This writer is so idiotic. I understand his overarching point here, Republicans shouldn’t chastise “New York”, a.k.a. urbanites/big city/etc, but there are so many contrary points to be made here.
1) Let’s start with the fact that no Republican is going to win New York state. Despite Williamson’s dreams of presumably the biggest RINO of all time (Jeb Bush?) running on the GOP ticket, as long as there’s a Democrat running, the state of New York will select that person regardless. No amount of pandering to New York OR stereotyping them will change that.
2) Let’s keep the context in mind here. We’re less than 3 weeks from the Republican Iowa Caucuses. Less than 2 months from the South Carolina primaries. Like it or not (or perhaps this writer is ignorant of this) the vast majority of people that vote in these two contests do not look upon New York City as a place to aspire to. Contrarily, they know exactly what one means when one says “New York Values”. Trust me, John Smith from Poppycock, IA isn’t offended by the term. He doesn’t sit there and try to wrap his head around all the little exceptions to the phrase and wonder why someone would forget about poor Milton Friedman.
3) It’s funny how in the same article the author calls the suburbs of Houston, to paraphrase, “may as well be anywhere” in an article where he wants us to not stereotype or neglect the finer points of New York City. I grew up in the suburbs of Houston. No, I don’t ride a horse or wear a cowboy hat, but it’s not the same as growing up in the suburbs of anywhere, and this little afterthought is a big deal since it flies in the face of his main point.
4) New York earned their reputation. Further, the phrase comports to the eye of the beholder. Trump was proud of New York Values in 1999. In fact, many people are proud of New York’s socially-liberal, economically-conservative bent. New York Values isn’t necessarily a bad thing to a good portion of people.
5) Like it or not, stereotypes exist of every city. This should be a no-brainer, but apparently not when reading this article and seeing so much misplaced frustration. New York has a stereotype, LA, Miami, Dallas, Seattle, Chicago... etc. Hell, the political media plays on those stereotypes every day when they say how one candidate will “play well” in Iowa while another will do better in New Hampshire. That’s because the states are very different and their, wait for it, values are very different. If someone were to say New Hampshire values, I think most of us would think, “libertarian-leaning, small government, open-minded”, while if someone were to say Iowa values, “Christian, farmer-oriented, socially-conservative”. These aren’t inherently good or bad things. They just are. New York just is.
I could keep going, but this is enough. I’m very disappointed in this article though. I can’t believe how short-sighted it is.
For the record Trump will win New York in the primaries and regular election.
Cruz just tossed NY 100% for the Democrats. Which is not helpful.
Cruz has a small chance to win in Iowa, but Trump will win New Hampshire and South Carolina. Trump nationally leads by almost 30 points. He is higher than Ronald Reagan at this time.
I like Cruz, but he does not appeal to the masses. The fact that he has sided with the Establishment should give you pause vs. Trump who is hated by the Establishment.
Finally, I don’t even think Cruz is qualified. Given the fact that he could have run for Canadian Prime Minister up to about 14 months ago. The Establishment knows this, and that is why they are pushing Cruz. To set him up to take down Trump, and only later to be disqualified.
The Establishment is using Cruz to attack Trump and divide conservatives.
RE: Let’s start with the fact that no Republican is going to win New York state.
There are many folks who believe that Trump, a New York resident and icon, could make this state the exception this year ( Cruz won’t be able to do that ).
If Trump wins New York, he wins the Presidency, HANDS DOWN!