulate, he's light-skinned and he doesn't speak in a Negro dialect.

So what's not to like?

All this sturm und drang is fascinating, given two salient facts: In the year since her appointment by the deeply unpopular Gov. David Paterson, Gillibrand has proven distasteful to the party faithful, who view her as far too conservative. And she has failed to win over the electorate at large. (Most recently, Gillibrand drew local criticism for supporting the health care bill while not seeming to understand just what it would cost the city, telling the Post only that it “is good for New York” while declining to discuss it in detail.)

Into this void steps Harold Ford Jr. On paper, he seems a dream candidate for the state of New York: A stylish, cultured, incredibly telegenic African-American politician whose profile is both high (he is chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council) and low (no one outside of Tennessee really knows that much about him).

So: Just who is Harold Ford Jr., and what exactly does he believe?

Well, they can't complain about him being a carpetbagger since Gillibrand inherited the seat held by one.

Maybe this has something to do with it.

Conservatism in the South is its own strain, and so Ford Jr. was able to maintain his base while taking stances that are not likely to play well in New York City: He is a member and supporter of the NRA; he is personally against abortion but publicly pro-choice.

Well, Gillibrand comes from a largely conservative are of upstate New York and is an NRA supporter. Or at least was until her puppeteer got a hold of her.

And this is probably why Democrats are distancing themselves from Ford.

While plenty of people from Sen. Chuck Schumer on down say they don't want Ford to challenge Gillibrand in a primary, observers say Ford could still have a shot. His New York roots may not run deep, but he's proven his ability to raise money, he's telegenic, and he knows his way around Washington.

Amusingly enough, one disgraced Democrat thinks Gillibrand is vulnerable.

And there are those - including former Gov. Eliot Spitzer - who say Gillibrand is weak.

Spitzer - who resigned after being caught with a $4,000-a-night hooker - said on WAMC radio Saturday that Gillibrand's "views on issues are either wrong or too malleable" and he would never have appointed her, as his successor, Gov. Paterson, did.

"Because of [Spitzer's] own actions, it wasn't his call to make," Gillibrand aide Glen Caplin said, noting she was among the first to say Spitzer should quit.

Meanwhile, a dark horse is now on the radar for the GOP.

Former GOP Rep. Susan Molinari is considering a run against Democratic U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand this year.

Ms. Molinari, who left Congress in 1997, said that given the health care debate and the upcoming trials of accused 9/11 terrorists here, "it's an important time to have aggressive leadership in the Senate" in the tradition of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Alfonse D'Amato and Charles Schumer.

If that's the case, she might want to relocate to New York some time soon.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Giuliani Crushing Gillibrand; Might There Be a Dem Challenger?

First the news from Rasmussen, which is all bad for Kirsten Gillibrand.

Democratic incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand may have a serious problem on her hands if Rudy Giuliani gets in next year’s race for the U.S. Senate in New York State.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of voters in the state finds Giuliani, the former Republican mayor of New York City, leading Gillibrand by 13 points – 53% to 40%. Four percent (4%) like some other candidate, and just two percent (2%) are undecided.

News reports that Giuliani has ruled out a run for governor next year and is interested In the Senate race could turn Gillibrand’s bid to fill out the rest of Hillary Clinton’s term from a close struggle to an uphill climb.

Is it any wonder the formerly staunchly pro-Second Amendment Gillibrand is now pathetically pandering to the anti-gun zealots?

Meanwhile, entirely out of left field comes news Gillibrand could potentially face a primary challenge from Harold Ford.

Harold Ford?

Indeed.

Democratic sources say that former Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford Jr. -- who relocated to New York City after his unsuccessful Senate bid in 2006 -- has been talking about the possibility of running against vulnerable rookie New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

Ford, who was mentioned as a possible appointee to replace Hillary Clinton in late 2007, has reportedly told associates that he's skeptical about the idea. But he may have commissioned a poll to test his popularity, according to a Tuesday night post on DemocraticUnderground.com.

Considering the DU is the extreme lunatic fringe, take that with a boulder of salt.

