Today, I am ending my campaign for president.
I am so proud of this team and all we've accomplished. But I think it’s important to know how you can best serve.
To our supporters: Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Now, let's go beat Donald Trump and win back the Senate. pic.twitter.com/xM5NGfgFGT
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) August 28, 2019
Ave atque vale! Her kids are young, and to someone interested in making a difference, there are worse jobs than being a senator from New York, so…
… A Gillibrand aide told CNN that the senator decided to end her presidential campaign last night after talking with her family and “after it was clear she would not make the stage.”
Gillibrand, in a sign that the campaign viewed qualifying for the third debate as critical, had spent millions on TV and digital ads aimed at boosting her support. But those efforts failed to break Gillibrand out of the pack of candidates polling under 1% nationally.
The senator entered the presidential race with an exploratory committee in January, outlining a campaign that would focus on fighting for equality, especially for women, something that she has also made central to her time in the Senate.
Gillibrand joined the 2020 field with $10.5 million in the bank, a massive campaign bank account that quickly made her one of the most financially formidable candidates in the race. But that advantage was short lived as Gillibrand struggled to raise money in the crowded field, an early sign that the senator’s bid would eventually fail.
Unlike some Democrats running for President, Gillibrand took her fight directly to President Donald Trump, regularly calling him out on the campaign trial. This was a clear strategy for the senator from Trump’s home state: Gillibrand officially kicked off her presidential campaign in March with a rally outside Trump Tower in New York City…
A number of her Democratic opponents took to Twitter to tout Gillibrand’s work after her announcement on Wednesday.
“Kirsten, you are my sister and one of the most righteous fighters I know,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker wrote. “I’ll miss our run-ins on the trail, but women, New Yorkers, and all Americans are lucky to have you resolutely at their sides.”
“My friend @SenGillibrand is a brave voice on some of the most critical issues facing our country today — from childcare to sexual assault. She is a champion and I know she’s not done fighting for women and families everywhere,” California Sen. Kamala Harris said.
And former Rep. Beto O’Rourke wrote, “Thank you, @SenGillibrand, for always fighting for what’s right. Every day of this campaign, your leadership brought attention to the issues that matter most—and our party, and our country, are stronger because of it.”
Thank you for being part of this race, @SenGillibrand, and for your unwavering commitment to fighting for women—from reproductive rights to paid leave. Your voice has been strong and clear, and your determination is always on display. I'm proud to keep fighting alongside you.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) August 28, 2019
Cacti
Good riddance.
B.B.A.
No surprise. Everything she did, Harris does better.
I still expect her to make a fine Senate Majority Leader someday.
Yarrow
Good for her for seeing the reality of the situation and leaving gracefully. Let’s win the Senate!
MomSense
Wish a few more would follow her example.
dmsilev
That’s too bad. I’d far rather see her than Gabbard or Williamson or Steyer. Still, I can understand the decision; not making the debate cut is pretty much a definitive ‘nope’.
Baud
@Yarrow:
Agree. No reason to drag it out.
MisterForkbeard
Good for her. At this point, she wasn’t going to take off and she left gracefully without any Democrat/DNC bashing like a few of the others. She’ll continue to be a good Senator and hopefully a good surrogate for whichever Dem gets the nomination.
I think we’ll see a few more of these – the 0-1%’ers have a clear signal to leave now without looking pathetic. The ones that hang on are in it for the grift or to make the party look bad (Gabbard). Leaving now is a good test of character for them.
dogs inc.
Read this in a brief comment two threads down. At the risk of appearing too critical, Anne, I don’t see why this merits a dedicated post. Small news. Others need to drop out.
Mandalay
There was an excellent comment posted on the NYT article announcing Gillibrand pulling out of the race:
Beautifully put.
Calling for Franken to go wasn’t Gillibrand’s downfall. It was that she specifically called for him to go without being heard by the Senate Committee on Ethics. She has since doubled down and insisted that she would do the same thing again, and I don’t think that sits well with a lot of people.
