And it’s not just that she’s very, very attractive (yes, my secret senate crush is her, not Jeff Merkley, we’re just friends).  She’s a senator, she’s a mom, she’s a real person.

Can I coin the acronym SMILVF?  Senator/Mom I’d like to…. vote for!*  Although I’m open to whatever she has in mind.

She has emerged as fierce, smart and incredibly normal – which has to be a chimera because she’s in the Senate, right?  By definition she’s an egocentric megalomaniac, no? Maybe not.

The New Yorker – Kirsten Gillibrand is an Enthusiastic No!

In early March, Collins and Gillibrand filed legislation to protect seniors against fraud, and Gillibrand hopes to persuade Collins to become a Republican co-sponsor of the Family Act, Gillibrand’s big paid-family-leave bill. “I know Susan’s worldview is similar to my worldview,” says Gillibrand. “Which is that we’re here to help people, and if we’re not helping people, we should go the fuck home.”

…

“People want affordable health care,” she says. For the record, she’s not late to that party; Gillibrand supported Medicare for everyone when she ran in her House district in 2006. “It’s the solution, and it makes sense to people even in my two-to-one Republican district.”

What is not to love here?  And to think when she was named to the seat to replace Hillary she was considered a blue dog moderate.  She’s become one of the best of a pretty good group of strong, reliable voices for equality and justice.

*Not an endorsement for 2020 for crying out loud.  Not yet anyway.  Let’s talk after she wins reelection in 2018.  Until then, I’m keeping my powder desiccated.