Considering the fortunes of Democrats and the precipitous decline of Barack Obama, I'd really love to see someone step up and challenge the odious Charles Schumer as well next year, but New York certainly doesn't have a very deep GOP bench.

Senate ACORN Defender in Peril

New York's accidental Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, may want to reconsider her vote to keep your tax money flowing to the criminal gang at ACORN. Considering this poll came before her vote yesterday, things may only get worse.

Long live King George?

Former Republican Gov. George Pataki has leapt ahead of Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand in an hypothetical U.S. Senate match-up, according to a new poll out this morning.

The statewide Marist College survey found voters would narrowly favor the three-term governor - 48 percent to 44 percent - over the freshman senator if the 2010 election were held today. That's an eight-point swing from a similar poll in July, when Pataki trailed Gillibrand 42 percent to 46 percent.

The poll, meanwhile, found nearly seven in 10 New Yorkers would reject a second coming by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat whom The Post recently reported has been mulling a run for comptroller or attorney general.

I suspect even Spitzer wouldn't be dumb enough to defend ACORN, even if they are brought down by a fake hooker.

Needless to say, Gillibrand's decision to support ACORN isn't going over well in some circles.

A group that fights government waste blasted Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Thursday for voting to continue funding for Acorn, the nationwide nonprofit reeling from a conservative sting operation now showing on YouTube.

Citizens Against Government Waste noted that Sen. Charles Schumer, Ms. Gillibrand's fellow New York representative and political benefactor, had voted Monday to stop the Department of Housing and Urban Development from funding Acorn, while only six senators joined Ms. Gillibrand in opposition. The Senate's vote tally was 83-7.

On Thursday, the House voted to deny all federal funds for Acorn. That vote, on a provision attached to a student aid bill, was 345-75, with Democrats supplying all the "no" votes.

Acorn is under fire because two amateur actors posing as a pimp and a prostitute used an undercover camera to record Acorn employees giving them advice on how to secure housing for a brothel. The pair visited a slew of Acorn offices across the country and found employees in four of them—Brooklyn, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and San Bernardino, Calif.—who took the bait. After the videos went live on the Internet Monday, Acorn fired the employees and did not defend their actions but said they should not obscure the organization's good work.

But conservative groups have had a field day criticizing the nonprofit, whose name stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

“Cutting off funds to Acorn should have been the easiest vote of the year, yet these senators could not bring themselves to do it,” said Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, in a statement. He went on to call the seven senators “nutty” and named them “porkers of the month.”

“Sen. Gillibrand deserves special opprobrium for her vote, since one of the videos was shot in Brooklyn's Acorn office, and the New York Post had a story on the scandal prior to the vote,” Mr. Schatz said. “Apparently Sen. Schumer reads the local papers, and Sen. Gillibrand does not.”

Major Democrat Fundraiser Charged With Fraud

Democrats and fraud, perfect together. And in what should be considered a stunning development, the word Democrat actually appears in the Reuters headline.

The U.S. attorney in New York on Tuesday charged a New York investor and major Democratic fund-raiser with a $74 million scheme to defraud Citigroup Inc (C.N).

Hassan Nemazee, 59, was charged with one count of bank fraud, and faces up to 30 years in prison plus a fine. His lawyer Marc Mukasey, a former federal prosecutor, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Nemazee was a national finance chair of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, and a supporter of John Kerry's run for the White House in 2004.

He typically donates more than $100,000 annually to Democratic political candidates, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senator Charles Schumer, and sits on the board of the Iranian American Political Action Committee .

Bill Clinton, when he was president, nominated Nemazee to be U.S. ambassador to Argentina.

Prosecutors said Nemazee, the chairman and chief executive of Nemazee Capital Corp, sought to induce Citigroup's banking unit to lend up to $74 million based on fraudulent and forged documents suggesting that he had hundreds of millions of dollars of accounts available as collateral.

They said Nemazee also provided Citigroup with fake references so that when the bank would try to confirm details about his accounts, it would actually be contacting him. The scheme lasted from December 2006 to this month, the prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said federal agents stopped him on Sunday at Newark Liberty International Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Rome, and that he repaid a more than $74 million loan to Citigroup the following day.

Sounds like he was going to abscond like another Clinton pal, Marc Rich.

