Sure she gets love from The Advocate and Lt. Dan Choi but New Yorkers, the ones who will decide if she keeps her present gig, do not know Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. According to a recent Quinnipiac University poll 58 to 67 percent of voters do not have enough intel to form an opinion about her.

Hold on because it gets worse. New York City Comptroller William Thompson, the guy who barely lost in the recent New York city race for mayor, leads Gillibrand  in a possible 2010 Democratic primary race, 41 to 28 percent. In a general election against Rudy Giuliani, she loses 40 to 50. The former New York City mayor recently announced he would not run for governor and its assumed he’ll stay out of the race for Senate (he has too many “king issues” to be a part of a deliberative body).

I’m a little bit surprised at Gillibrand’s numbers. Local gay political operatives give her  props and love her stands on everything from DADT to marriage. All of this adulation hasn’t translated outside of the LGBT sphere. There can be a number of reasons for this. Could be people are more worried about economic issues than some future election. Maybe some still think Hilary Clinton is our senator (considering our lack of civics knowledge this would not surprise)?

It’s early, but all of you New Yorkers ga-ga over Gillibrand better volunteer some time or donate  ducats to her reelection campaign.

The political gods are screwing with Bill Thompson. By all rights he should be giving New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg a run for his considerable money; however, Thompson’s vision is getting lost  in an election where the standard  Big Apple political fisticuffs is nowhere to be found.

The comptroller has been running a vigorous campaign, but from all polls it looks like he’s going to lose badly. This surprises because Bloomberg, for all his good qualities and achievements, essentially decided  the will of the voters don’t matter. City voters in 1993 and 1996 decided that elected officials should only serve two terms. The City Council and Bloomberg decided this wasn’t a good idea and came up with a new law that allowed elected officials to run for three terms. While all three daily newspapers mention this as a hiccup for the mayor, they all endorsed him. Enthusiastically. All the while calling Thompson a decent guy and good comptroller.

Thompson did get some respect from Gay City News. The editors say when it comes to LGBT issues, Bloomberg talks a very good game but the words never match  the action on the streets. Especially when it comes to marriage equality.

“In 2005, at the same time the mayor decided to appeal a Manhattan district court judge’s pro-gay marriage ruling, for the first time he announced his support for marriage equality and pledged to lobby Albany to secure that right. That December, he told Gay City News, ‘When I say I’ll do something, I’ll do something.’”

The paper looks at Thompson and noted  he used his considerable power through  shareholder resolutions and city funds investing for “nondiscrimination protections and equal partner benefits for LGBT workers at nearly 75 major corporations.”

Maybe if Thompson was fiery, had an outsize personality, or said wacky stuff, he would have a chance. But  it looks like a decent guy, who is good with numbers, will have a humbling defeat.