Friends, former staffers, and donors say it’s time for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand to end her low-polling presidential campaign, as she struggles to reach the donor threshold that would qualify her for the next set of debates.
Instead of focusing on a losing presidential campaign, they instead want the New York Democrat to focus on staying in the Senate.
“It would be best if she decided that this was not her time,” one longtime Gillibrand fundraiser told the New York Post. “Most people that I talk to are very happy with her as their senator and don’t want her to give up her Senate seat and don’t see any realistic traction for her.”
“I don’t know that anyone even wants to see her on the debate stage. Everyone I have talked to finds her performative and obnoxious,” a former senior staffer in Gillibrand’s Senate office said.
“She comes across as an opportunist to the public. I think that’s the biggest problem,” the staffer added. The staffer said the problem stems from her moderate Democrat days, when she was a House member for upstate New York. Now that she is a senator, she needs to be a big progressive voice.
Her opponents and political enemies have been more than happy to point out the changes in her positions, such as gun rights.
.@SenGillibrand will do anything to get ahead.
In 2008, she wrote the @NRA a love letter (https://t.co/hzGNdAsJdK) and then flip-flopped when it was advantageous for her political career. @NRA members will ensure her weak campaign fails miserably. pic.twitter.com/BdI1tQnQaC
— NRA (@NRA) August 14, 2019
“She’s not going to make it,” another longtime friend and supporter told the Post. “What is Kirsten’s reason to stay in? She should find some gracious way that enhances her … as she gracefully exits and throws her conditional support to whoever does get [the nomination].”
Despite having slightly more name recognition than some of the other candidates at the bottom, Gillibrand’s polling average is at 0.6%, which places her below newer names such as Andrew Yang, whose polling average is 1.8%.
