"What is required of that money? Because it makes me uncomfortable..."
Kirsten Gillibrand was on the Daily Show Thursday night talking about her admirable efforts to reform how the military handles sexual assault, as well as a few other issues. The first segment is embedded above, and the second after the jump.
The second segment -- especially the extended segment at the Daily Show website -- is worth watching because John Oliver (politely) tries to put the screws to KG over the amount of money she's taken from banking organizations such as Goldman Sachs. It's interesting to watch Gillibrand field Oliver's questions. Once again she displays a remarkable ability to both side-step and reframe the question (that is, not really answer it) while at the same time coming off as totally reasonable and likable.
That's a valuable skill for politician. And maybe it's a peek into the reasons KG is apparently becoming a formidable player in the Senate -- and keeps getting mentioned as an eventual presidential candidate.
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Comments
I'm not sure I agree with you here. What happened in the above instance was not a demonstration of any great political maneuver or 'side step'. Rather, John Oliver consciously let it go after Gillibrand failed to answer any of the 3 questions he put to her on the financing issue. Those questions still exist in the ether, and the popular headline is now 'Oliver grills Gillibrand'. This all happened because she didn't provide a reasoned answer.
Surely she would have known that this issue would bite her sooner or later, non? So why did she have nothing to swipe it away. John expected a solid, confidence building (for him) response and he let it go because he didn't want to be adversarial.
... said James121 on Aug 9, 2013 at 3:44 PM | link
She gave a bit more of an answer in Part 3 (not broadcast but available on the website). Basically, "Judge us by our voting record!" which is sharp end of the issue I suppose.
... said the_exile on Aug 9, 2013 at 9:21 PM | link