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Facing what could become a bruising primary battle, appointed U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is embracing one of President Obama’s best known communist appointees, former green jobs czar Van Jones. The Hill reports Gillibrand will share the stage with Jones at a panel discussion sponsored by the Advocacy Project at the Harvard Club in New York. Jones, a self-described “communist,” was pushed out of the Obama administration five months ago following the embarrassing revelation that he was a 9/11 “truther” who had signed a petition accusing the U.S. government of orchestrating the 9/11 terrorist attacks. For a time, Jones had...

Under assault from allies of Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, former Congressman Harold E. Ford Jr. fired back on Friday afternoon, saying he would be not be “bullied or intimidated” by “party bosses” as he considers challenging her in this fall’s Democratic primary. Mr. Ford’s interest in the race is triggering a growing sense of alarm within the Gillibrand camp, which has quickly sought to portray him as out of step with New York Democratic voters and, through supporters like Senator Charles E. Schumer, tried to dissuade him from entering the race. A spokesman for Mr. Ford issued a pungent statement...

Published reports out today have squelched the long-standing rumors that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will run for governor of New York State. But, what if Giuliani makes a bid for the U.S. Senate? Giuliani leads U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the Democrat appointed by Governor David Paterson to fill the vacant seat left by Hillary Clinton. 54% of registered voters statewide would vote for Giuliani compared with 40% who would support Gillibrand. Even one-third of Democrats report they would back the Republican challenger, and Giuliani runs competitively against Gillibrand in overwhelmingly Democratic New York City.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) on Sunday said she would support amending the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act to include gays and lesbians. Though no such amendment has been offered in Congress, Gillibrand said such a measure would be "transformational" and is "certainly worth fighting for." "I would [be supportive of that]. I truly believe that this gay rights agenda is the civil rights march of our generation. I think marriage equality, I think repealing DOMA, 'Don't ask, don't tell.' All of that work we're doing is part of equal rights in America and it is something that is so important...

Over the past year, the economic crisis has devastated the financial services industry that fueled New York's boom years. The ripple effect from Wall Street is still being felt, as unemployment has risen to 10.3% in New York City. In this turmoil, it may seem hard to imagine a financial market poised to deliver significant growth. However, a rising number of investors and financiers see one in the trading and reduction of carbon. According to financial experts, carbon permits could quickly become the world's largest commodities market, growing to as much as $3 trillion by 2020 from just over $100...

Here is a YouTube video of what Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Robert Casey (D, MoveOn.org, PA) just voted to continue funding with taxpayer dollars. Here are the U.S. Senators who voted to continue to fund Barack Obama's friends in ACORN (a "nay" vote is a vote against defunding ACORN). See also this video. Note in the video that, per ACORN's employees, the fake pimp doesn't have to file W-2 reports for his (imaginary) prostitutes because they are under sixteen.U.S. Senators who voted to continue to spend taxpayer money to fund ACORNBurris (D-IL) Casey (D-PA), also accepted the endorsement of an...

Oversight: As the Senate votes to de-fund Acorn, add pimping, tax evasion and human trafficking to voter fraud paid for with taxpayer dollars and you have an organized criminal enterprise. It's time to investigate.After Acorn workers were caught on tape in three cities allegedly abetting what they believed was a fraudulent-mortgage and sex-trafficking scheme, the Senate has voted overwhelmingly to strip the group of funding in the Transportation/Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill. The amendment, offered by Nebraska Republican Sen. Mike Johanns, passed by an 83-to-7 margin and marked the third time this year that Republicans have tried to block...

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

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand faces urgent timetable to connect with voters WASHINGTON — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has spent her first 100 days in office crisscrossing New York state and reaching out to voters who aren't familiar with her policies and personality. So far, Gillibrand admits, she's got a lot more work to do in that department. A former one-term Democratic House member from a mostly rural district that includes Saratoga and Warren counties, Gillibrand was sworn in to replace Secretary of State HillaryRodham Clinton in the Senate on Jan. 27. A Marist Poll released Monday found 43 percent of registered voters...

The American adversarial system of justice depends on the willingness of lawyers to vigorously represent unpopular, even odious clients. Criticizing a lawyer for his or her choice of client can be a dicey business. Like everyone else, though, lawyers bear responsibility for their decisions. Take the career of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Before she was elected to Congress in 2006 (and later appointed to fill Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vacated Senate seat earlier this year), Ms. Gillibrand spent a significant chunk of her professional life working at a prestigious New... --snip-- Her law firm allowed lawyers to decline work on tobacco cases...

