# How did Hillary become a senator from New York? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 20, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689 "2016-04-20T00:38:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689/21 "2016-04-21T00:22:54Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > I think an undamaged Giuliani could have beaten Hillary. He was immensely popular in NYC and the rest of the state would have voted for him over Hillary. WTF? Giuliani’s seat on the rail out of town was just about ready for him as of 9/10. He was an embarrassment and widely hated in NY. Whatever “damage” he had suffered was self-inflicted. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689/22 "2016-04-21T00:24:17Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Kasich is broadly acceptable to the party base, to cite one example, and he destroys Clinton in polls. He’d have to lose 7 points or more out of anger at the process to lose to Clinton. He’d lose a hell of a lot more than that simply by getting the scrutiny that \*contenders \*do. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689/23 "2016-04-21T02:33:42Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Hillary is a smart woman and she mastered all of the local issues both upstate and downstate. In small groups, she’s also a good listener. She isn’t especially telegenic, but her solid grasp of retail politics carried the day. Yup…[In another thread, another poster also has a more extended description of this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19275367&postcount=161). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689/24 "2016-04-21T04:23:30Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > She could win. The downside is that she’s never proven her electoral viability the way that candidates like her husband did, by winning in Arkansas. Her first competitive race was in 2008, and we remember how that went. This one’s not looking so hot either. If the GOP comes up with anything but Trump or Cruz, she’ll be overmatched. She ran for the Senate in 2000 and 2006. In what universe is a Senate seat not competitive? If she won by large margins, it’s evidence of how strong a campaigner she is. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689/25 "2016-04-21T05:17:08Z")
Because it’s so hard for Democrats to get elected in New York. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2016, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689/26 "2016-04-21T07:59:41Z")
Recent New York Mayors ( and NY [**congresscritters**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_switching_in_the_United_States) through the ages ) seem ready to switch party allegiance and beliefs for power at the drop of a hat. Perhaps Hillary can become Mayor of New York if she loses. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689/27 "2016-05-06T18:19:06Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I’m not sure why she picked NY state. I don’t think she had any history there. She grew up in IL, went to college in new england, then moved to Arkansas. > > I’m not sure what made her pick NY state. I’d be interested to find out. Ask Robert F. Kennedy, who did the same thing in the same state. He even challenged and beat an incumbent. Here’s what RFK said when accused of being a carpetbagger: “If the senator of the state of New York is going be selected on who’s lived here the longest, then I think people are going vote for my opponent. If it’s going be selected on who’s got the best New York accent, then I think I’m probably out too. But I think if it’s going be selected on the basis of who can make the best United States senator, I think I’m still in the contest.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689/28 "2016-05-06T18:49:53Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Kasich is broadly acceptable to the party base, to cite one example, and he destroys Clinton in polls. He’d have to lose 7 points or more out of anger at the process to lose to Clinton. Polls, yes, but not in Electoral votes, where more or less they are in a dead heat. It’d be a interesting race, very close- unless skeletons were found in his closet. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689/29 "2016-05-06T18:54:17Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Because it’s so hard for Democrats to get elected in New York. Mike Bloomberg, Rudy Guiliani, Al D’Amato, George Pataki, Joe Bruno, Tom Golisano, Lee Zeldin, Peter King, Chris Gibson, Daniel Donovan, Elise Stefanik, Richard Hanna, Tom Reed, John Katko, Chris Collins, Brian Kolb, the majority of the State Senate - New York has no problem with Republicans. We just don’t like the crazy ones. That’s why Trump had to seek a national office. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2016, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689/30 "2016-05-06T21:51:49Z")
IIRC, Hillary had made numerous public appearances for Chuck Schumer’s 1998 Senate Campaign which were credited as playing a significant role in his winning the election. This evolved into speculation that she could further use her newly discovered popularity among NYS voters to run for the other seat which would be vacated when Moynihan retired in 2000 and the movement to draft her as a candidate took off very quickly from there. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689/31 "2016-05-07T03:36:04Z")
She ran. They elected her. I’d prefer she ran in Illinois, but that wasn’t in the cards (the schedule) but we later got Obama, instead. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689/32 "2016-05-08T03:22:30Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Ask Robert F. Kennedy, who did the same thing in the same state. He even challenged and beat an incumbent. > > Here’s what RFK said when accused of being a carpetbagger: > > “If the senator of the state of New York is going be selected on who’s lived here the longest, then I think people are going vote for my opponent. If it’s going be selected on who’s got the best New York accent, then I think I’m probably out too. But I think if it’s going be selected on the basis of who can make the best United States senator, I think I’m still in the contest.” A friend of mine had been close with a New York politician who had been a potential candidate for Senate at the time Kennedy came on the scene. My friend explained that the politician was like a guy who had spent his entire life watching the tide go up and down, and learned very suddenly that there was someone actually making the tide move, and the regular cycles he thought he knew were simply irrelevant. I don’t think that Clinton had had quite as much force behind her as RFK did, but she simply had a level of high level support that none of the other Democrats who might have run could match. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689/33 "2016-05-08T19:36:31Z")
A politician has to kiss butt a little for their home state. Now think about it. Back in Arkansas that means acting rural and giving the state cheer for the University of Arkansas which is “Sooey Razorbacks!”. I’d guess Hillary always hated Arkansas and all that and was sooo glad to move to big fancy New York where she could be with people she liked better. Of course that means turning her back on the state and people which put Bill where he was. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-hillary-become-a-senator-from-new-york/752689.md?page=1)