A dilemma which needs a solution
One simple thing must occur between now and November if the leading Democratic contender, Kirsten Gillibrand, wants to win - she must shed her elite image. Some people may think I’m parroting a Republican press release or working in disguise for Sweeney by saying this or using that term. I’m not. I’ve had political conversations with other regular people from the district and this is what they’re saying too. In truth, I’m writing this diary entry because I desperately want to see Sweeney go down by a large margin this Fall and see the Democrats finally control this seat for the first time since the mid-seventies when the late Gerald B.H. Solomon captured this for the Republicans.
My last diary was an entry on the conservative-leanings of Warren County. Warren County to a great degree, I feel symbolizes here in Upstate New York the problems the Democrats are now having across America with the working-class. Warren County is overwhelmingly blue-collar (except for upper middle class Queensbury and Bolton Landing) and the economy has been in bad shape in many towns for many years – this is the type of place you would expect to be dominated by the Democrats, and it reality it should be. The average level of income in the majority of communities is well below both the state and national average, and there is a high dependency on government programs, such as welfare, social security, and WIC amongst many Warren County residents. Many of the people are just barely hanging on in some places like Baker’s Mills. It’s sad and it’s depressing. What’s even more sad and depressing, though, is that the Warren County people keep voting in Republican politicians for state, local, and national offices who want to do nothing but destroy half of the programs they’re dependent on.
The major reason for Warren County’s Republican leanings arguably is related to the heavily-discussed “culture war.” You could almost read the book “What’s the Matter With Kansas?” and Mr. Frank would not have a hard time transporting the context of his book to Warren County. Many Warren County people are fueled by “hot button” issues, such as abortion, flag burning, and gay marriage. Gerald B.H. Solomon, himself, was a Warren County resident, and was known to be one of the most staunchly socially conservative members of the house (if you remember). He was always known for his anti-gay bigotry, along with the many tirades he gave on the floor of the House in opposition to gun control, flag burning, and abortion. (To many educated people like myself, he was almost an embarrassment to this district) Sad to say it, but his socially conservative views were (and are today) almost a mirror image of many Warren County residents. My family owns a camp in the Adirondacks in the northern part of the Warren County and the place is arguably a strong hotbed of social conservatism. One of the largest evangelical outfits in the country, the Word of Life Institute is headquartered in Pottersville in the Town of Chester. Oliver North in fact gave a speech up there a couple of years ago which drew a large audience and in an area like that, there really shouldn’t be any misunderstanding why. I happened to meet one of the Word of Lifers and eventually found his blog on the internet and found it to be full of anti-abortion, and anti-gay sentiment, along with some anti-evolution comments. I remember picking up the Glens Falls Post-Star last year during the Intelligent Design debate and remember seeing it bombarded with letters (mainly from Warren County residents) who supported teaching Intelligent Design and creationism in the schools. Many people in Warren County are National Rifle Association Members and hate gun control - you see tons of NRA stickers on the back of pickup trucks. Tell them you support even the most minor restrictions on firearms and they won’t listen to a word you have to say.
If Kirsten thinks that she’s going to have an easy time in Warren County and the North Country, she’s got another thing coming. Don’t get me wrong – I think she’s a great candidate, but an Ivy League educated attorney who recently lived in Manhattan is probably not going to fly over well with many of these people. Anti-intellectualism is one of the prominent components of today’s conservatism, and unfortunately Warren has a huge evangelical and fundamentalist crowd, along with many other blue collar laborers who can’t stand anything Ivy League. It’s somewhat sad that in many places today you actually have to be an idiot (or at least act like one) to get elected. (By the way, I am very impressed with her academic credentials – intelligent people are the type of people we need running our government – maybe we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in today)
The only way to win these people over is for her (or whoever wins the Democratic primary) is to cast themselves in a populist, not an elitist image. If Sweeney can come across a down to earth guy who you’d love to shoot the breeze at the bar with, essentially a guy wrapped in blue collar clothing on the outside when internally he’s really a corporatist criminal, I can’t see why our candidates can’t come across in the same “down to earth” image. (By the way, I do think he’s a criminal for taking taxpayer money to hold events with lobbyists) The problem is that many Democrats just can’t step down to the low levels that the Republicans do and get dressed up in flannel shirts and denim and ride around in a pickup truck with a big American flag on the back while they campaign. The problem is, while this tactic is phony – it works – that’s how Rove got multimillionaire New England-born Ivy League educated George W. Bush into the White House and everybody falsely envisions him as this blue-collar, anti-intellectual, working class man.
Ultimately, I would love to see Warren County get gerrymandered out of this district, but there’s nothing we can do for now (hopefully we take control of the State Senate this year) , but it arguably cannot be ignored because it is the second most populated county in the district, followed by Saratoga. Many of the rural areas in Saratoga are similar to Warren. Unfortunately,
almost half of the population of the 20th Congressional District of New York lives in those two counties.
This is obviously a dilemma which needs a solution.