Chuckie Schumer ought to be pleased to find out another of his major fundraisers now faces prison, just like his pal Bernie Madoff.

In addition to Nemazee and the now-imprisoned Norman Hsu, I wonder how many other criminal fundraisers were helping Hillary Clinton?

Here's a rundown of Democrats Nemazee contributed to: Also included are Democrat Senators Barbara Boxer, Joe Biden, Kirsten Gillibrand, Frank Lautenberg, Dick Durbin, Carl Levin, and Jay Rockefeller.

I'll wait with breathless anticipation for all of them to comment and offer to return his dirty money.

Michelle Malkin already has material for a new chapter of her best-selling book.

Brooklyn Mobsters: 'You Are Bankrupting Our Country. You Guys are Crooks'

Angry, un-American evil-monger dares to question a Democrat

Keep in mind as you read this that Anthony Weiner's district votes overwhelmingly for him every two years, and prior to that it was Chuckie Scumer's Congressional seat, so we're talking about the bluest of blue districts. This isn't a bunch angry rednecks (as the media would call them) venting their spleens. These are hardcore urban Democrats and they seemingly don't want any part of this health care fiasco.

Rep. Anthony Weiner got an earful from a room full of rowdy - and hungry - Brooklyn seniors on Thursday demanding answers about health care reform.

The Democratic congressman, who represents Brooklyn and Queens, showed up at the Council Center for Senior Citizens in Midwood just before noon for a town hall meeting on President Obama's health care plan.

What he found was about 60 senior citizens fed up with the confusion surrounding the details of the President's plan to provide affordable health care for all Americans - and eager to eat lunch.

"I came to eat and I came to eat on time," said David Figman, an 84-year-old retired postal worker. "They are having chicken marsala today and the food is good."

Before lunch was served, Weiner took about a dozen questions from the group, including a heated claim that the plan was "Communist."

"Are we going to have a say in this or are we becoming a Communist country?" demanded a 61-year-old man named Bill. "I've never heard of a government program that doesn't explode in costs. This is a joke."

One elderly man yelled out, "It's a Socialist country!" Others clapped.

Weiner tried to calm them down.

"Let's turn down the rhetoric," he pleaded.

One senior wanted to know how the government would pay for a program to cover some 47 million uninsured Americans.

"Where are the doctors and nurses going to come from to cover all these new people?" he asked.

Sheryl Debling, who declined to give her age, but was not a member of the senior center, came to the meeting to get some answers.

"Where is the money going to come from?" she asked. "You are bankrupting our country. You guys are crooks."

"You have a lot of good talking points," Weiner told her, clearly frustrated.

It's not only the fact people are very suspicious of government taking over an entire industry that's dooming this scheme, but it's the smug arrogance, the imperious pomposity of the Weiners of the world that will relegate this to the dustbin. Here you have a man whose entire career is based on focus group talking points and tired liberal cliches whining that someone is using talking points, as if a constituent who's speaking his or her mind is carefully coached on what to say in public like Weiner is.

The Democrats are playing a very dangerous game here with the constant references to people being un-American, racist and evil-mongers, all simply for exercising their freedom of speech. A slippery slope they may not be happy to be riding down pretty soon if they don't wise up and start respecting the very people they work for.

Meanwhile, speaking of the loathsome Schumer, he's apparently too gutless to even have a town hall meeting. Dittos for New York's junior senator.

Pathetic.

Itching to unload on Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand at a town hall meeting on health care reform?

You're out of luck.

Aides to the New York Democrats told the Daily News they won't be sponsoring any town hall meetings on health care. Instead, they will be touring the state and soliciting opinions in more informal settings. "During recess, as he does every year, Sen. Schumer will be in over 20 counties across New York City and state talking with thousands of constituents, discussing the issues that are important to them," Schumer spokesman Josh Vlasto said.

Somehow I doubt people will be getting advance notice of Chuckie's appearances. After all, we know what happens when someone asks Chuckie a difficult question.

So here you have the two Democrat senators of one of the largest states in the nation and they're too cowardly to even meet their constitents in a formal setting to discuss the single biggest political issue in years.