Fair Economist
This is big. The winnowing process has taken out the first serious candidate.
Gillibrand leaving 5 months before the first caucus shows the process wasn’t so bad after all. Those overlarge debates will be soon forgotten and nobody will be able to complain about being cut out of the process.
MisterForkbeard
@dogs inc.: Gillibrand was (for some time) seen as a fairly major contender for the nomination, though I think that was really back before February. She merits some additional attention, especially because she’s going out gracefully instead of Tim Ryaning it.
Also, we needed a new thread. Old one was a bit stale. :)
dogs inc.
@MisterForkbeard:
Well, ok, I know this is more interesting to others, but I disagree she was ever a major contender. And, yes, some additional attention might be deserved, but not a lot, in my opinion. Thanks for your polite response. Time to put food on my family.
SiubhanDuinne
“Nothing in her campaign
Became her like the leaving it.”
dogs inc.
@SiubhanDuinne:
Perfect. Later…
MisterForkbeard
@Fair Economist:
Nah, sore losers are already complaining and I’m sure we’ll see something similar from some of the more belligerent candidates.
Kay
I liked her more than I thought I would. She has a sense of humor – she seemed to be having a good time!
If that’s a CRIME…:)
PsiFighter37
Good. I soured on her after the whole Franken incident, and in retrospect, a lot of her political ‘evolution’ has reeked more of political convenience than anything.
She can probably be a senator from NY for life, but I doubt she’ll ever have the clout that either Moynihan or (now) Schumer has aggregated. Unfortunately, there are not too many interesting up-and-coming junior folks (AOC is NOT one of those) who would bring some charisma to the upper ranks of the NYS Democratic Party.
laura
There is still a too crowded field. Her exit is gracious, no scorched earth. Focusing on White House and Senate is The Message and it deserves acknowledgement even if she had some baggage that many found disqualifying. Remaining in her Senate seat is an honorable decision as she had promised constituents until she announced her candidacy. The top tier and viable candidates’ responses are generous. Let the rest of those who didn’t qualify for the next debate bow out and commit to supporting the nominee and the party.
Focus on winning as so perfectly outlined in yesterday’s post.
Kay
@Mandalay:
I do agree with that, though. There has to be some kind of process. It is unworkable.
kindness
Kirsten isn’t my favorite but I would have voted for her had she won. I wish other folk in the 2% range would take a hint and go too.
Cacti
@Mandalay:
And Gillibrand is a lawyer. She knew better, but still chose to lead the mob.
Baud
@Kay:
I thought she did well in debates. Obviously, with so many candidates, there was a little opportunity for her to get a foothold.
laura
@SiubhanDuinne: where would you like your internets delivered, or would you prefer to claim it at customer service on the mezzanine level?
PsiFighter37
@kindness: Sadly for everyone involved, I guarantee Bill de Blasio stays in the race until the bitter end. The dude clearly has zero interest in running NYC. He and his mediocre pick for schools superintendent also just dropped a massive turd of a plan – get rid of any gifted schooling up to high school – in order to ‘equalize’ the playing field. That’s literally the best way to hand the keys to NYC back over to a Republican.
Elizabelle
Door. Ass. Way out.
Reading the FTF NYTimes story. Sorted the reader comments by “most liked.” So far, the top 25 all mention Al Franken.
ETA: Way more than the top 25.
JPL
That was the only one trump was concerned about. sad
A Ghost To Most
Buh bye, Felicia.
Uncle Cosmo
@Mandalay: Some thought she jumped at the chance to drive Franken out of the Senate because he was getting attention she thought should be hers. The fact that he was getting that attention as an astute & articulate opponent of the GOP didn’t much matter – he was standing in the limelight she wanted for herself. Maybe that was unfair – & maybe we owe Doug Jones’s Senate seat to Franken’s resignation (though I doubt that) – but it sure looked self-serving to me at the time.
Let her remain a solid Democratic Senator & a leader in all the non-Presidential action we need to retake the government & at the end of the day she’ll have done good.
