Posted on 11/04/2004 5:37:57 AM PST by publius1
A Blue City (Disconsolate, Even) Bewildered by a Red America By JOSEPH BERGER
Published: November 4, 2004
Striking a characteristic New York pose near Lincoln Center yesterday, Beverly Camhe clutched three morning newspapers to her chest while balancing a large latte and talked about how disconsolate she was to realize that not only had her candidate, John Kerry, lost but that she and her city were so out of step with the rest of the country.
"Do you know how I described New York to my European friends?" she said. "New York is an island off the coast of Europe."
Like Ms. Camhe, a film producer, three of every four voters in New York City gave Mr. Kerry their vote, a starkly different choice from the rest of the nation. So they awoke yesterday with something of a woozy existential hangover and had to confront once again how much of a 51st State they are, different in their sensibilities, lifestyles and polyglot texture from most of America. The election seemed to reverse the perspective of the famous Saul Steinberg cartoon, with much of the land mass of America now in the foreground and New York a tiny, distant and irrelevant dot.
Some New Yorkers, like Meredith Hackett, a 25-year-old barmaid in Brooklyn, said they didn't even know any people who had voted for President Bush. (In both Manhattan and the Bronx, Mr. Bush received 16.7 percent of the vote.) Others spoke of a feeling of isolation from their fellow Americans, a sense that perhaps Middle America doesn't care as much about New York and its animating concerns as it seemed to in the weeks immediately after the attack on the World Trade Center.
"Everybody seems to hate us these days," said Zito Joseph, a 63-year-old retired psychiatrist. "None of the people who are likely to be hit by a terrorist attack voted for Bush. But the heartland people seemed to be saying, 'We're not affected by it if there would be another terrorist attack.' "
City residents talked about this chasm between outlooks with characteristic New York bluntness.
Dr. Joseph, a bearded, broad-shouldered man with silken gray hair, was sharing coffee and cigarettes with his fellow dog walker, Roberta Kimmel Cohn, at an outdoor table outside the hole-in-the-wall Breadsoul Cafe near Lincoln Center. The site was almost a cliché corner of cosmopolitan Manhattan, with a newsstand next door selling French and Italian newspapers and, a bit farther down, the Lincoln Plaza theater showing foreign movies.
"I'm saddened by what I feel is the obtuseness and shortsightedness of a good part of the country - the heartland," Dr. Joseph said. "This kind of redneck, shoot-from-the-hip mentality and a very concrete interpretation of religion is prevalent in Bush country - in the heartland."
"New Yorkers are more sophisticated and at a level of consciousness where we realize we have to think of globalization, of one mankind, that what's going to injure masses of people is not good for us," he said.
His friend, Ms. Cohn, a native of Wisconsin who deals in art, contended that New Yorkers were not as fooled by Mr. Bush's statements as other Americans might be. "New Yorkers are savvy," she said. "We have street smarts. Whereas people in the Midwest are more influenced by what their friends say."
"They're very 1950's," she said of Midwesterners. "When I go back there, I feel I'm in a time warp."
Dr. Joseph acknowledged that such attitudes could feed into the perception that New Yorkers are cultural elitists, but he didn't apologize for it.
"People who are more competitive and proficient at what they do tend to gravitate toward cities," he said.
Like those in the rest of the country, New Yorkers stayed up late watching the results, and some went to bed with a glimmer of hope that Mr. Kerry might yet find victory in some fortuitous combination of battleground states. But they awoke to reality. Some politically conscious children were disheartened - or sleepy - enough to ask parents if they could stay home. But even grownups were unnerved.
"To paraphrase our current president, I'm in shock and awe," said Keithe Sales, a 58-year-old former publishing administrator walking a dog near Central Park. He said he and friends shared a feeling of "disempowerment" as a result of the country's choice of President Bush. "There is a feeling of 'What do I have to do to get this man out of office?'''
In downtown Brooklyn, J. J. Murphy, 34, a teacher, said that Mr. Kerry's loss underscored the geographic divide between the Northeast and the rest of the country. He harked back to Reconstruction to help explain his point.
"One thing Clinton and Gore had going for them was they were from the South," he said. "There's a lot of resentment toward the Northeast carpetbagger stereotype, and Kerry fit right in to that."
Mr. Murphy said he understood why Mr. Bush appealed to Southerners in a way that he did not appeal to New Yorkers.