My last diary was an entry on the conservative-leanings of Warren County. Warren County to a great degree, I feel symbolizes here in Upstate New York the problems the Democrats are now having across America with the working-class. Warren County is overwhelmingly blue-collar (except for upper middle class Queensbury and Bolton Landing) and the economy has been in bad shape in many towns for many years – this is the type of place you would expect to be dominated by the Democrats, and it reality it should be. The average level of income in the majority of communities is well below both the state and national average, and there is a high dependency on government programs, such as welfare, social security, and WIC amongst many Warren County residents. Many of the people are just barely hanging on in some places like Baker’s Mills. It’s sad and it’s depressing. What’s even more sad and depressing, though, is that the Warren County people keep voting in Republican politicians for state, local, and national offices who want to do nothing but destroy half of the programs they’re dependent on.
The major reason for Warren County’s Republican leanings arguably is related to the heavily-discussed “culture war.” You could almost read the book “What’s the Matter With Kansas?” and Mr. Frank would not have a hard time transporting the context of his book to Warren County. Many Warren County people are fueled by “hot button” issues, such as abortion, flag burning, and gay marriage. Gerald B.H. Solomon, himself, was a Warren County resident, and was known to be one of the most staunchly socially conservative members of the house (if you remember). He was always known for his anti-gay bigotry, along with the many tirades he gave on the floor of the House in opposition to gun control, flag burning, and abortion. (To many educated people like myself, he was almost an embarrassment to this district) Sad to say it, but his socially conservative views were (and are today) almost a mirror image of many Warren County residents. My family owns a camp in the Adirondacks in the northern part of the Warren County and the place is arguably a strong hotbed of social conservatism. One of the largest evangelical outfits in the country, the Word of Life Institute is headquartered in Pottersville in the Town of Chester. Oliver North in fact gave a speech up there a couple of years ago which drew a large audience and in an area like that, there really shouldn’t be any misunderstanding why. I happened to meet one of the Word of Lifers and eventually found his blog on the internet and found it to be full of anti-abortion, and anti-gay sentiment, along with some anti-evolution comments. I remember picking up the Glens Falls Post-Star last year during the Intelligent Design debate and remember seeing it bombarded with letters (mainly from Warren County residents) who supported teaching Intelligent Design and creationism in the schools. Many people in Warren County are National Rifle Association Members and hate gun control - you see tons of NRA stickers on the back of pickup trucks. Tell them you support even the most minor restrictions on firearms and they won’t listen to a word you have to say.
If Kirsten thinks that she’s going to have an easy time in Warren County and the North Country, she’s got another thing coming. Don’t get me wrong – I think she’s a great candidate, but an Ivy League educated attorney who recently lived in Manhattan is probably not going to fly over well with many of these people. Anti-intellectualism is one of the prominent components of today’s conservatism, and unfortunately Warren has a huge evangelical and fundamentalist crowd, along with many other blue collar laborers who can’t stand anything Ivy League. It’s somewhat sad that in many places today you actually have to be an idiot (or at least act like one) to get elected. (By the way, I am very impressed with her academic credentials – intelligent people are the type of people we need running our government – maybe we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in today)
The only way to win these people over is for her (or whoever wins the Democratic primary) is to cast themselves in a populist, not an elitist image. If Sweeney can come across a down to earth guy who you’d love to shoot the breeze at the bar with, essentially a guy wrapped in blue collar clothing on the outside when internally he’s really a corporatist criminal, I can’t see why our candidates can’t come across in the same “down to earth” image. (By the way, I do think he’s a criminal for taking taxpayer money to hold events with lobbyists) The problem is that many Democrats just can’t step down to the low levels that the Republicans do and get dressed up in flannel shirts and denim and ride around in a pickup truck with a big American flag on the back while they campaign. The problem is, while this tactic is phony – it works – that’s how Rove got multimillionaire New England-born Ivy League educated George W. Bush into the White House and everybody falsely envisions him as this blue-collar, anti-intellectual, working class man.
Ultimately, I would love to see Warren County get gerrymandered out of this district, but there’s nothing we can do for now (hopefully we take control of the State Senate this year) , but it arguably cannot be ignored because it is the second most populated county in the district, followed by Saratoga. Many of the rural areas in Saratoga are similar to Warren. Unfortunately,
almost half of the population of the 20th Congressional District of New York lives in those two counties.
This is obviously a dilemma which needs a solution.
posted by Colin Neal at 9:31 AM
4 Comments:
"we need an aggressive and comprehensive approach that requires the following priorities:
* Empower our military to bring the fight to the terrorist cells"
Does she mean extra-judicial murder? Does she mean violation of the sovereighty of other nations? Does she mean violation of the U.N. Charter and the London Treaty (which lead to the Nuremberg trails), violation of the Constitution of the United States (or will she vote for a Letter of Marque and Reprisal (section 8 paragraph 11) to kill persons named? un-named?). What does she have in mind?
Yes, please go read what this candidate who is try to move to the
right of John Sweeney has to say in her own words.
The quote is a quote from Gillibrands website NOT from Ed Pell
Are we pro-peace people to understand (wink wink nod nod) that she does not actually mean what she says? That she is just posturing for the right wing voters that she needs in November?
She runs as a candidate of integrity don't people of integrity mean what they say?
I'm unconvinced about Gillibrand's intellectual rigor despite being an Ivy League Graduate. The "Ethics' thingy and the Iraq Strategy were anemic .pdf's which held little weight or ANY academic citations. Where's the beef ?
You'd think you'd get a little more for the gazillions pouring into the affair.
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