Why Kirsten Gillibrand needs a serious challenger

Corrected:

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand looks less and less vulnerable these days, and more and more like a juggernaut.

The last truly viable Republican who might have taken her on, former Governor George Pataki, has formally bowed out.

So have the Democrats who once threatened to challenge her in a primary.

Meanwhile, Sen. Gillibrand’s war-chest has grown dramatically — she’s raised more than $8 million dollars in the year since Governor Paterson anointed her.

We’ve observed from the start that the Senator would be more formidable than her downstate critics claimed.

Her trail is littered with politicians who underestimated her, a trait she shares with Hillary Rodham Clinton and George W. Bush.

That bodes well for her political future.

But as a journalist and a voter, I’m sorry that her ideas and agenda won’t be tested during a full-throated, aggressive political campaign.

The reality is, most New Yorkers still have no real idea who Kirsten Gillibrand is.

We who live in the North Country and the 20th congressional district know her better than most in the Empire state.

But her political identity has changed sharply over the last year, shifting to the left and focusing on new issues — notably the effort to allow gays to serve openly in the military.

Given that reality, it would be far better for the Senator to face a strong and well-funded challenger.

We need someone who can force her to articulate and defend her vision for New York state’s future, and her plan for making that happen in the Senate.

Unfortunately, the GOP and its former heavyweights seem incapable of mustering that kind of energy.

It’s more evidence that we are suffering from the lack of a true two-party system.

My hope is that Senator Gillibrand will still use the coming months and the campaign such as it is to give us a much clearer picture of what voters can expect over the next six years.

We’d like to see her interacting with voters in as many unscripted, open settings as possible.

If the Republicans can’t challenge her, then perhaps the people she represents will have a chance to express their hopes, ideas, and doubts.