Approximately 20 Democratic presidential hopefuls are attempting to remove President Donald Trump from the White House in 2020.
Getting to Know Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
NOTE: Before the publication of this profile, Gillibrand dropped out of the 2020 presidential election.
Brave wins.
The term brave describes Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D-N.Y.) bid to become the first woman to serve as President of the United States.
Sen. Gillibrand believes that America needs a leader who will stand up for what’s right and fight for those who are often forgotten in modern American politics such as working class families.
Like former HUD Secretary Julian Castro, Gillibrand received her passion for serving others through her elders.
The New York native’s mother and grandmother worked as Democratic activists, organizing women in their communities.
Because of that glimpse of serving the community, Gillibrand began a career as a lawyer before parlaying that into a career in public service.
Gillibrand graduated from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire before pursuing her legal degree at UCLA.
The future politician served as a law clerk on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Before running for elected office, Gillibrand worked in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the nation’s capital.
The future Democratic presidential candidate then decided to take her talents to Congress, winning her home district (NY-20) in 2006.
She beat the Republican incumbent by running on a platform of ethics reform, an end to the war in the Middle East and Medicare for all.
When sworn in as a United States senator in 2009, Gillibrand became the youngest woman ever to get sworn in as a U.S. senator.
Gillibrand even worked 12 hours at an Armed Services Committee hearing before going into labor with her child.
She also became just the sixth woman to give birth while serving in the United States Congress.
Now Gillibrand wants to take that hard work, dedication and perseverance to the White House as the 46th President of the United States.
One of the main goals of her presidential campaign is to remove greed and an over emphasis on campaign donations from the equation of political power.
She has refused money from corporate super PACs, individual super PACs and federal lobbyists, saying that she wants to return ethics to politics.
Gillibrand believes that healthcare is a right and not a privilege for those more affluent Americans.
The United States Senator from New York wants quality public education regardless of what socioeconomic group or neighborhood the student comes from.
And obviously, the rights of women will become a focal point of a Gillibrand presidency.
In 2010, Gillibrand launched Off the Sidelines, which encouraged girls and young women to make their voices and issues heard in the social and political spectrum.
Furthermore, Off the Sidelines has mentored and coached dozens of women as they ran for political offices across the country.
The inspiration to start Off the Sidelines came from watching her mother and grandmother fight for causes that affected women during Gillibrand’s formative years.
Furthermore, Gillibrand has made climate change and protecting the environment a cornerstone to her 2020 presidential campaign.
Her campaign website states, “We’re running out of time to address climate change, and we can’t settle for half-measures. Kirsten was one of the first supporters of the Green New Deal; an ambitious framework to save our planet by investing in infrastructure, creating a green jobs economy, and protecting clean air and water.
“As president, she would work to get us to net-zero emissions by setting ambitious clean and renewable energy and efficiency standards, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies and creating tax incentives to reward innovation and investment in renewable energy technology, and phasing out fossil fuel production on our public lands and waters. She would also rejoin the Paris climate agreement on day one of her presidency to restore U.S. international climate leadership.”
Despite her best efforts, Gillibrand’s bid for the White House has not come without controversy and awkward moments.
The National Review criticized her debate performances calling them cloying and clumsy.
NationalReview.com criticized Gillibrand’s efforts to explain White privilege to White women.
The publication also called her assertion that former Vice President Joe Biden opposes women working outside of the home as “implausible.”
Although Gillibrand was once considered a serious contender in the presidential race, she is now getting criticized by her own former staff members.
“I don’t know that anyone even wants to see her on the debate stage,” said a former senior staff member. “Everyone I have talked to finds her performative and obnoxious. She comes across as an opportunist to the public. I think that’s the biggest problem.”
Not too long ago, Politico said, “Her moment has arrived.”
GQ once called her “the most fearsome contender.”
The New Yorker once said Gillibrand was “the new face of moral reform.”
And Vogue said, “She’s got newfound street cred among leftists and progressives.”
Unfortunately, now similar publications are calling her campaign a washout and urging her to exit the 2020 presidential race.
The National Review said that Gillibrand is delaying the inevitable, which is the termination of her presidential campaign.
Even friends and donors have advised Gillibrand to drop out of the race.
“It would be best if she decided that this was not her time,” said one Gillibrand fundraiser. “Most people that I talk to are very happy with her as the senator and don’t want her to give up her Senate seat and don’t see any realistic traction for her.”
But Gillibrand has made it this far in her career because of her bravery and throwing in the towel too early does not meet the definition of bravery.
