Politics Now

Introducing New York's new senator

   WASHINGTON -- You might have thought Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand's celebration of her first day in office would have featured a dance where she kept moving to the left, but that wasn't really the case.

   Shortly after being sworn in to replace former Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Gillibrand, D-Greenport, said she would represent the entire state and seek compromises on gun control --  which she has opposed in the past.

   But on immigration and the financial system bailout that she opposed last fall, Gillibrand didn't budge one bit.

   "I don't support amnesty because I don't think it will work," she said of the immigration bill that failed in the last Congress.

   And as for the financial bailout, she said she would be reluctant to support additional funding for it without big changes in how the program is administered.

   "We're not going to throw good money after bad," she said.

   So that's just a sample of how our new senator talks -- and thinks.

   So what do you think: does it seem as if John McCain has leased his Straight Talk Express to our new senator?

   -- Jerry Zremski

Can a 'Blue Dog' succeed in this blue state?

   WASHINGTON -- Among the Democrats in the House, there's this group that calls itself the "Blue Dogs," but they're really more red than blue, if red is the Republican color.

   Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand of the Hudson Valley is one of them -- and now she's about to become New York's junior senator.

   Gillibrand may be nicknamed "Little Hillary," but there are differences between the two. Most notably, Gillibrand is a staunch advocate of hunters' rights and a strong critic of lax immigration enforcement and expensive government.

   And that poses a very interesting question that will be answered sometime in 2010.

   Can a conservative Democrat get elected to the U.S. Senate from New York State?

   -- Jerry Zremski

Caroline in Wonderland

   That Caroline Kennedy withdrew from  consideration for the U.S. Senate was surprise enough for the state's political world.

   That people close to Paterson would so sharply criticize Kennedy -- while revealing  embarrassing issues about her personal life -- took things one step further. Even to grizzled Democratic insiders, well accustomed to a party of legendary, internecine battles, the Paterson administration went way too far in burying Kennedy.

   The governor was known to  be angry at  Kennedy backers for attempting to box him in on her selection. Was he striking  back?

   Or was it mixed signals coming from allies of Paterson, whose own handling of the  Senate replacement process has been sharply criticized as muddled and too secretive?

   Or, was it just a major misplay?

  
-- Tom Precious

Grading Hillary's performance in the Senate

   WASHINGTON -- It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a decade since Hillary Rodham Clinton's "listening tour" set the stage for her election to the U.S. Senate from New York.

   And it's equally surprising that her tenure in the Senate set the stage for her new role as secretary of state.

   Many believed Clinton would be elected president last year, but instead, an upstart from Illinois beat her -- and then named her his top diplomat.

   And that means for Clinton watchers, it's time to look back on her eight eventful years in the U.S. Senate.

   So, how did she do?

   -- Jerry Zremski

Inauguration Live Chat

Join Buffalo News Washington Bureau Correspondent Douglas Turner as he conducts a live chat on the inauguration of Barack Obama.

The conflict over Hillary's conflict

   WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton appears to be coasting toward confirmation as secretary of state,   but at the hearing on her nomination Tuesday, the elephants in the room weren't shy about talking about the elephant in the room.

   That is, the Republican senators weren't shy about talking about the potentials for conflict between Clinton's role as America's top diplomat and her husband's charitable fundraising overseas.

   "The Clinton Foundation exists as a temptation for any foreign entity or government that believes it can curry favor through a donation," said Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. "It also sets up potential perception problems with any action taken by the secretary of state in relation to foreign givers or their
countries."

   Lugar called on her husband, former President Bill Clinton, to foreswear any additional foreign contributions for his foundation or his Clinton Global Initiative.

   But Clinton demurred, saying her husband and the incoming Obama administration had agreed on rules that would prevent conflicts from happening by ensuring that the State Department would review any possible donations to the Clinton charitable efforts.

    Noting that conflict has been no stranger to her public life, Clinton added: "No matter what we do, there will be those who raise conflicts."

   So who's right — Lugar, Clinton, or both?

  —Jerry Zremski

Is Brown a shoo-in for re-election?

   Byron W. Brown was elected overwhelmingly as mayor of Buffalo in 2005, and again heads into
2009 as the favorite for another term.

   That's because only one person  -- South Council Member Michael "Mickey" Kearns --  has emerged as a potential Democratic challenger to the mayor in this election year. While many consider Kearns a top-notch opponent, capable of serving in the city's top spot, Brown's prowess in collecting campaign funds and building a powerful political operation has apparently discouraged everyone but Kearns from running for mayor this year.

   Still, Kearns appears ready for the task at hand -- ven though he has made no official announcement. He is lining up support (much of it in the business community), making contacts and talking about raising funds. He believes he can run an effective campaign with $500,000 (the mayor has already raised about $700,000 with more to come) and is convinced the money and support are there.

   Brown is also ready. He has compiled a list of accomplishments he considers important to the future of the city, and is ready to run on that record. At this point, it appears the biggest gripe against him revolves around his political activity -- especially by those he has targeted.

