By We’ve almost cracked 20 major Democratic candidates for President in 2020, so it’s understandable that the attention is spread thin. But there are some candidates being ignored that really deserve to be doing better in this primary. Among them is Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, my home state Senator (so yes, I’m a little biased).
Gillibrand is the strongest, most explicitly feminist candidate in the field. She’s made a name for herself combating sexism, misogyny, and gendered violence. She’s been a leader in challenging the military’s nightmarish sexual assault policies (well before doing so was popular). She’s built groups of women donors and candidates across the country, contributing in part to the wave of women elected to office in 2018.
Notably, Gillibrand has been hit with harsh backlash for some of her advocacy in this realm. Big Democratic donors have blacklisted her for being the first to call for Senator Al Franken to resign in 2017. Some voters have responded negatively as well. But her argument for why she did it, grounded as it is in her role as a mother, is a ferocious challenge to the narrative that punishing men for sexual misconduct is somehow ruining their lives.
Gillibrand is explicitly running as a mother, and she casts her platform as a natural outgrowth of that role. While the historic number of women in the 2020 field (5 or 6, depending on if you count Williamson) is spawning much needed conversations about gender and parenting, Gillibrand is the strongest voice in pushing for the importance of involving women as women in politics.
That’s not to say that Gillibrand is perfect. Not by any means. She’s a Senator from New York and has all the Wall Street ties that entails. She was previously a conservative Representative from an upstate New York district, and blatantly became far more liberal when she was appointed to the Senate. She’s mischaracterized her record on Medicare-For-All, saying she ran on M4A in 2006 when she really ran on a public option.
But to understand why Gillibrand’s voice is important, just look at this clip from a CNN townhall where she explains why she changed her position on gun control. Gillibrand admits fault and grounds her conversion in moral principles and her role as a mother. It’s a powerful, searing statement of recognizing, with horror, how one has contributed to a devastating problem. This sort of open “I was deeply wrong – let me show you how I learned” approach is rare in politics.
Gillibrand brings humility and moral authority to the 2020 race. Hers is a unique and powerful voice. You don’t have to vote for her. But she is worthy of more than a passing glance.
Breakdown Politics 