I’m seeing reports on several political-news sites that Governor David Paterson of New York is set to announce on Friday who he is appointing to fill Hillary Clinton’s now-vacant seat in the U.S. Senate. While the major news outlets remain cagey, framing their reports in the cautious language of “signs point to,” the political chattering class says the governor will name…

Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, a centrist upstate Democrat who received a 100-percent approval rating from the National Rifle Association. Gillibrand also hails from a family with long and deep ties to the Republican Party. She is a classic “Blue Dog” democrat — in other words, a Republican in Democratic labeling.

Another New York member of the House of Representatives, Carolyn McCarthy of Long Island, who was elected after her husband was killed by a gunman in the infamous 1993 LIRR massacre, has vowed that if Paterson appoints Gillibrand, then the new senator can look forward to facing McCarthy in a primary battle come 2010.

And if Gillibrand is appointed, she can count on me making a campaign contribution to her opponent. And I’ll be looking to see if any real Democrats are interested in bumping Paterson off the ticket while we’re at it.