At first glance, of the three House Democratic freshmen from New York, Kirsten Gillibrand might seem like a compelling target for Republicans. Her district, New York’s 20th, delivered its votes to Bush by an 8-point margin in 2004, and by 7 points in 2000. And, with an advantage of over 80,000 voters in 2006, the 20th district has one of the most favorable voter registration balances for Republicans in New York. However, as we’ve all seen for over 20 years (the last six especially), the definition of “Republican” has changed, and many of this district’s voters are in the midst of a fundamental identity change.
Politicians like Kirsten are at the forefront of this shift, and she has already made all the right moves to put herself in the strongest possible position for her first re-election campaign after defeating the scandal-plagued John Sweeney last November. Aside from raising a very impressive $668,000 in the first quarter of 2007, she’s also been very successful in making headlines for all the right reasons: namely, an incredibly energetic delivery of services to her constituents. Just take this remarkable letter to the editor in the Albany Times-Union, written by a former Sweeney aide. Allow me to reproduce it in full, because it really captures the essence of the 20th’s new Democratic (big-d and small-d) representation:
As a former aide to John Sweeney while he was in the Pataki administration, I must say what a tremendous job Kirsten Gillibrand is doing. She is the most accessible politician in the region. Every weekend, she is somewhere in the 20th Congressional District, letting us know exactly where she stands on issues and why, which is a refreshing change. I’m sure we all have stories about experiences we have had dealing with Rep. Gillibrand, but I feel compelled to tell you about mine.Last month, Rep. Gillibrand asked me to serve on her Veterans Advisory Committee. Being a veteran and still involved in politics, I decided to accept her invitation to a meeting at the State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs.
I figured I would see the usual political maneuver in which the politician walks through the room, shakes a couple of hands, gets a picture with a leading area vet, says how hard she is fighting for us in Washington and then is whisked out of the room, all in a matter of minutes.
What happened could not have been further from this. Rep. Gillibrand went to the podium, disconnected the microphone, walked to the vet seated nearest her, gave him the microphone, sat down, opened a notebook, got out a pen and asked, “What do you want me to do as your representative in Congress?” I have to tell you, I was astonished.
Rep. Gillibrand sat there for 2 1/2 hours, listening as we passed the microphone from person to person. She asked questions, gave opinions and answers, and took down personal contact information if she did not have an answer, promising to call us back.
Our district could not have asked for a better person to serve us. If she keeps this up, she will be our representative for life.
GREG MIHALKO
Stephentown
Yep, public service like that sure beats Sweeney’s frat boy antics of years past.
Race Tracker: NY-20
While we noted in our