In a brief telephone interview this morning, Joe Trippi confirmed a report in yesterday's City Hall News that he is in talks with Representative Carolyn Maloney about potentially working for her possible challenge to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
"Yes we've talked," said Trippi. "And she hasn't decide to run yet. But if she does, I think she'll win and I'd want to be part of it."
The talks with Trippi come as a poll taken by Doug Schoen for Maloney and obtained by Ben shows that voters prefer the record of the Upper East Side representative to Gillibrand’s by a large margin.
Trippi, who is best known for working for Howard Dean and then John Edwards, has worked in the city for Mark Green and as a general consultant for Brian Ellner, the first openly gay candidate for Manhattan borough president. Trippi said that he'd come on as a paid media consultant and chief strategist "if she decides to do it."
When asked whether he thought Gillibrand was vulnerable, given the pressure Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer have applied to clear the field for her, Trippi replied on message.
"We saw a presidential campaign where, if you had played by those rules, Barack Obama wouldn't be the president of the United States," he said. "I think New Yorkers understand that. That it's not about being appointed, it's about New Yorkers having a choice. And I think Carolyn Maloney would represent a clear, distinct choice–a progressive, strong on issues that matter to Democrats. That's a distinct difference from the appointed senator."