Sheer cowardice.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

‘It Was Like Saying N----r To a Puerto Rican'

Well, it didn't take long for the Democrats in New York long to inject racial politics into the contest between Kirsten Gillibrand and her challenger, Rep. Carolyn Maloney. This one's got all the earmarks of a good dustup. We've got the trash-talking Maloney invoking blacks and Pueto Ricans in charges against Gillibrand. Then we've got renowned racial healer and hero of the downtrodden, Al Sharpton, chiming in, never one to miss the opportunity to pour gas on the slightest embers of racial discord.

Break out the popcorn, kids, this should be fun.

New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney apologized Monday for repeating a racial slur when she quoted another person during an interview.

Calling the N-word disgusting, the Democrat said she was relaying a story as it was told to her.

"I apologize for having repeated a word I find disgusting," Maloney said in a written statement. "It's no excuse, but I was so caught up in relaying the story exactly as it was told to me that, in doing so, I repeated a word that should never be repeated." Maloney is quoted on www.cityhallnews.com criticizing Democratic U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, whom Maloney may run against. Maloney says she got a call from someone who used the slur in accusing Gillibrand of backing English-only public education.

"Sen. Gillibrand believes that any use of the word is offensive," said Matt Canter, a spokesman for the senator.

Nothing like diving right into the gutter, conveniently invoking the word that shall never be repeated and claiming it was a quote from someone on the phone.

Typical Democrat behavior, using the race card early and often.

Here's the original quote from Maloney.

There is Carolyn Maloney, ripping into Kirsten Gillibrand broad and hard for voting against the two stimulus bills and for changing her positions on several core Democratic issues, sounding out her case on the fly as, “It’s the NRA, it’s immigration, it’s all these other things. In fact, I got a call from someone from Puerto Rico, said [Gillibrand] went to Puerto Rico and came out for English-only [education]. And he said, ‘It was like saying n—r to a Puerto Rican,’” she said, using the full racial slur. “I don’t know—I don’t know if that’s true or not. I just called. I’m just throwing that out. All of her—well, what does she stand for?”

She doesn't know if it's true, but she's just throwing it out.

Classy.

Meanwhile, Sharpton no doubt plans to milk this until he races off to his next shakedown gig.

"The quote by Congresswoman Maloney if accurate is alarming and disturbing at best," he said in a statement. "No public official even in quoting someone else should loosely use such an offensive term and should certainly challenge someone using the term to him or her."

Speaking of his next gig, look no further.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Update: Well, we certainly know Al Sharpton's routine.

The Rev. Al Sharpton said he will attend Gates' arraignment.

"This arrest is indicative of at best police abuse of power or at worst the highest example of racial profiling I have seen," Sharpton said. "I have heard of driving while black and even shopping while black but now even going to your own home while black is a new low in police community affairs."

Of course copping an attitude and playing the "don't you know who I am" card is nothing new with these racial arsonists. Gates could have simply shown ID and the incident would have been over. Yet when you carry a boulder-sized chip on your shoulder, that's just not possible. Now they have to make a national incident out of it.

How tiresome.

Comedy Alert: Sotomayor 'Stands to be One of the Greatest Judges in American History'

Nothing like embellishing a very mediocre (at best) record of a judge who has just recently had a major decision of hers overturned. But leave it to the Democrats to lard it on thick today at the Sotomayor hearings. Consider this a campaign moment of epic pandering from New York's junior senator.

It's a big day for New York's junior senator, and Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand is going to get some home-state mileage out of it.

Gillibrand, an appointed senator who could face a tough road to re-election in 2010, is going to introduce home-state nominee Sonia Sotomayor Monday afternoon at Sotomayor's confirmation hearing (along with Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., a Judiciary Committee member who was tasked with helping to shepherd Sotomayor's nomination through the Senate).
...
Don't expect Gillibrand to hold back in her introductory remarks According to her office, Gillibrand plans to tell the panel that Sotomayor "stands to be one of the greatest judges in American history."

Let's revisit that remark down the road. Maybe if she's as great as Justice Scalia or Justice Thomas then this absurd prediction would actually have some merit.

Until then Gillibrand needs to stop hyperventilating.