   But the mayor has an answer for that, too. If he has promoted certain candidates in the Common Council, it amounts to smart government as well as smart politics, he says. Like any president or governor, he says, he wants friends in the legislative branch to help advance his agenda.

   Still, Buffalo ranks as the nation's third poorest city. It continues to lose population, its tax base is not growing by any meaningful measure and its finances are governed by a control board.

   Should there be more interest in the mayor's job this year? Or has Brown performed so admirably that he deserves another term to accomplish his goal?

   -- Robert J. McCarthy

Caroline Kennedy: profile in discourage

   A month ago, she was a steamroller. Today, Caroline Kennedy has become a political recluse after a couple of bumpy public rollouts in her bid to become a U.S. senator from New York.   

  Her bid was not helped Thursday when the one and only voter in the contest -- Gov. David A. Paterson -- noted that her lack of elected experience "does not help her" bid  to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton, expected to be confirmed as secretary of state in the Obama administration.

   The governor has reportedly been angry in recent weeks about  feeling boxed in by Kennedy supporters.

   On Thursday, in an interview with The Buffalo News, Paterson sought to distance himself from any discussion that Kennedy is the front-runner.

   "The notion that I have to take Caroline is not coming from me," he said.

   The governor then talked about the rush of media attention for Kennedy  and how that works to her advantage.

   "So I would ask the question back, why do you all pay so much attention to her? She's just another person. So what? Her name is Kennedy? Why do you pay so much attention to her? I'm not reacting to what I think, I'm reacting to what I see," he said.

   Democratic insiders took the comments as either signs of frustration by Paterson with how the process has played out or as a possible signal.

   Then there's the other view about Paterson.

   "Just when you think you know what he's going to do, he'll surprise you," said one Democrat who has known the governor for years.

   Either way, the wait is coming to an end.

   Next week, the Senate will hold a confirmation hearing on Clinton's nomination to become secretary of state. The earliest she could be confirmed -- which is when Paterson said he would announce his choice -- is Jan. 20, when  Barack Obama takes office.

  --  Tom Precious

Jack Kemp's toughest challenge

   Few Western New Yorkers have achieved the kind of national status of Jack Kemp: Buffalo Bills quarterback, Republican congressman from Hamburg, HUD secretary under President George H.W. Bush and 1996 candidate for vice president.

   That's why Wednesday's news that Kemp has cancer hit home.  All indications point to a serious situation for Kemp, with long days of diagnosis and treatment still lying ahead.

   Kemp, 73, is one of those national figures, like the late Tim Russert of NBC News, who is always identified with Buffalo.  He wore the uniform of the Buffalo Bills for many football seasons and  represented the area in Congress for 18 years.

   Indeed, when former Sen. Bob Dole named him his running mate at the GOP convention in 1996, the Dole-Kemp team headed immediately for Buffalo. And after a long day of local campaigning, it was cocktails and dinner at E.B. Green's Steakhouse for the Doles and Kemps.

   Some say Kemp never really had Buffalo roots. They say he was a California guy who parlayed his Bills days into a congressional career, all the while basing his family in Washington.

   But Kemp also displayed a gritty, blue-collar and Buffalo-like determination in his political career -- carving out a progressive niche in the Republican Party that at one moment would champion supply-side economics and the next, passionately advocate the inclusion of minorities in the GOP fabric.

   Edward J. Rutkowski, the former Erie County executive who was a Kemp teammate on the Bills and remains a close friend, said Wednesday the old QB is now in the for "the biggest challenge of his life." But he also said he has seen Kemp pull off game-winning touchdowns in "third and 25" situations before.
   He maintains every confidence that Kemp has a few moves left in his playbook -- even against cancer.

    -- Robert J. McCarthy

Is Blagojevich serving crow to Reid and Obama?

   WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic leaders appeared to back off their solemn vow not to admit former Illinois Attorney General Roland W. Burris to the world's greatest deliberative body.
    After saying less than 10 days ago that Burris, the appointee of disgraced Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, "will not" be admitted, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., offered on Wednesday a pathway for Burris to take the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
    The move, joined by Obama and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., appears designed to defuse a messy legal and racial controversy that is clouding the environment leading up to Obama's inauguration in less than two weeks.
      The recipe, indicated by Reid and by Burris, in separate press conferences, involves getting the high court in Illinois to declare that Burris' appointment doesn't require the signature of the Illinois secretary of state and for Burris to testify before the Illinois Legislature about any contact he had with Blagojevich about the office.
       The formula doesn't promise to end the controversy soon, but it helps defuse right-wing charges that the Senate's Democrats don't want a black man to enter the chamber, and the probability that the U.S. Supreme Court will not uphold the Senate Democrats' rejection of Burris.
        On Dec. 30 Durbin and Obama called on Blagojevich to resign and let the state's lieutenant governor pick someone else. Blagojevich didn't quit, and yesterday Obama said he would  be able to work with Burris if he actually becomes a senator. Meanwhile, Judicial Watch, a conservative advocacy group, filed a Supreme Court suit charging that the Democrats' barring of Burris is unconstitutional.

            --Douglas Turner