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Posted on 11/09/2016 7:39:01 PM PST by nickcarraway
New York City's red state finally got its revenge.
Staten Island voters overwhelmingly backed Donald Trump on Tuesday, bucking not only Hillary Clinton, but the other four Democrat-heavy boroughs.
"Of course it's vindication," said retired NYPD detective John Sellenthin as he gladly posed next to the "Trump/Pence" sign in front of his cozy Castleton Corners home. "The media, the Establishment, the liberals all wanted Hillary Clinton. And I said, 'Of course I'm doing the opposite!'"
This victory was particularly sweet because the professionals on the other side of the Harbor were so sure it wasn't going to happen. But the final vote tally — Trump with 57%, or 97,612 votes, to Clinton's 40%, or 67,561 votes is no surprise to any resident of the mostly white borough that sent Rudy Giuliani to City Hall and backed John McCain against History in 2008.
This island is not only surrounded by water, but it appears at times to completely cut off from facts, too.
“There are five reasons I voted for Trump,” said Mike Frange, 63, of Oakwood. “One, Obamacare is a disaster. Two, regulations are killing business. Three, the economy should be growing at 4%. Four, he’s against free trade, you know, Napster, so that companies like Carrier can’t move to Mexico.”
Obviously, Frange meant NAFTA, not Napster, which is a long-gone file sharing system, but I decided to ask him if he realized that free trade helps consumers like him when they buy, say, one of those Carrier air conditioners.
“That doesn’t matter because it’s taking away our jobs,” he said.
“Oh yeah,” he added. “Let’s build that wall.”
Now, even Margaret Mead journalists know about Trump’s physical barrier to keep out illegal immigrants from Mexico. But I was surprised by where Frange’s support for the wall took him next:
“We have to keep these immigrants out,” Frange added. “She was going to let in thousands of Syrian refugees. And we all feel sorry for what’s happening in Syria, but the first priority is to defeat ISIS, which Obama failed to do and Hillary made it worse with Benghazi and the emails and I could go on and on, like look at who she is associated with: Anthony Weiner.”
I asked if there was anything he didn’t like about Trump, but Frange said that even Trump’s flaws were his strengths.
“He’s not too experienced, but that’s even better because he’s a businessman who can negotiate and will bring in the right people with him,” he said. “Does he have a slip of the tongue every once in a while? Of course. But everybody does. He’ll learn. He’ll be around smart people.”
There was no use arguing. Besides, this was Frange and Sellenthin’s day to savor victory. It was especially sweet to local GOP leader Sam Pirozzolo, who had put up a massive, red, white and blue “T” sign on his Manor Road home earlier this year only to see it burned to the ground in an anti-Trump attack.
He rebuilt the “T” and told me, “Today, it stands for ‘Triumph.’”
He said Staten Island has been reliably Republican since the Verrazano Bridge was built in the 1960s.
“All of a sudden, all these renters move over from Brooklyn and buy houses — suddenly they’re paying taxes and they see we don’t have any transit over here, any services,” he said. “Staten Islanders are more payers than receivers. And that makes you question what we’re paying taxes for.”
Or, in the case of Trump, not paying taxes for.
I reminded a man in a “Make America Great Again” hat the Trump apparently hasn’t paid federal taxes in years, but he didn’t care.
De Blasio reassures city that NYC values won’t change under Trump “Whatever he did was within the law,” said the man who gave the name Joe.
We decided to play a lightning round.
And the comment about Mexicans, I asked.
“He didn’t say they were all rapists, just some,” Joe said.
And all those women who came forward?
“Where are the witnesses?” he asked.
The famous “Access Hollywood” tape didn’t bother Sellenthin, either.
“Everyone says something off the cuff that sounds bad when you hear it back,” he said.
Looking over my notes from a day in Staten Island, I certainly know what that would feel like. Problem is, my friends in Staten Island don’t think it sounds that bad at all.
It’s-a Ping-ga for you!
I’ve see several pieces where these reporters and other linbs on social media are just complrly in shock people support different view points than their circle of lib friends. They just can’t compared it. It is hilarious to read.
The condescension is thick in this article. Here’s to hoping that this smug “journalist” gets punched in the face sometime soon.
Good, good journalists. Let the butthurt flow through you...
I love Staten Island and its people
Solid :)
Thanks for the ping.
SI rocks. 57 percent!
That is a cool map.
I love here. And guess what all the blue on Staten Island is. At least we see where we would have to put our defenses in case of a war. **** the other 4 Boroughs
I recall reading a breakdown of the white population of the United States by ethnic origin in this election. Italian Americans, German Americans, and Scots-Irish Americans were more inclined to vote for Trump than those of English or Irish Catholic ancestry. Isn’t Staten Island heavily Italian American? The German American vote for Trump, of German ancestry, may well have helped him in Pennsylvania and the Midwest. Scots-Irish Appalachia, from northern Alabama to western Maryland, went for Trump by minimum 2-1 and often 4-1 margins.
They successfully voted to secede from New York City in the same election that began Giuliani’s first term. If that hadn’t coincided they would have left, I believe.
You and I can find common ground but we live in totally different areas. I am in a small city in rural In East Texas. One day, you must venture off of the island and I might have to take a bite out of the Big Apple.
Staten Islanders should take that as a compliment.
SI is about 35% Italian heritage. Most are backlash types from Brooklyn who moved to SI and who vote Republican. Their parents who lived in Brooklyn and who have mostly died off were FDR Democrats.
I believe Irish Catholics in NYC tend to vote Republican, especially the police.
I agree. Time to see a little more of the country.
Nice job dp. Staten Island sounds like my kind of place! Maybe the other buroughs will start to wise up and learn from you guys. I wouldn`t hold my breath, but you never know.
That's why I just don't talk to SJWs at all. They're totally brainwashed, preprogrammed packages of meat. Zero point in trying to reach them - part of their programming is arrogance. Punks who can't fight, always looking for a fight. It's not going to end well for them.
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