Bear with me here. Let's assume for a moment that Hillary is our 2008 Presidential nominee, and that she wins. Fast forward to the election aftermath, where Gov. Eliot Spitzer has the task of appointing a replacement to fill Clinton's Senate vacancy.
Whom might Spitzer appoint? And whom would you want Spitzer to appoint?
Spitzer surprised many observers when he tapped state Senator David Paterson for his running mate in 2006, and perhaps he could surprise again given the chance. Despite being large in number, there is no one of tremendous stature in the state's Democratic congressional delegation who could be tapped (Charlie Rangel, at 77, is too old), but that's not to say that I think a promotion from the House to the Senate is unlikely.
If Spitzer wanted to get political rival and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo off his back, he could always appoint him, but that seems unlikely given their prickly relationship.
Perhaps even Paterson himself could be a possibility, but one would expect that Spitzer would come under pressure to balance the state's Senatorial delegation with an appointee from upstate rather than a second Senator with Brooklyn roots.
There has been little talk yet of this subject, possibly because Hillary must leap through two hoops (the primary and the general election) before such a scenario occurs. But we here at Swing State like to explore the hypotheticals, so share your thoughts in the comments below.
Maurice Hinchey, NY-26, representing Binghamton and Ithaca. But more likely, and just as wonderful, would be Louise Slaughter, since she’s the Rules committee chair, I believe.
is 70, believe it or not (born in 1937), so she’s not likely to get the appointment.
Lisa Madigan? Jesse Jackson Jr.?
to see Paterson appointed.
Four years before that seat would be up for re-elect, if Senate is something he wanted this is a cheap way to do it and allows him to fundraise federally for the re-elect.
Nita Lowey was planning on running back in 2000 and stepped aside for Clinton. I have no clue if she and Spitzer get along but if he were to appoint her he would have a seasoned politician, based outside the city (Westchester County) and keep the seat in female hands.
I didn’t realize she was 70. 8 years makes a difference. What about one of the Carolyn’s? McCarthy from Long Island. She’s a real person, less of a politician, which might preclude her being considered strong statewide.
He might do a fine job and might be able to win the seat if he ran, but having seen the demolition of Minnesota Democratic delegation in 1978 (we lost the Governor’s seat and both Senate seats after holding them for the previous 8 years) after Governor Wendy Anderson appointed himself to Walter Mondale’s seat in 1976, I know that this would be suicide for the NY Democratic party and for Eliot Spitzer.
Nita Lowey does seem like a good candidate.
In our hypothetical world, RFK2 will run for the seat, but not be appointed, because that smells of hackery. In fact, he’s gone on the record saying he would consider a run.
RFK Jr. was the man who came first to my mind that I’d LOVE to see in the Senate.
Why didn’t I think of that? He’d be great in the Senate!
Quite a walk-back if Spitzer tapped DiNapoli, given how brutal a start they got off to.
What about Susan John? Upstate….woman….progressive. (I used to work for her, am aware of her former drinking issues….)
We already have a Brooklyn Jew as a senator, Upstate wouldn’t stand for another. He/She has to be black, a women, or from upstate. Or some combo of the three.
Lowey seems like the right choice – experienced in Congress, female, even from the same region of the state as HRC.
If you wanted somebody younger with more time to build up seniority, Rep. Gillibrand wouldn’t be the worst idea – she’s a very good politician even though she’s so new, she’s a terrific fundraiser, and it might be easier for her to keep a statewide seat that she has to run for every 6 years than her own GOP-leaning seat she has to defend every two years.
Lisa Madigan strikes me as the obvious choice for an Obama replacement.
If I could nominate myself. Fortunately, I am now old enough, having just turned 30.
I had always assumed was the best candidate for Louise Slaughter’s seat when she retires…but I can see her in the US Senate.
DavidNYC
Engage in a little tinfoil hattery re election “fraud” in the recent past? Or am I thinking of another Kennedy?
You can run for both. Practically you can not. First of all it’d be easy campaign fodder for his opposition if it was known that he was going to run for Senate. Also, he’d basically have to announce he was running for Senate during his victory speech and basically have to camapign non-stop.
But how is his relationship with the Kennedy family? Robert Kennedy, Jr. may not be a bad choice at all.
come on, we all know we want him there. him or stephen colbert, they could both be independents.
obama would suck all the air out of a clinton candidacy. bill is already stealing the spotlight when he campaigns with hillary, obama would suck out what’s left. it would be like aerosmith and the rolling stones (god i’m old) touring with, well, hillary clinton. she wants a somewhat qualified, veep who’ll stay out of her way. she wants a bush, a quayle, an agnew, and she already has one. iowa gov tom vilsack. he’s campaigned heavily for her since leaving the race. clinton has also cleared vilsacks campaign debt for him. he’ll be veep if she gets it. at least in my opinion.
in 2010, or if he retires the special election?
