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Some say Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is now vulnerable after failing to connect with voters, colleagues

BY Michael Mcauliff In Washington and David Saltonstall
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Sunday, January 17th 2010, 4:00 AM

If Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand isn't running scared, she ought to be.

It was almost a year ago when the little-known upstate congresswoman, surrounded by the state's Democratic bigwigs, stood before the cameras and introduced herself as New York's new senator.

"Over the next two years," she promised voters, "you will get to know me."

Will we?

One year in, some of the same powerbrokers that stood on stage that day say that Gillibrand, while clearly hardworking, has failed to connect with voters at home or with her colleagues in Washington.

"I think she hasn't solidified herself yet," Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx), a Gillibrand backer, told The News. "It's hard being a junior senator to Chuck Schumer."

Indeed, the one thing voters do seem to know is that Schumer and the White House have been working some overtime to protect the politically anemic Gillibrand from a primary.

Now, even that seems unlikely. Largely because of Gillibrand's weakness, former Tennessee congressman Harold Ford - until last week a virtual unknown in New York - was able to parachute into the race and establish himself as a plausible, if longshot, possible challenger in a matter of days.

True, Gillibrand still beats Ford by a hefty 19 points, according to a Marist Poll released Friday. But for Gillibrand, the poll's more troubling number was her flimsy 24% approval rating among voters - and the 25% who had no opinion of her at all.

Many say that Gillibrand has simply failed to capture the hearts and minds of New Yorkers the way her outsized forbears - Bobby Kennedy, Pat Moynihan and Hillary Clinton - did.

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