"Even though Bush isn't one of them - he's a son of privilege - he comes off as just a good old boy," Mr. Murphy said.
Pondering the disparity, Bret Adams, a 33-year-old computer network administrator in Rego Park, Queens, said, "I think a lot of the country sees New York as a wild and crazy place, where these things like the war protests happen."
Ms. Camhe, the film producer, frequents Elaine's restaurant with friends and spends many mornings on a bench in Central Park talking politics with homeless people with whom she's become acquainted. She spent part of Tuesday knocking on doors in Pennsylvania to rustle up Kerry votes then returned to Manhattan to attend an election-night party thrown by Miramax's chairman, Harvey Weinstein, at The Palm. Ms. Camhe was also up much of the night talking to a son in California who was depressed at the election results.
When it became clear yesterday morning that the outlook for a Kerry squeaker was a mirage, she was unable to eat breakfast. Her doorman on Central Park West gave her a consoling hug. Then a friend buying coffee along with her said she had just heard a report on television that Mr. Kerry had conceded and tears welled in Ms. Camhe's eyes.
Ms. Camhe explained the habits and beliefs of those dwelling in the heartland like an anthropologist.
"What's different about New York City is it tends to bring people together and so we can't ignore each others' dreams and values and it creates a much more inclusive consciousness," she said. "When you're in a more isolated environment, you're more susceptible to some ideology that's imposed on you."
As an example, Ms. Camhe offered the different attitudes New Yorkers may have about social issues like gay marriage.
"We live in this marvelous diversity where we actually have gay neighbors," she said. "They're not some vilified unknown. They're our neighbors."
But she said that a dichotomy of outlooks was bad for the country.
"If the heartland feels so alienated from us, then it behooves us to wrap our arms around the heartland," she said. "We need to bring our way of life, which is honoring diversity and having compassion for people with different lifestyles, on a trip around the country."
Michael Brick and Brian McDonald contributed reporting for this article.
This is the most insulting bit of arrogant ignorance I have ever heard.
Let me tell you something, my step daughter is in the military and just got back from a tour in Iraq. She was a target for a terrorist attack - literally - and she voted for Bush.
"New Yorkers are more sophisticated and at a level of consciousness where we realize we have to think of globalization, of one mankind, that what's going to injure masses of people is not good for us," he said.
BWWWHAAHAAAHAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!
I did but it did not get too much response.
I told someone this morning, this was better than any vacation I have ever been on. I am truly heartened by the "average" folks outside of NY.
I am going to send the RNC a thank you letter for giving me the opportunity.
As far as New Yorkers go, I am back at work, I am self employed and gave up a week's salary and legal work to do this. It was worth it.
Liberal arrogant wealthy New Yorkers can shove it.
Howard Dean was right - as long as the issues are God, Guns, and Gays, the left is doomed for eternity!
"To paraphrase our current president, I'm in shock and awe," said Keithe Sales, a 58-year-old former publishing administrator walking a dog near Central Park... "There is a feeling of 'What do I have to do to get this man out of office?'''
Anything you would do along those lines would probably be a bad thing. But I'm not sure what I expect from a Keithe with two "e"s in his name.
We live in a rural part of Alabama and have a gay neighbor, too. But, he doesn't advertise it, is not in our faces about his lifestyle, and always helps any of us when we ask for his help. He's our neighbor!
We'll put our tolerance up against Ms. Camhe's anytime she wants.
I was truly amazed at how organized we were, considering there were many many out of state people in Florida.
I wish I had made a movie of this thing. It was truly a heartening experience to see how many people peaceably voted without getting into fights.
What is best however - I had a grin on the plane ride home, and not a frown.
The liberal jerks on the plane looked depressed to no end.
Bet ya islamists strike NYC with a nuke and they still won't get it.
Liberals, they're like locusts, once they ruin one habitat, they swarm another and destroy it, like CT, maybe NH (influx from MA)and possibly PA now.
Who is this Joseph Berger, anyway? Since it is from the NY Times, I am not really too surprised; but the utter foolishness of the entire article and the sentiments reported in it is amazing! The audacity to say that we in middle America do not care for NYC and the fact of 9/11! In actuality it is we who care and are still smarting from that disastrous day. We who are willing to sacrifice ourselfs, our military personnel, etc., to defend the entire country including the selfish liberal elites along the east coast. It's hard to believe that these folks who want to be sophisticated pacifists really believe what they say. From this midwest gal, it appears that they are the ones who have forgotten that 3000 US citizens and friends died on that horrible day in NYC & Washington & PA. They don't have a clue about anything!
