New York way does not help with the rest of the country
Speaking of New York Republicans — they don’t mean much for general election victory. In the last 100 years, with the exception of Eisenhower who was a Kansan who took a job at Columbia and would have won no matter what state he temporarily resided in, a New York Republican has not successfully led the party. They don’t even help as VP candidates. Not Hughes in ’16, not Willke in ’40, not Dewey in ’44 or ’48, not Miller in ’64 (VP) not Kemp in 96 (VP ). Note: If Eisenhower was a New Yorker than so was Californian Kemp. And of course Gov. Nelson Rockefeller could not win a primary outside of a few eastern states (Gov. Pataki and Mayor Giuliani never took it that far). The last time a Republican presidential nominee won New York was Ronald Reagan in 1984, and by the way, he was a conservative and didn’t claim New York. So as to the picture, back atcha Rocky, favorite sons are useless. R Mall
From Gary Bauer at Campaign for Working Families:(excerpts)
New York Results: The Republicans
Favorite son Donald Trump also scored a huge victory last night, taking 61% of the vote, followed by John Kasich (25%) and Ted Cruz (15%). Trump secured 89 of New York’s 95 delegates, and now has 835 delegates or 68% of the total needed to win the GOP nomination.
Trump is expected to do well in next week’s round of voting in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. It should be noted, however, that most of the delegates in Pennsylvania are unbound, and the Cruz team thinks it can win at least half of delegates.
It is worth repeating that the primary elections and the delegate selection process are different. They have always been different. This is not some bizarre scheme that the RNC concocted this year to derail Donald Trump. But it does create an optics problem for the party.
By the way, Trump got 61% of the vote and at least 94% of the delegates. Is that cheating? Is that fair? . . .
A Turning Point? (snip)
In the battle for the 2016 GOP nomination, a similar moment may have taken place on January 14th. That was the night when Cruz attempted to score points against Trump in a debate by accusing him of reflecting “New York values.” I knew, and most conservatives knew, exactly what Cruz meant.
Just as conservatives frequently attack “San Francisco values,” Cruz was referring to the values of Andrew Cuomo who said conservatives and pro-lifers weren’t welcome in New York. He was referring to left-wing New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio who honeymooned in communist Cuba. New York City is among the most left-wing cities in America, and Trump has thrived there, often by getting along with the city’s liberal elites.
Perhaps Senator Cruz didn’t think that the race would still be competitive by the time the New York primary took place. But on that debate stage, Trump immediately executed a rhetorical jiu-jitsu maneuver. He turned that blow against Cruz, suggesting Cruz was attacking the real values of New York, which the nation saw on the morning of 9/11 and in the days and weeks that followed.
Cruz was referring to the “values” Trump helped finance voluntarily. He financed people who refuse to enforce the border and insist on amnesty for continued breaking of our laws. He “valued” those who gutted the military and did not take care of veterans. As it turns out, not so much on the voluntary giving side went to conservative causes or veteran’s causes or even to the talisman of all defenders of “New York values” – 911 relief. Maybe Trump did feel compelled to give to the likes of Hillary, and invite the Clintons to his wedding (not mentioned by Bauer). It takes a special sort to play that game. Would you have?
So Cruz’s statement hurt him in New York but Trump is rightly vulnerable for his “New York values” in much of the rest of the country where elsewhere the majority of Republicans know what the phrase means and supported other candidates. As an Iowan I would not be offended to hear someone refer to or castigate “Iowa City values”, in fact I would nod my head in agreement. Was there a more specific way to get the point across? Sure. So what. New York state is going to vote for Hillary no matter what. By one vote or millions Hillary will get all of New York’s electoral votes. Grow up, upstate New York, or up yours.
R Mall