JPL
@A Ghost To Most: You win.
PJ
@Cacti: She thought pushing for Franken to resign would help her in her campaign for President, just like being pro-gun and anti-immigrant helped her when she was running for Congress.
Given the way New York politics works, unless she seriously f*cks things up, she has a job for life in the Senate.
satby
@Elizabelle: yeah, I won’t feel any loss over this either.
@laura: IIRC, you’re Schlemazel’s niece and were kind enough to read our messages to him? I’m so glad you’ve stayed on to comment too.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@PsiFighter37: Yeah, Bill needs to go, now. He needs to go back and do his job in NYC. If he can do a good job at that, he won’t, he can stand for a promotion.
Kay
@Baud:
It IS a little concerning that she didn’t even consider that Franken (or any accused) is due some sort of process. Kavanaugh got a hearing and a vote.
laura
@satby: nope, that’s other laura. I sure miss schlemazel, and efg, and Scotian, and greennotGreen.
I’m laura from Sacramento by way of Santa Rosa.
Baud
@Kay:
Yeah, it could have been an issue if she had caught fire. But she’s likely reached the end of her political career as a Senator, so I’m not sure what else there is to say about the Franken issue.
Kay
@Baud:
I admit I’m a little annoyed that the people who aren’t going to win who stay in. I get it- they’re allowed- but it sometimes feels like they’re forcing us to listen to them. I don’t know- isn’t there another forum where someone like Bill DeBlasio or Williamson can be “heard”? Sure there is. They’re both heard plenty.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Kay: Verdict first, trail later bothered me.
satby
And in other news of things I don’t miss, my super-duper flea killer pesticides were delivered by 10am, and by noon not a live flea was to be found. Still have weeks of daily vacuuming and a retreatment in 14 days, but there’s now a blissful end to scratching by person and critters. Whew!
satby
@laura: ah, sorry to have confused you. Schlemazel always made such astute comments, as do you. So I thought there was a resemblance.
Kay
@Baud:
Oh, I have PLENTY to say, Baud :)
I hate pile-ons. It wouldn’t have harmed anyone to give him a hearing. It was handled poorly and that approach won’t work longer term. People will (rightfully) insist on some kind of process when accused.
Wag
I’m glad to see this after what she did to Al Frankin.
Baud
@Kay:
I’m still more annoyed that Bernie is still in it.
Everyone else will fade away, except Tulsi, who will probably speak at the RNC.
dmsilev
@Kay: With the debate thresholds going up, we’re not really going to hear from deBlasio or Williamson. If they’re polling at 1% or less and not on any debate stage, does it really matter whether they’re technically still running?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Kay:
Yup, it also opens us up to rodent copulation from Republicans.
Baud
@Kay:
Haha. I suppose this is the grievance thread. I didn’t like how it was handled either. They basically ACORN’d Franken.
PJ
@Kay: The ego of politicians is a strange thing. I get that, for Williamson, just being out there helps her woo-woo brand. DeBlasio is another egg entirely – he’s really accomplished little after his first two years in office (I give him props for universal pre-K), but it seems like he’s been bored with running the biggest city in the US for more than four years now, and that apathy is reflected in his popularity in New York, but somehow believes that someone is actually going to vote for him to be the Democratic candidate for President? Really? I honestly don’t think he’s angling for VP or a Cabinet position – I think he believes that there is some route for him to become President. It’s bizarre.
Spanky
@satby: Better living through chemistry.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@PJ: It seems that many mayors of New York City think the world revolves around them and the only other job that wouldn’t be a demotion is President.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@satby: So you’ve gone with chemical warfare.
Omnes Omnibus
@MomSense: How many people would you allow to continue? It is only fucking August. As long as the candidates aren’t tearing one another down and are offering interesting policy alternatives as well as taking shots at Trump, I don’t give a flying fuck how many there are. The field will narrow to 3-5 candidates by the day after Super Tuesday.
zhena gogolia
@MisterForkbeard:
procopius has already started. “The surest sign that Bernie won’t be nominated is that he’s in the lead now!”