Tears welled in mine too, lady! Were you as happy as me? :)
Thank you, chris1, for volunteering to help America and President Bush. We are more alike than different, no matter where we're from. This victory is another example of true teamwork. It's amazing what a team can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit.
I'm saddened by what I feel is the obtuseness and shortsightedness of a good part of the country - the heartland
Shortsightedness? From an area of the country that can barely even sustain it's own population.
People who are more competitive and proficient at what they do tend to gravitate toward cities.
I would argue the opposite. Those who are competitive and proficient manage to find a job where they live. Those who aren't are forced to look elsewhere.
What's different about New York City is it tends to bring people together and so we can't ignore each others' dreams and values and it creates a much more inclusive consciousness," she said. "When you're in a more isolated environment, you're more susceptible to some ideology that's imposed on you.
Funny how she misses the fact that 75% of her "diverse" neighbors share the same ideology as herself.
We live in this marvelous diversity where we actually have gay neighbors," she said. "They're not some vilified unknown. They're our neighbors.
I'd prefer to live somewhere where my neighbor may very well be gay, but where they nor I would make that part of their life my business. How is it that having gay neighbors is somehow an inherent plus over having straight neighbors? Maybe they decorate their property better, I guess.
If the heartland feels so alienated from us, then it behooves us to wrap our arms around the heartland," she said. "We need to bring our way of life, which is honoring diversity and having compassion for people with different lifestyles, on a trip around the country.
Please, please, don't.
I'll get this out first to expose any bias: I'm from Boston.
I hate New Yorkers (city not the state). They don't just feel superior to middle America, they feel superior to EVERYONE.
One of the happiest (I'm serious here) moments in my life was when Rueben Sierra grounded out to Pokey Reese to end this year's ALCS. It was mud in their eye.
There may be native new yorkers who I would like, perhaps on this site even, I have just never met any of them.
"When you are in a more isolated environment".
Actually, we in my small southern town, are in a more "isolated" environment. We don't have homeless people, everyone has a place to live. We don't have to go out walking at night, in "groups of threes", and we can go down any street we want to. We are so isolated in fact, that we leave the keys in our cars, and our houses unlocked. We don't know we are being philanthropic when we visit the less fortunate. Down here, we call them,"shut ins", and we seek them out, pray for them at church, and consider it natural to care for these friends. We are so isolated that we don't make 150k a year, but then we don't pay $5.00 for a cup of coffee, and the city doesn't have to pay someone $120 k a year to take the garbage out. We live in nice little 3000 square foot brick homes, and are so isolated, that we don't know your suppose to pay 2 million dollars for them. We are a little embarrased about paying 150k for them. We drive Ford trucks, chevrolet cars, go to Walmart for fun, and are so isolated, we have to drive 60 miles to the "big city", to catch "Les Miserables", when the troupes come around.
Now, we aren't so isolated that sometimes when we are surfing the tv, Howard Stern can be seen, denigrating women. Makes us wonder about moral values. But then, we realize its just New Yorkers, and then we understand. Man ain't it nice to be isolated?
___________________________________________________
I know Keithe Sales personally and have since 1974. He is British, never took the oath or said the pledge. He's a decent guy but has never been successful at anything, mostly due to lack of trying. He is now a professional dog-walker, his "publishing administrator" days were decades ago.
As for the rest of those quoted...none are identified as native New Yorkers but a few are identified as coming from other states or countries. These people are not NYers, they just happen to live here.
btw...my town on LI went for Bush by 60%.
Any country they'd put together would be pacifist and outlaw all weapons - and would have its @ss handed to it on a plate within three weeks.
I've been making this point repeatedly over the past few months - do *not* assume someone is a Kerry supporter, or liberal, or pro-abortion, or whatever because he or she has piercings and wears clothes out of Hot Topic (or whatever the cool new equivalent is.)
Over the next 4 years Republicans are going to have to really get busy attracting young people to the party, and whether older people like it or not, many of these young people are "unconventional" in their dress and appearance. Sorry, no more "Young Republicans" in their white shirts and black ties; that's very last-century.
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