Kirsten Gillibrand is making paid family leave a defining issue in her 2020 run

Will it be treated as a “big idea?”

Kirsten Gillibrand is making a perhaps not-unwise bet in an era dominated by Democratic women: that her paid family leave proposal can distinguish her in a crowded 2020 Democratic field.

“The American people want national paid leave. We even have a president who I agree with on basically nothing talking about the need for paid leave,” Gillibrand said during a Monday MSNBC town hall. “The best way to provide national paid leave is to make it an earned benefit.”

Gillibrand, alongside Rep....