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus: I’d just prefer to see the requirements to qualify for the debates to continue to narrow. Ten folk still on the stage is still too many.
zhena gogolia
@Kay:
She had a great moment on Fox News when she stood up to C. Wallace. I didn’t like her performance at the debates.
Raven
@Omnes Omnibus: roger that
Anne Laurie
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I grew up in NYC, and let me tell you: The city has never really gotten over having been the original national capital. There’s a nativist bias — strongest, often, among those who migrated to the city, such as Bill deBlasio — that New York City remains the “real” Capital City, while DC is the boarding facility for the rubes & drones who do the paperwork. The Big Apple remains the financial capital, of course — the Capital of Capitol — which is one reason the delusion persists so strongly.
(Of course, there’s plenty of states where this dynamic applies; I spent 15 years in Michigan, watching Detroit (money capital) and Lansing (political capital) snipe at each other… )
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
The big issue is media coverage. With so many candidates, I feel like the media is focusing on the top three. Maybe if we had 5 or 6 viable candidates, they’re would be more equal coverage.
I am happy the debates will all be on one night now.
zhena gogolia
@Baud:
Nothing. How about nothing. If I never hear his name again as long as I live, I’ll be happy.
PsiFighter37
@Anne Laurie: Hard to say de Blasio has a nativist streak when he’s a friggin’ Red Sucks fan.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Anne Laurie: Well, original national capitol under the Constitution, there were quite a few others under the Articles of Confederation. We folk out here in the west take a bit of offense with NYC’s perception.
zhena gogolia
Nobody ever seems to stop to think that Franken let US down.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@PsiFighter37: Could be worse, he could be a Yankees fan.
B.B.A.
I’ll add this much, and nothing more:
It’s not about due process. It’s about affirmative action.
schrodingers_cat
Heh I got retweeted by Mirza Waheed, a Kashmiri novelist who was interviewed by the New Yorker and has written op-eds about Kashmir for the Guardian.
Raven
@zhena gogolia: bah, that chick was a fucking skank, it was a setup.
Baud
@Raven:
I assume you are referring to the woman in the photo, and not Gillibrand.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Congrats!
zhena gogolia
@Raven:
He was a US Senator. She held a gun to his head and made him have his picture taken cupping her breasts?
zhena gogolia
Why am I even doing this. Time to turn off the computer.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
The photo was well before he was in the Senate. IIRC.
zhena gogolia
@Baud:
I just looked it up. You’re right, although two years isn’t exactly “well before.” He had to have had some inkling he was going to run.
germy
Tina Smith is great, and has been doing good work.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Thanks! I am also trying to correct the record on what Indian scriptures supposedly say. Indian Twitter is skewed to the right. That’s why I decided to start tweeting. I used to just mostly lurk before Modi’s reelection.
Raven
@zhena gogolia: get a clue he wasn’t a senator in 2006 On a goddamn USO tour, look at her here and tell me all about it
youtu.be/86-ZcMqMru4
zhena gogolia
@Raven:
Warren and Harris also said he should resign, yet this isn’t a subject of discussion every single time one of them is mentioned.
Raven
@zhena gogolia: She’s gone, he’s gone. I didn’t write the post.
Anne Laurie
@Raven: And there were seven other women who also ‘made accusations’. But it’s pointless relitigating what Franken did or didn’t do, *unless* he choses to get back into politics — which I doubt will happen.
germy
Kay
One of the other candidates would do well to pick up Gillibrand’s set of family policies. They will be popular. It’s what she contributed and she seems to genuinely care about it. Child care is very expensive now, and the US is so far behind other countries on paid family leave it’s ridiculous.
She should have just hit that over and over again. No one else is saying it.
schrodingers_cat
Truth vs RW propaganda
Baud
@germy:
I haven’t followed the news since this morning. Is she denying the accusation? I haven’t heard.
