In addition, as noted above, Rabkin's departure leaves Cornell, and Ithaca, even more monolithically left-wing.
Ithaca's politics are largely determined by the two biggest employers in the town, Cornell University (aptly nick-named "the Big Red") and Ithaca College (which flies the gay flag over its campus).
The September 2002 issue of American Enterprise had an article about how the nation's colleges are not merely overrun by liberals, but that there are so many liberals on campus that conservatives are virtually non-existent.
And one of the worst offenders? You guessed it: Cornell University (no wonder they call it "the Big Red"), of which only approximately three percent of its professors are "republican" or "conservative." (Ithaca college only had approximately six percent).
How bad is three percent compared to other colleges of note? Let's put it this way: not only is it lower than Harvard (recently in the news for ITS skewed faculty population), but is even lower than Berkeley!
Since these faculty members (and their spouses) (and like-minded grad students) comprise a major chunk of Ithaca's population, politics in Ithaca runs the gamet from "liberal" to "communist."
For years, the town had an openly socialist mayor. They later elected him to the school board.
Even today, the City and County governments are dominated by democrats and Green party members. Ithaca is so "Green" that Ralph Nader got more votes in Ithaca than George W. Bush, and the NYS Green Party held its 2002 nominating convention there. The current Chair of the County Legislature is a radical former anti-war protester, self-described hippie, who says "My values haven't changed, just my tactics."
Another local political figure, commenting on September 11, said >"I think the U.S. is starting to pay for the fact that it's been a rogue state for years."
As a result of its unfettered liberalism, Ithaca was voted most enlightened (ie, liberal) city in America by the ultra left Utne Reader. As a good, conservative Freeper, I'm sure you'll agree that, contrary to what Utne says, "liberal" is not "enlightened." Unfettered liberalism is, well, evil.
As the most liberal city in America,"Ithaca is the City of Evil".
