In the Minority - Republicans find getting the word out in Ithaca/Tompkins County difficult

This is a warning. The story you are about to read is full of Republicans talking about their right-wing views and their impressions on what it likes to be a member of the GOP in a very liberal community. This is a one-sided piece about the role the GOP plays in Tompkins County and about how conservative idealism manages to survive - and some would say thrive - in our politically charged region.

If you are not sure you can read a piece that is devoid of left-wing commentary, you may wish to peruse through the rest of this paper. But, if you are interested in finding out what it likes to be a member of the "outside" read on.

It would be fair to say that politics are a little different in Tompkins County than in other Upstate New York counties. While Republicans control government at both the state and national level, their control is very limited here.

The city, which is well-known for its liberal leanings - it received the designation of most enlightened town in America from Utne Reader magazine several years back - wields much influence on how things run on a county level as city representatives have five seats on the board (one more than the Republicans). For example, last month the Republicans on the Tompkins County Board of Representatives - they carry four of the board's 15 seats - voted in a block against the 2003 budget, which they felt carried too heavy a tax burden. Despite their solidarity neither their motion to stop the budget nor any appeals for more cuts that they put forward succeeded.

The Republicans and conservatives who call Tompkins County home often find it frustrating to express their views as Republicans without being mislabeled.

"There's a lot of stereotyping that Republicans tend to be white male chauvinists who work to keep everyone in their place while helping greedy corporations," says student Ryan Horn, chairman of the Cornell Republicans. "I would characterize the Republican Party - and even the conservative cause - as one that is good and stresses freedom and individuality and the chance to better one's self by working hard."

Ithaca College's Frank Muskgrave, a professor of economics for 34 years and director of the Southern Tier center for Economic Education, says the difference between Democrats and Republicans really comes down to how much one wants to have the government involved in what they do.

"Conservatives feel we can do it on our own and that government does best when it's out of our faces," Muskgrave says. "Liberalism is seen as a more of an intellectual thing to do, therefore conservatives must be stupid. But really, conservatives tend to question things more."

Muskgrave adds that the Republican party's affiliation with "far right Christians and skinheads colors people's perception."

Discussing what actually makes Republicans different from their counterparts in the Democratic Party is a favorite pastime for Republicans, Mark Finkelstein, chairman of the Tompkins County Republican Party, says.

"Republicans believe in limited government, particularly on a federal level. They believe more in individual freedoms and responsibility," Finkelstein says. "Most Republicans believe that the federal government expanded far outside of its specified powers. On the Democrat's side, I don't believe they have such a clear, coherent philosophy. I think they tend to vote based on issues, not ideology."

Mike Sigler, who recently ran an unsuccessful campaign for the 125th Assembly District on the Republican ticket, says when he ran he had to fight the image that Republicans are all about cutting back and not supplying services that are needed.

He says that this stereotype, coupled with the perception that Republicans will do anything to support big corporations, gives them a bad rap.

Indeed, there are those who believe the Republicans that represent New York State and Tompkins County are far too liberal and they would like to see a push for more conservative policy.

"I don't like upstate New York Republicans because I don't feel they are conservative enough. They are still Rockefeller Republicans in my mind," says Richard Leed, a retired Cornell professor and conservative columnist for Ithaca's daily paper. "I changed from the Conservative Party to the Republican Party a few years only because I wanted to vote in primaries."

While Leed feels local Republicans are not staying as true to the Republican philosophy of conservatism as they should, he does understand their dilemma in a county like ours.

"They are in a hard spot. The town is so overwhelmingly liberal and Democratic and leftist that if you broadcast your conservative ideas, there is not much of a hope you'll get them across anyway," Leed says. He says the cancellation of a local broadcasting of the Rush Limbaugh show is a perfect example as area advertisers refused to sponsor the show for fear of being boycotted.

...former city alderwoman Jana Taylor ...became the sole Republican to serve on Council in 1998. The council, which for the past decade has been dominated by Democrats and liberals, is well known for its liberal stance and Taylor found out how quick people in Ithaca were to judge her for party affiliation.

"When campaigning I would introduce myself as a Republican and you could see this distrusting look would come over their face...." Taylor says. One place where hearing the Republican word is difficult is on the liberal campuses that comprise Cornell and Ithaca College. While the college era in a person's life is often seen as a time to be open to new ideas, many find that open-mindness when it comes to politics is in short supply.