Redshift
I was never a fan of her campaign, in part because the first week she called for more restrictions on opioid prescriptions to address “the root cause,” which is pretty much a big FU to families of people with chronic pain), but the thing that makes me happiest about her dropping out is way fewer trash fire threads like this one.
Sab
@Kay: She knee-capped the Me-too movement for her own political gain (which didn’t happen.)
I despise her for this.
ETA we could have tried to show an appropriate response to accusations. Which do happen and are needed. Instead we fed our guy to the wolves, suggesting that all accusations are false.
Raven
@Anne Laurie:What did you think people were going to do when you posted it? I agree it’s pointless and I’ve said what I think like everyone else.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
I don’t get it.
Ohio Mom
Gillibrand never floated my boat, so I won’t miss her but I must say, that is a very nicely done video. It almost made me excited about her.
germy
The threatening letter she received is disgusting.
Kay
@germy:
It’s insane how much they hate her. Unhinged. It’s just part of a regular week now for them all to be screaming that she must resign.
satby
@Spanky: , @?BillinGlendaleCA: you betcha!
Baud
@Kay:
They have to fill a Hillary sized void where their heart is supposed to be.
PJ
@zhena gogolia: Franken let us down exactly how? I’ll grant you, he should have stayed in the Senate, and leaving was a mistake. But there’s no credible evidence he harassed anyone – the “breast cupping” photo you refer to shows him pretending to molest her (through body armor). It’s a stupid sophomoric joke, but not out of key with the skits they’d been doing together on the USO show.
@zhena gogolia: Do you have some kind of special link to Franken’s mind, that you know he was planning to run for Senate two years before he actually did? His whole career was as a comedian – the fact that he’s doing comedy bits in 2006 should not be a surprise.
And if you do think that Franken knew that he was going to run for Senate in 2006, but kept it a secret, why do you put any faith in Gillibrand, who swore when she last ran for Senate that she would NOT run for President in 2020 (although I guess she did ultimately keep that promise.)
A Ghost To Most
@Anne Laurie:
Meh. Everywhere I’ve lived, except MD, had a strong nativist streak. In MD, the locals are overwhelmed by the transplants.
germy
A Ghost To Most
@zhena gogolia: That may or may not be true. We’ll never know; too much tar and feathers were flying at the time to find out.
jk
i would have voted for Gillibrand or Inslee in a heartbeat over that clueless gaffe gushering buffoon Biden. The animus directed towards Gillibrand by many commenters on this blog has been disgusting.
Nominating Biden would be suicidal. The volume of opposition research that Rethuglicans will unleash against him will keep Uncle Joe constantly on the defensive. Biden is the worst possible candidate to press the case against Trump. This clown can’t get out of his own fucking way and he’s 76 motherfucking years old.
PJ
@Anne Laurie: And all of them seem to be meritless: newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/29/the-case-of-al-franken. And, at a minimum, merited a full hearing before the Ethics Committee, which, thanks to Gillibrand, we will never get.
Kay
@Sab:
Oh, I don’t agree. It’ll settle down and they’ll come up with a process. There’s always a messy lurch forward and some collateral damage, and then people come up with standards and things.
When anti-bullying started in public schools there were a whole group of people who said “this will never work- there will be accusations and there won’t be a defense or a process” and sometimes that was true- that happened- then they came up with a process where everyone gets heard and it’s fact-specific. There was a social shift with kids too- they were told there was a higher standard for how to treat one another and a lot of them just MET it. They changed their behavior. I don’t know if they changed their MINDS but they knew they couldn’t behave that way in school, so they stopped. It’s the shift that is chaotic. The new norm becomes just the norm. Metoo is a higher standard. It’ll flesh out.
A Ghost To Most
@jk:
I can live with the guilt.
Raven
@jk: That shit is coming no matter who the fuck runs and Giilebrand sucks. How ya like that?
PJ
@jk: If you think Republicans have more opposition research on Biden than other Democratic candidates, you will be very surprised over the next year. Biden is a known quantity, his career has been in the open for almost 50 years – you clearly despise him, but you can’t say he’s hiding anything. The Republicans will use any means necessary to tear down whoever the ultimate candidate is, but attacking Biden isn’t going to matter because everyone already knows who he is.
mrmoshpotato
@satby: Woo hoo! On the road to being flea-free!
