Posted on 03/11/2010 8:11:55 PM PST by neverdem
Encouraged by state and national Republican Party leaders, Dan Senor, an author, private equity executive and Defense Department adviser in the last Bush administration, is seriously considering a political challenge against Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, according to three people told of the discussions.
Mr. Senor, 38, who is married to the CNN anchorwoman Campbell Brown, is expected to decide in the next month whether to run. The discussions between Mr. Senor and the Republican leaders reflect their dissatisfaction with the existing field of Republican candidates in the state and their consensus that Ms. Gillibrand remains vulnerable to a challenger in the election this fall.
In recent weeks, as Democratic political prospects have soured, a number of big-name Republicans including Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor and presidential candidate have urged Mr. Senor to consider running.
Rudy is very impressed with him and pleased that he is considering running, said Anthony V. Carbonetti, a senior adviser to Mr. Giuliani, who said the former mayor had lunch with Mr. Senor a few days ago.
Among others who have encouraged him are Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee; Michael R. Long, the leader of the New York Conservative Party; and Edward F. Cox, the chairman of the states Republican Party, according to people with direct knowledge of the conversations
The Republican leaders, who cautioned that they were not backing any single candidate, have told Mr. Senor that his deep ties in the party, expertise on national security and background as a businessman would make him a formidable candidate. His New York roots do not hurt, either: he was born in Utica, which could appeal to upstate voters wary of his Manhattan address.
Mr. Senor declined to be interviewed for this article.
Ms. Gillibrand, who...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
You know the NRSC is just dying to spend $10M on Carly and Pataki.
You know who I don’t want to see in that Senate seat? Gillibrand.
We need someone that can beat Gillibrand this November and hold the seat in 2012. Pataki would almost certainly beat Gillibrand this November, and would have a better-than-even chance of holding the seat in 2012. None of the other potential candidates being mentioned can say the same, although Senor may be abe to beat Gillibrand this November and wouldn’t necessarily be a lame duck if he won.
I know, Pataki is pro-abortion and rather a squish on other issues, but he’s not as liberal as other prominent NY Republicans. His views and record are like Lazio’s, obviously too liberal to be considered for a Senate seat in a state such as Pennsylvania or Florida, but acceptable in a state with such a dearth of viable conservative candidates as NY. We need to elect conservatives to Congress so that in a few years we have a conservative with the right profile for a U.S. Senate run in NY; right now, the closest thing we have to that is Peter King, and he’s unreliable on many issues and frankly may not have the ability to win statewide.
Can you imagine Kirk, Castle, Snowe, Collins, Pataki, Carly, and Little Lindsay Graham running the Senate? I guess the House could restrain them, but if they had their way they'd pass Cap and Trade, Amnesty, tax hikes, gay marriage, and support Bill Clinton to head the new world government.
I don't mind a few moderates in the caucus who know how to play ball, but I don't want them reaching critical mass.
Name the conservative that has the profile to win a Senate election in NY right now. I don’t think there is any. We need to fix that by 2016, but right now it would be better to have a Pataki than a Gillibrand in the Senate.
I don’t see any reason to think that Pataki is as liberal as Kirk, Castle or Specter (much less Lincoln Chafee). He’s like Lazio, or Scott Brown.
The way to take influence away from Snowe et al is to elect 51 conservatives to the Senate. I fail to see how having Gillibrand keep the NY seat will help us do that, just as having Coakley beat Brown would not have helped us either.
Dan Senor will not be running for Gillibrand’s Senate seat:
http://mobile.twitter.com/BreakingNews/status/10986563855
I hope this meanst that Pataki will be jumping in soon. I also hope that by the time that Schumer is up again in 2016 we’ll have more of a farm team of conservatives in NY with the profile to run for the Senate.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.