Kennedy is up in 2007, Landrieu is up n 2008. He can run for both. Are you sure on this? Like what is your source?
This is huge if it is true.
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All of these points have crossed Nadler’s mind. He would be my choice (strong supporter of civil liberties, a very important issue for me).
Spitzer would have to think about who could run a successful state wide campaign, and Senator Clinton being elected president is not exactly in the bag at this point.
Hinchey’s a frontrunner because he can win on reddish turf running a VERY progressive campaign. McCarthy can get the seat because she’s a moderate, and it would make sense for a female to replace the female Clinton.
The appointment will only fill the rest of Hillary’s term…because I can definitely see Gillibrand making a run for it in 2012, provided she can hold NY-20.
I think there is a very fair chance that Clark would get the nod. Mark Warner if he isn’t running for Senate would be a logical choice as well.
. . . if Hillary is at the top of the ticket, I agree. But I’m hoping Hill won’t be our nominee. If Gore jumps in (and he just might, since he has not asked the Draft Gore movement to abandon its effort, as he had done by this point in the ’04 cycle,) Obama would be the ideal veep candidate. If Biden or Dodd ended up at the top of the ticket (not that the odds are high for either, but, in the off chance,) they, too, would be well-advised to pick Obama.
Maurice Hinchey would be an excellent choice, but he’ll be 70 in 2008.
My choices would be Rep. Jerrold Nadler of Manhattan, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of Nassau County, or State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli from Long Island.
Rep. Anthony Weiner of Queens, my Congressman, would also make a great Senator, but I think it more likely he’ll run for Mayor of New York City in 2009.
Eric Massa could also be a good choice should he not defeat Kuhl next year…but he will.
Any state legislators who can make good Senators? I’d personally look at Sam Hoyt of Buffalo, Patricia Eddington of Long Island, or Michael Gianaris of Queens.
who will run for kuchinich’s seat when he becomes president? 😉
No upstater has been elected to the Senate since Ken Keating in 1958. That last Senator to come from Upstate was Charles Goodell, who was appointed after Bobby Kennedy was asassinated. He failed to win reelection.
I think it would be an interesting choice to appoint someone from Upstate, especially a Democrat, but it’s not necessary. Everyone thought Spitzer was going to pick an upstater as his running mate…he picked a Manhattan State Senator.
Spitzer doesn’t really need upstate support to win the State Senate. There are three Republican-held seats in Brooklyn and Queens and all but one of the Long Island seats are GOP. All he needs is two more of those seats and he’s got the Senate, he doesn’t even need Upstate.
Give them the honor of 4 years in the Senate before they retire.
John Kennedy has decided not to chalenge Mary Landrieu and instead run for re-election. Great News huh!
Would Spitzer have to elect someone from upstate just to keep them happy? Clinton, Schumer, Moynihan, D’Amato, they were all from the NYC region (Long Island, the city itself, or Westchester, or in Clinton’s case happen to live there). And Spitzer needs upstate support to win the state Senate and to erode crazy Bruno’s base of support.
Higgins from Buffalo maybe? Or even Arcuri from Utica? Anyone else who’s not too old around? Or does he go another route and choose a minority from the city?
Ok, that would be a deal that would be so much in favor of Spitzer that Silver wouldn’t quite go for it.
The problem with appointing Hinchey is that it is a seat that could flip to the GOP if they get the right candidate. The person should come from upstate as Schumer is a Brooklyn guy and an upstate Senator would be a nice balance. My guess is Spitzer would choose someone who isn’t currently in Congress.
Won’t there be a coterie urging him to appoint Andrew Cuomo?
Are they enemies?
If he loses his race again. Eric Massa. He’s just running in a place that is hard to win in.
Or DavidNYC might make a good senator 😉
While Spitzer may not need upstate, it would make life a lot easier to apease them a bit with a nomination from upstate. If your going to pull form the Assembly Crystal isn’t a bad choice. She represents a very reliably D district. She may be a bit green since she has only been in the Assembly since 2002 (I think).
I think Sam Hoyt would be an AWESOME choice. His district is reliably democratic. The district covers the Lower West Side, Parkside, and part of the City’s Universit District as well as Grand Island (suburb). He has a great reputation in the area. He has been a leading proponet of smart growth and made the WNY and upstate economies a high priority (and we all know it needs all the help it can get). He also has republican appeal since he has helped pass 150 tax cuts. He’s big on education and renewable energy. He’s been in the assembly since 1992.