(Not sure why you dislike RHCP’s bass player so much, but that’s your right.)
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: The kitteh is Siddharth Vardarajan or Nikhil Wagle who lost their jobs cushy MSM jobs because they took on Modi. They have huge Twitter followings and have continued reporting from web based portals. If you check any of their tweets even the most innocuous ones, there are Modi Bhakts making tiresome comments and hurling school yard insults.
They continue to tell the truth while barking dogs keep yapping.
Baud
@jk:
Most people here do not prefer Biden anyway, so the segue from Gillibrand to yet another attack on Biden does not really hold together.
Kay
@jk:
I liked him too. Maybe he was smart. How can we miss him unless he goes away? :)
We took that man for GRANTED. He’ll show us when we all boil or drown.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Thanks. I feel less daft for not getting it.
PJ
@mrmoshpotato: Flea never met a song he didn’t want to overplay on. Just because you can do amazing things with a bass doesn’t mean you should.
Sab
@Kay: I am a woman who has dealt with sexual harrassment my whole life. I have also dealt with men wrongly accused. Both sides do exist.
Gillibrand opted for one side. Went after Franken. Won that round. Ignored issues in her own office.
How can you possibly defend her? It’s indefensible until it happens in my own office, then there might be circumstances? That weren’t in the other offices?
Major Major Major Major
@dogs inc.:
You’re right, this is taking up real estate better occupied by Cole stabbing himself in a pickling accident, or somebody in Florida doing something dumb, or my planned post about horror podcasts.
Raven
@PJ: Large most, smallmouth or black?
Omnes Omnibus
@PJ:
Did she hold a gun to his head? Are you okay with the rest of the female Democratic Senators who also called for Franken’s resignation? If so, is it because Gillibrand held a gun to their heads too?
mrmoshpotato
@jk:
Mostly agree. Joe has a way of opening his mouth and hitting himself in the face.
I could only see Wilmer’s nomination as worse, what with the Soviet honeymoon, getting beaten by Hillary who was then beaten by Dump, etc.
PJ
@Raven: Ha!
mrmoshpotato
@PJ: LOL I wasn’t expecting my joke to ruffle any feathers.
Omnes Omnibus
@mrmoshpotato: One note dipshits like jk make me want to start looking at supporting the team of Biden-Gillibrand as running mates.
Butter Emails
Seriously, get over the whole Franken episode. I think pressuring him to leave surrendered an opportunity to set a precedent and lay out a process for how these things should be handled, but
1. It wasn’t just Gillibrand – so why the obsession with her in particular
2. Gillibrand didn’t force Franken to have pictures taken of himself playing the “how close can I get to the lumps in the flack jacket without actually touching” game.
3. I’m just going to mention Joe Biden, because that apparently a thing that is done
Quinerly
@zhena gogolia: I tend to agree with you.
PJ
@Omnes Omnibus: Nobody distinguished themselves in that episode (Schumer was the worst, and he can go fuck himself, but he will probably be Senator until he dies), but, if you believe the reporting, Gillibrand was the mastermind behind it. It wasn’t like she was demanding Bob Menendez’ resignation at the same time, even though he was supposed to been bribed with women who were procured for him.
Kay
@Sab:
I don’t think we disagree. I think there has to be a process. I think “accusation then calls for resignation” is unworkable longer term. Because what happens is the person accused is lumped into a group – there was a lot of justifiable rage about the whole issue and that shouldn’t be transferred to a different person and different set of facts. We know there’s no enforceable set of common standards because the President has been credibly accused of rape several times and there he sits. Those kind of disparate consequences just won’t survive. People will (rightly) object to it. They will say “why me with my lesser offense and not HIM with his greater?” and that’s a fair question. It has to be consistent and (somewhat) equitably applied.
