Kirsten Gillibrand voted against the bailout and supports hunters' rights

Rick asked for more information on Kirsten Gillibrand, who might be our next Senator.  Most importantly, in the House, Rep. Gillibrand voted against the bailout, voting against socialism.  On that issue, she knew better than John McCain.  Also, as Rick points out, she has a 100% rating from the National Rifle Association.  She supports hunters' rights 100%.  She comes from a conservative Republican hunting family, and her father has strong ties to the New York GOP.  In 2006, she defeated John Sweeney.  In short, Kirsten Gillibrand has strong conservative credentials, for a Democrat.

The Kirsten Gillibrand rumor is still a rumor, our unelected Governor makes his announcement tomorrow (Friday).  There is still a miniscule chance that he will appoint Andrew Cuomo, if only to prevent Cuomo from challenging Patterson for Governor in 2010.  That said, I am 99% sure its Kirsten Gillibrand.  Senator Charles Schumer wanted a woman form upstate New York, and Gillibrand fits that bill. 

Even though I praise her conservative credentials, make no mistake, Kirsten Gillibrand is still a Democrat, and if she is our next Senator, I will support the Republican challenging her in 2010.  That might be Peter King.   However, in this bluest of blue states, we should still be thankful for conservative Democrats.  We must remember the alternative: liberals.   Elections are often about the lesser of two evils (one reason why I support Michael Bloomberg for a third term as mayor over the liberal alternative).  If the choice was Caroline Kennedy, Andrew Cuomo, Caroline Maloney,  Thomas Suozzi or Kirsten Gillibrand, I believe that Kirsten Gillibrand was easily the lesser of the evils.