"I was a Republican before I came to college, but not an activist. I have my views and believe in the power of individual responsibility," says Michelle Meredith, future chairwoman of the Ithaca College Republicans. "It took going to college and seeing how liberals dominate that made me want to say to fellow students, 'You need to hear this other point of view.' "

Meredith recalls a recent politics class where different speakers representing various political ideologies were asked to speak. When the Republican spoke, "everybody in the classroom sighed and snickered," Meredith recalls.

Republicans on the Ithaca College campus have particular difficulty gaining acceptance since a firestorm erupted earlier this year over promotional posters placed across campus trumpeting an appearance by Bay Buchanan, the ultra-conservative sister of right-winger Pat Buchanan. The poster, which used the term "femi-nazis", was intended, Meredith says, to come off as political humor. But the backlash that it caused on campus made it clear that Ithaca College harbors a mistrust of Republicans and their intentions. Nowhere on the college campus is the lack of Republicans more noticeable than in the faculty, where professors like Musgrave find themselves on the outside.

"It's kind of fun to be a maverick, but at some points it wears thin," Musgrave says. "College is often seen as a time to be idealistic, to be against war, like the upcoming war in Iraq - which I am against, although I am not against war for the right reasons. The students come to an environment where they can dream of Utopia but there is a saying, 'If you are not a liberal by the time you're 20, you have no heart. If you are not a conservative by the time you're 40, you have no brain.' "

Musgrave adds, "At some point, a touch of reality becomes really important for people."

On the Cornell campus, acceptance is equally difficult, says Horn, who runs the Cornell Republicans.

"I think it's tough when you are such a minority like this, particularly from a student angle. When you are on a campus like Cornell's, it's not common that you hear professors and students express the same ideas as you in a public setting," Horn says. "It can be tough for a lot of students, particularly at Cornell, to go into the classroom every day and hear scholars over and over again say things that disagree with their views. That the views they hold are wrong."

Horn believes that the liberal atmosphere on most campuses is a result of the radical movements of the '60s, when students rallied against war and became active in politics. Over time, these liberal minded people moved into academics and the media and have had a lasting impact on the atmosphere.

Finkelstein agrees that the roots of liberalism on campus generally come from both the nature of the beast and from a hierachy started in the liberal days of the '60s. But he feels that over the next few years, as the distance grows between the liberals and the 60s, things will begin to change.

"Our academic institutions pay lip service to diversity but practice virtually no diversity of thought," Finkelstein says. "I think in 10 years, Tompkins County will see a swing of the pendulum back towards the middle. This will come as the current crop of people in control age and as the new generation begins to take over."

"I think in 10 years, Tompkins County will see a swing of the pendulum back towards the middle. This will come as the current crop of people in control age and as the new generation begins to take over."

I would respectfully disagree on this point. As we have documented here at FR, the next generation is indoctrinated in leftism on a daily basis. “In most places, youngsters spend their summers camping, or at the mountains or the beach. In Ithaca, they learn how to become social activists.” The School District has mandated that elementary school students in the first and second grades be graded on how well they "respect others of varying cultures, genders, experiences, and abilities." It's even listed on the schools' report card.

Only in Ithaca would a newspaper HAVE to post a warning that an article contained conservative views.

Ithaca is the City of Evil.

The Republicans and conservatives who call Tompkins County home often find it frustrating to express their views as Republicans without being mislabeled.

********************************* Boy if that isn't the understand of the year award for them!

Holy Moley!!!!

I don't know BLL what do you think, have we had it here?

Oh by the way,

Merry Christmas!

Well, articles like this make the answer clear to me. Republicans will have to become more sensitive to issues related to racial segrgation. A key step, it seems, to me would be for Republicans to abandon a long standing refusal to contribute to an activity that fosters concern for black issues. After all these years of avoidance, Republicans should take off their sheets and join the Congressional Black Caucus.

I know, I know, no Republican has EVER belonged to this Caucus, even those Republicans that have major black populations in their districts. But, this must stop! Republicans must stop racial segregation!!! What better way, than to finally particpate in the Congressional Black Caucus.

I want to know which stores were scared of being boycotted for sponsoring Rush Limbaugh? Wegmans?

I distinctly remember a few local restaurants started out as Limbaugh sponsors. I would assume they were among those afraid of a boycott.

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