Halbfinger correctly notes this logorrhea is not a new thing for Gillibrand:
Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand's taste for talking a subject to death has prompted her audiences to fidget, her staff to flash signals, her allies to whisper in her ear and her hosts to flat-out interrupt her. If there were an unobtrusive way to give her the hook, doubtless a staff member would carry one at all times.
Next up, Glenn Thrush of Politico:
Sonia Sotomayor's first big moment in the national spotlight was short and sweet.
Kirsten Gillibrand's was neither.
In a move that induced cringes in the press gallery during Monday's Judiciary Committee hearing, Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) cut the New York Democrat off in the middle of an extremely long introductory statement on Sotomayor.
Gillibrand, a rookie, apparently missed Leahy's cue to wrap it up - a slight banging of his gavel that indicated she was violating the five-minute rule on introductory spiels.
When he told her to stop, she requested more time.
The New York Daily News sees fit to devote an editorial to the topic which TAP loyalists would prefer remain unmentioned:
Kirsten Gillibrand takes a backseat to no one in having her say.
And her say. And her say. And her say.
She made the most of it yesterday in the national spotlight as one of two senators introducing Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.
And the most of it. And the most of it.
Six and a half minutes into her allotted five, fellow Democrat Patrick Leahy, Judiciary Committee chairman, rapped his gavel. Gillibrand motored on.
After a few seconds more, Leahy grumbled: "Senator, we're going to have to put your full statement in the record so that Judge Sotomayor can be heard."
Long Island Business News likewise notes that this is not an isolated incident:
The day she was introduced by Gov. David Paterson as his choice to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton [Gillibrand] rolled on for more than 25 minutes before being interrupted by Paterson, who told her President Obama was calling to congratulate her.
In running down the winners and losers from day one of the hearings, The Washington Post's deems Gillibrand a loser:
"Gillibrand had a chance to shine today as one of the two senators chosen to formally introduce Sotomayor. But, Gillibrand wound up getting cut off by Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and managed to call Justice Antonin Scalia 'Anthony.'
[NOTE: Gillibrand similarly botched Arlen Specter's name in a press release seeking to gain points for herself from his party-switch.]
NBC News in New York City notes the rebuff was highly unusual, suggesting perhaps that the newly-minted Senator has not endeared herself to her colleagues:
It was a striking moment in the clubby Senate, where members typically show enormous deference to each other - particularly to senators of the same party, and even more so when on live national television.
Now, I might let this one go -- had I not been bombarded in recent weeks by emails and blogs posts from Kirsten and her staff, trying to make the Sotomayor nomination all about Gillibrand. We had the photos and press releases all about her at lunch with her patron, Chuck Schumer, and the future justice... (Indeed, that luncheon was breathlessly blogged here by Todd Beaton, who is doing internet "outreach" for the Blue Dog Senator.) And then we had the emails urging us to watch her on C-Span, "paid for by Gillibrand for Senate."
Earth to my neighbor over in Greenport: The Sotomayor nomination is not about you. The President did not pick a judge from New York because he was mindful of your need to hijack most everything that happens for your own 2010 campaign purposes. He picked her because she was the right person for this crucial role in our society. Newly-elected Senator and Judiciary Committee member Al Franken (whose victory over Norm Coleman you also tried to exploit for your campaign) understood that this was a moment to be humble and straightforward in his new Congressional role. Why didn't you?
Yesterday's event was an historic moment for a powerful woman who has earned her way step by step, on the strength of her own intellect, from the bottom up. I'm talking about Judge Sotomayor. Not Kirsten Gillibrand. |
