Is Kirsten Gillibrand Strong on Civil Liberties Issues?
#spacer{clear:left}#abc #sidebar{margin-top:1.5em}zSB(3,3)New York Governor David Paterson has appointed Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to serve out the remainder of Hillary Clinton’s term in the U.S. Senate. While news stories have focused mainly on the fact that Caroline Kennedy wasn’t appointed, Gillibrand may be the stronger candidate of the two from a civil liberties perspective. It’s hard to say for sure, because Kennedy was herself a very encouraging candidate–author of two books on civil rights, hailing from a strong socially progressive Kennedy tradition, and untainted (relatively speaking) by the sorts of political compromises that can define the career and resumé of a more experienced politician. But Gillibrand has something Caroline Kennedy does not: a legislative track record in New York’s notoriously conservative 20th Congressional District. It’s very easy for Kennedy to be a progressive, and very hard for Gillibrand to be. Her defeat of Rep. John Sweeney (R) in 2006 put the se
