| Gillibrand started out with a short speech about the accomplishments, 100 hours and beyond, of the Democratic Congress so far, then took questions from the audience, then met one-on-one with everyone who wanted to.
I wasn't taking notes, but here are some highlights from memory.
Most memorably, one guy told of how his daughter (the mother of his 17-month-old grandchild) was headed back to Iraq. She is a major in charge of about 60 supply trucks, and they had only one GPS system. He said he bought another one for her unit.
Gillibrand replied that she hadn't heard of that, but will try to do something about it, as a member of the Armed Services Committee.
Almost every question was about Iraq. Mine was about Iran.
I asked what Congress was going to do about the vice president's and president's evident desire to start another war in the Middle East, based on the same kind of "intelligence" and war drumming from the noise machine that got us into the Iraqmire.
She replied that, while the president's war powers, for the short-term anyway, would allow him to start another war, the House would probably vote for a resolution to oppose that war.
What she said was important, the way she said it was impressive.
Though I was well off to the side, she established and never broke eye contact with me as she gave her articulate reply. Sure, this is probably Politics 101, but that eye contact, which she did for all the questioners, creates a powerful personal connection.
Another example of her connection powers came from the two questioners (one in the general group, one the guy in front of me in the one-on-one line) who asked about somewhat trollish stuff.
In the general group, one guy went on and on about the Federal Reserve -- as basically a private unaccountable institution that has caused inflation.
She listened, with eye contact, and said she'd look into it. He replied that he'd changed his party registration and voted for her.
The guy in front of me, no doubt inspired by the US Chamber's attack radio ad, went on and on about "union intimidation" in the Employee Free Choice Act.
Gillibrand voted for EFCA, and is a strong union supporter. But she listened for about five minutes as this guy said his piece, countered with how is some "intimidated" person harmed whether or not the card check organizing drive is successful, and concluded with a friendly handshake.
I've seen her deal with semi-trolls before during the campaign, and she was always respectful, but firm in her support for Democratic values.
At my one-on-one, I told her about the contracting issue at Walter Reed, thanks to smintheus' excellent dKos diary (DailyKos connects with Kirsten).
Her eyes widened; she had not heard of that.
The Walter Reed scandal is the issue of the day -- Bush devoted his Saturday radio talk to it, as did LIEberman with the (cognitively dissonant) Democratic reponse.
She said that it is just day three or so of this scandal, and she would definitely look into the way that contracting out facilities management contributed to the disgraceful state of Walter Reed's outpatient housing.
And I know she will.
The one TV station that covered the event at 6 p.m. had this quote from Gillibrand:
There may well be (more fallout to come), because when we get accountability for Building 18, there may be accountability for other facilities.
And I think there needs to be accountability. I think the American people demand it; I think on behalf of our veterans we need to demand it; and I think on behalf of the men and women who are serving in Iraq today, we have to demand it.
As a copy-editor-type, I could find fault with Gillibrand saying "I think" too much.
But I won't, because I much prefer members of Congress who think about the major issues of the day, and about ways to undo the damage caused by the Bush/Cheney regime, to unthinking wingnut lock-steppers.
Like her predecessor, the Miami Mob Leader, and most of the Republican minority in Congress.
For those in or near the district, there will be a potluck meeting of Gillibrand volunteer supporters next Saturday, March 10, from 3 to 5 p.m., at Oakwood Presbyterian Church, Hoosick Street at 10th Avenue, Troy (the bottom of the Hoosick Street hill).
Kirsten will be targeted by the national and state Republicans in 2008, and will need all the help she can get. |