I just don’t buy that she “took him out” as a competitor – that doesn’t make any sense to me- they both would have been second tier candidates so I don’t think it was as malicious as you do.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud:That tweet was too terse.
jk
@Baud:
Unfortunately, Biden is still the odds on favorite and I’ve just had it with all the goddamn morons who are too fucking lazy to even consider someone else over Uncle Gaffe Machine
@PJ
Biden supported the Iraq war, treated Anita Hill like dirt, pushed that stupid crime bill, has always sided with banks and credit card companies over consumers, he’s too fucking old, and he’s too goddamn inarticulate to be President, so yeah for all of these reasons I believe Biden sucks.
#Fuck Biden
PJ
@jk: Good for you. Unless he has a health issue or a major family scandal, he’s gonna be in it until Super Tuesday, so enjoy the next six months or so!
James E Powell
@Baud:
Do you mean that she will quit the senate or that her career will end with her as a senator? If the former, I’d be surprised. As for the latter, I think being a senator for life from a safe blue state would be a great life.
Mandalay
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Apart from anything else, the picture of Franken on the plane was a Republican hit job, and gullible Gillibrand fell for it hook, line and sinker. I even remember folks here on BJ warning Democrats in the Senate not to fall into the trap, but of course they did.
And once Gillibrand had laid out her position – Franken must go now, without a hearing!!! – she couldn’t back down. I wonder if she realizes even now that she was played like a cheap fiddle by the Republicans.
MisterForkbeard
@zhena gogolia: I’m glad I missed that. Is he rending his garments now that other, better and more established polls have come out and still show Biden in the lead, or is that just The Establishment cheating again?
Raven
@jk: Fuck you troll motherfucker.
jk
@PJ:
Enjoy Trump’s second term if Democrats are stupid enough to nominate Biden.
Baud
@Mandalay:
Senator for life. It is a pretty good gig, but I don’t want to keep talking about Franken every time she’s in the news in her senatorial capacity.
James E Powell
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’m thinking the field will be down to five before the Iowa caucuses and down to three after New Hampshire. It is already a three person race – Biden, Sanders, Warren have about 2/3rds.
jk
@Raven:
Fuck you too motherfucker. Nominate Biden and you’ll get what you deserve asshole.
MisterForkbeard
@PJ: Franken actually wrote about running for Senate in a book that came out in either 2006 or 2007, IIRC. He had a particular joking fantasy about becoming part of the Senate in 2008… and because we would ideally have a Democratic Congress when it takes session 10 days before the inauguration, we could impeach Bush when he only had a few days left as President.
He acknowledged that it be both childish and also richly deserved. :)
Mandalay
@James E Powell:
I think her part in the Franken fiasco, plus a few other issues, have ticked off enough people that she is not immune to a challenger next time around. Added to that, when she was running for the Senate she promised she wouldn’t run for president, and as soon as she was elected she ran for president. If I lived in New York I’d be livid about that.
And this NYT article quotes her as saying this today:
So she doesn’t seem especially committed to remaining in the Senate at all.
MisterForkbeard
@jk: . @Raven: Oh, FFS. Just drop it. For the record I agree with Raven but this kind of “YOU DESERVE TO LOSE BECAUSE I HATE THIS CANDIDATE” isn’t helpful. No one here should do it, even for people like Bernie who I suspect would have a pretty hard time in the general.
Raven
@jk: You fucking punk you act like this blog nominates someone. Go fuck yourselves, stupid cocksuckers like you got us what we have now.
J R in WV
@zhena gogolia:
No! You are quite wrong. When that happened, Al Frankin was a CLOWN on tour with a USO troupe, making the soldiers laugh. He NEVER TOUCHED HER BREASTS !!! it was a gag, she knew the set up.
She turned into a RWNJ, some other RWNJ saw the photo and said “This will run Al Frankin out of the Senate!!” and he was right.
One of the other accusers said “He put his hand around my waist!” when he was allowing her to have her pic taken with him… I think it was all like that, we will never know for sure. But for sure there was no proof that he actually committed an assault on any of those Republican women.