February 24, 2009, 4:00 a.m. Stick to Your Guns, SenatorGiving in to the anti-gun lobby will not help Kirsten Gillibrand stay in office. By Dave Kopel What should Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand do about guns? As a two-term U.S. representative from upstate New York, she had a perfect pro–Second Amendment voting record. A week ago, she admitted to Newsday that she kept two rifles under her bed for family defense. This has not sat well with the gun-prohibition crowd, although when Newsday put the question to a reader vote, 97 percent did not mind her owning guns for this purpose....

It may be Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's clearest flip-flop so far. In an interview with news 4 New York on Friday, Gillibrand said she would not vote for a bill she sponsored just eight months ago. "Not unless they fix it," She said.

When Kirsten Gillibrand was a congresswoman in a pretty conservative district, she voted against the bailout, so wouldn't you think she would vote against THIS PORKulus? Nope, she's under Sen. Schumer's thumb. When she was a congresswoman in this conservative district, she did what she had to do to win, except for abortion. She received a 100% rating from NARAL.

Sure, it’s early yet. Only the first day of February. Lots of time for someone to overtake her. But let’s recognize that Kirsten Gillibrand has taken the lead for the worst piece of political gobbledygook of this young year. As per the Associated Press, here’s what the newly-anointed senator from New York, billed as a “conservative” Democrat, had to say after emerging from a meeting with Latino leaders who had been peeved about her immigration policies: "We need to recognize the heritage that the immigrant community has provided to this country and put policies in place that will reflect that...

NEW YORK -- New York's new senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, who has drawn fire from Hispanics over her views on immigration and gun control, says she's willing to listen and perhaps even change her positions on some subjects - but isn't ready to make any commitments. "We need to recognize the heritage that the immigrant community has provided to this country and put policies in place that will reflect that core value," Gillibrand, who recently assumed Hillary Clinton's old Senate seat, said after a two-hour meeting on Sunday with a dozen or so Hispanic members of the state Assembly and the...

Jim Tedisco: A name we know, a record we trust. ✓ Republican Leader of the New York State Assembly ✓ Proven record of fighting for real property tax relief, fiscal responsibility and more jobs ✓ Supports small businesses and growing our economy ✓ Stopped Governor Eliot Spitzer’s unlawful plan to give driver’s licenses to illegal aliens

As if attempting to prove the truth of that old New Yorker cartoon that shows nothing of any consequence beyond the friendly confines of Manhattan, the New York Times has condemned liberal Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand for being too conservative. Apparently, Gillibrand hasn’t toed the party line quite as strictly as they would like. (Can you imagine the gnashing of teeth at the DNC when they found out she has a 100% lifetime rating from the National Rifle Association, voted against TARP, supports the death penalty, and is pro-life? Yet, despite those “conservative” positions Gillibrand considers herself a liberal. We’re sure...

January 27, 2009, 4:00 a.m. Challenging GillibrandCan Peter King do it? By Mark Hemingway When Caroline Kennedy was still a top contender to replace Hillary Clinton as the junior senator from New York, it had been widely reported that Republican congressman Peter King of Long Island was gearing up to challenge her in 2010. Since then, Kennedy has dropped out of the running, amid considerable acrimony between the Kennedy clan and New York governor David Paterson. Paterson has instead tapped Kirsten Gillibrand, a blue-dog congresswoman from upstate who is in some ways the antithesis of Kennedy liberalism. Despite this...

Pro-gay, pro-gun Kirsten Gillibrand is New York Gov. David Paterson’s choice to succeed Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate. Gillibrand seems to fit no convenient category, but the odds are that she will slide to the left over the next two years. Gillibrand is from upstate New York and a member of the Blue Dog Democrats, a group of about 50 fiscally conservative House Democrats, though the Blue Dogs -- including Gillibrand -- are often moderate to liberal on social issues, including abortion and gay rights. She grew up in Albany, N.Y., the daughter of a prominent state lobbyist, and...

As Caroline Kennedy (AKA “The Princess of Camelot”) unhappily found out, that most congenial spot for happily-ever-aftering is not located in NY. ... During the press conference in which he announced his choice, Patterson said Kirsten Gillibrand is “dynamic, she’s articulate, she is perceptive, she’s courageous, she is outspoken.” In other words, she is everything Kennedy is not. Note: The Stiletto writes about politics and other stuff at The Stiletto Blog, chosen an Official Honoree in the Political Blogs category by the judges of the 12th Annual Webby Awards (the Oscars of the online universe) along with CNN Political Ticker