Obama Helps Gillibrand

Lots of Senate news today. Several downstate Democratic members of the House have threatened to challenge appointed senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in a primary, largely due to her previous support for gun owners' rights. Yesterday, Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) said President Obama asked him not to challenge Gillibrand and he agreed. Two other representatives, Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) have also threatened to challenge Gillibrand. It remains to be see if they also get presidential phone calls, but that seems very likely. Neither of them probably wants to run in a primary with a Democratic President actively campaigning for her opponent. So it looks like Gillibrand will sail through primary season easily, which will reduce the likelihood of any serious Republican signing up to challenge her. The Republicans' only chance in a state as blue as New York was for the Democrats to commit sororicide and that appears a distant hope now.