And none of it was accused to have happened after he was no longer a professional CLOWN!!! Senator Frankin was a harder interviewer of Republican criminals than any other Democratic Senator, which is why the RWNJs went after him, and won. Thanks Senator Gillibrand!! not.
Peter Desmond
@schrodingers_cat: that’s a wonderful little video.
Richard Guhl
Kirsten Gillibrand was the bravest candidate. Having been an advocate for women in the military dealing with sexual harassment, she knew, absolutely knew,that a woman who makes an accusation against a man never, absolutely never, comes out unscathed. Despite knowing that there’s never an upside, but always a downside, she nevertheless took the lead in calling for Al Franken to step down as Senator.
To those who suggest she did it for political gain, you’re absolutely wrong. She knew it would cost. But her integrity wouldn’t let her let it slide.
I salute her.
A Ghost To Most
@Elizabelle:
Your comment spurred me to check WaPo comments. It’s the same there.
Buh bye, Felicia. You can call me Al.
Omnes Omnibus
@J R in WV: I’ll ask again. Did Gillibrand put a gun to his head? He chose to resign. BTW are you upset with Booker, Harris, and Warren who also called on Franken to resign?
Anne Laurie
@J R in WV:
Oh, Tweeden was a ratfvcker, no doubt. But there were seven other women who complained to Gillibrand about Franken’s behavior, once that story broke. That’s why Franken stepped down so quickly — neither he nor anybody else saw a happy future in a drawn-out ‘he said, she/she/she/she/she/she/also her… said‘ procedure.
IMO — drawing purely on my lifetime of experience with guys who were the heart & soul of their highschool audiovisual clubs — Franken probably did get a little too handsy with a lot of women, who chose to put up with it because ‘that’s just the kind of guy he is’, and besides, they’d born worse handling from truly evil men. But THE RULES CHANGED, and ‘he just doesn’t understand personal boundaries, when it comes to women’ stopped being an affirmative defense.
His defenders dogpiling Gillibrand was a mistake on their parts, because when the Tweeden shenanigans broke, Franken could’ve done a public repentance/withdrawal, kept a low profile for a few years, and come back as the new improved version. But so many (mostly well-intentioned!) people have drawn lines in the sand — witness, this thread — that *he* will never be rid of the trail of outrage, any more than Gillibrand will.
Cacti
@Anne Laurie:
With friends like Senator Gillibrand, who needs enemies?
My Side of Town
I sent some money to Senator Gillibrand to qualify for the first debate, which got me on her email campaign bleg. When she asked for more I sent her back an email which basically said, “If you can find it in yourself to apologize what you did to Senator Franken, I will consider more. ( she responded crickets). I’m not sending money to candidates for president at this time. I have monthly donates to Senate candidates Amy McGrath, Jaime Harrison and Sara Gideon. It’s all I can afford. I’m poverty level poor.
Uncle Cosmo
@jk: What raven said. FOADIAF
Uncle Cosmo
@A Ghost To Most: Let me guess – when in MD you lived in the DC metro area (I include Howard County which is still fought over by DC and Baltimore). That’s the only part of the state where “transplants outnumber nativists” & it’s a major reason why I never seriously considered taking a job in or near the District – everyone moves every couple of years & no one ever gets to know their neighbors. Everywhere else folks are pretty upbeat about their communities – even we Baltimorons.
Uncle Cosmo
@jk: I note you added several more reasons why you deserve to FOADIAF.
Omnes Omnibus
@PJ:
So you are saying that Franken lacks agency? No one made him resign. What part of that do you not understand? And for what it is worth, I never had Gillibrand in my top five.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
@Anne Laurie @zhena gogolia: Yes. Even leaving aside whether he should’ve gotten an inquiry – which would’ve likely been a PR headache in its own right – Franken’s not dead, his presence would’ve been a bigger headache during Kavanaugh, and Tina Smith still holds the Senate season. So what, exactly, is anyone still mad at Gillibrand for?