Live From New York…
I’ll be following this NYT article all day.
Dennis Rizzio, a 72-year-old upholsterer, was told Tuesday morning that he could not vote for Donald J. Trump because he was not registered as a Republican, which fed his suspicions that, as he said in an echo of his candidate, “It’s a rigged system.’’
Nevertheless, he planned to go to the Westchester County seat, White Plains, to straighten out the problem, then return to Chappaqua because he was determined to cast a vote for Mr. Trump.
“Very close to my heart is a very important topic — bringing jobs here instead of their going overseas,” he said. “The bought politicians, the established politicians can’t do it because they’re bought by the special interests.”
Mr. Rizzio, a father of three, recalled that in the 1990s he was working as a TV technician for a corporation in Texas, and one day suddenly found himself out a job because the company moved overseas.
“I know what it is like for a man to come home and have and tell his family, ‘I can’t provide for you anymore.’” Mr. Rizzio said.
I know what it’s like to tell a family that too and there’s no way in hell I’d think voting for Trump would make it less likely that future Americans would have to relay such devastating news to their families. Perhaps The Wall™ will physically stop companies from shipping jobs overseas or maybe astronomical tariffs will help.
But showing up a few minutes after him to vote at New Castle Town Hall — Chappaqua is a hamlet in New Castle — was a Clinton supporter, Laurie Matthews, 50, a lawyer. She said she found Mrs. Clinton, who she occasionally sees around town at Starbucks or a fine-foods shop, to be “very smart and good-hearted.”
Chappaqua, NY median household income: $213,750. New Castle NY, median household income: $159,691.
US Median household income: $53,046
I wonder what kind of coffee Bernie drinks.
“Some say she’s very cold, but in this environment she’s very warm,” Ms. Matthews said.
“I feel like she’s the better-qualified candidate based on her experience,” she said, adding that Bernie Sanders “is over his head on foreign policy.”
“I find Bernie to be a little too left and he hasn’t fleshed out some of his points,” she said. “I also don’t think he’s electable.”
Single payer health insurance. Closed tax loopholes for corporations and the uber-wealthy. Getting dark money out of politics. $15 minimum wage. Putting the shackles back on the banking industry. Improving the welfare of an entire nation. Juuuust a bit too far to the left.
Although Mr. Sanders has made the criticism a mantra, Ms. Matthews was not troubled by the large speaking fees Mrs. Clinton accepted from Wall Street firms. “I accept money for a job I do, and she was doing a job and got paid,” Ms. Matthews, a mother of two teenage girls, said.
Just curious. What was the job Clinton was doing at these speaking engagements?
In his short walk around Midtown, Mr. Sanders spoke with Michael Cantalupo, a frustrated supporter who said he was shut out of the process because he had missed the deadline to change his party affiliation to Democrat from Independent.
Mr. Cantalupo, who stopped the senator to explain his predicament, said he first tried to change his registration last May but that the Department of Motor Vehicles lost his paperwork. In December, he tried again, but by then it was too late to become eligible to vote in the Democratic primary.
“It shouldn’t be this hard,” Mr. Cantalupo, 21, said, standing alongside Mr. Sanders.
The senator frowned and criticized the voting system.
“Today, three million people in the state of New York who are Independents have lost their right to vote in the Democratic and Republican primaries,” Mr. Sanders said standing alongside Mr. Cantalupo. “That’s wrong. You’re paying for this election. It’s administered by the state. You have a right to vote. That’s a very unfortunate thing which I hope will change.”
Sorry Mr. Cantalupo, you missed your chances to get a pass to the Clubhouse.
Emerich Tauber, 69, a retired fishmonger, was dressed in black and stood with his hands folded behind his back. A registered Democrat, he seemed disinclined to support either candidate, Hillary Clinton or Senator Bernie Sanders.
“The old guy, surely not,” he said, unable to identify Mr. Sanders by name.
Though Democrats are unable to vote in the Republican primary, Mr. Tauber expressed his desire to vote for Donald J. Trump.
Old guy? Sanders is 74. Trump turns 70 in <2 months. Interesting line in the sand he draws.
“We need change,” Mr. Tauber said. “He’s crazy. But we need change. He can do it.”
We need unhinged crazy in the White House leading the most powerful nation on earth, got it.
Of the area he said that though many are registered Democrats, they more often side with Republicans, nationally, because of their faith.
“Morally we are Republican,” he said
Tags: Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, New York Presidential Primary
As much as I like Sanders, I have no pity for losers and dumbfucks who registered as Independents and can’t change over. If they like Sanders they should have been Democrats all long.
What does “she occasionally sees around town at Starbucks or a fine-foods shop” have to do with anything. Who wrote decides what gets posted on this NYTimes feed?
“He’s crazy, but we need change.”
Well. Yes. There is a lot of crazy happening in that statement Mr. Tauper. SMH.
And wow, someone said he would take cyanide if Mr. Cruz received the nomination. Well that’s a bit extreme.
…Now for the rest of the commenters on this blog to go crazy and get all pervasive and foul in the way they respond…
And go.
..although having said that I now recall that New York has an active liberal party. I have some sympathy for those guys.
Wait, what? You lost me. What part am I supposed to cuss at?
Goats, Jason.
I actually do have sympathy for people who didn’t change their registration. It shouldn’t be so complicated. What I do not have sympathy for is Independents wanting a vote in the Dem primary. Bernie joined the club, so should you if you want to vote for him.
BTW, kudos to Bernie for joining the Dems. It was deliciously political, smart and cynical. I can respect that move. True, as a Hillary supporter I’m not liking it so much now, but I admire a politician who works the system to their advantage.
If Clinton and Trump both have the blowout victories they are projected to… man, what a weird state.
“What was the job Clinton was doing at these speaking engagements?”
Speaking. Heck, speakers have had their own association since 1973 (National Speakers Association). Here, this might help: http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorieclark/2013/06/10/how-to-become-a-successful-professional-speaker/#ebc7947326fd.
Unless you were suggesting that it isn’t real work or has no value, or just being snarky because you’ve bet on a different horse.
New York does have an insanely early registration change deadline (it was in October or November), but the reason it does have it that early is to protect the Conservative, Working Family, and Green Parties from interference from Dems and Republicans.
I have no problem at all with closed primaries. If Independents want to decide a party’s nominee, they should become a member of that party.
I fail to see why it is such a monumental problem for some folks, that a political party wants to be able to choose it’s own candidates. General elections are the place where the “people get to decide”. Why should folks registered as Republicans be able to tell the Green Party, whom they should put up as their candidate ? Or Libertarians determine whom the Socialist Workers nominee should be ? Don’t like the two large parties, join up and work for change, or help the party of your choice become more relevant. Oh, and make sure you read the rules, before you make a switch because it’s “easier”.
Bill Cortes, I have noticed that there are a lot of confused people out there. Some seem to think political parties are law bound governmental entities, and not clubs bound by their own contrived rules.
How do these people get through the day? It is a head scratcher.
I tend to think that when a plurality of eligible voters don’t want to be part of either club, the clubs must suck to some degree and the system we have now isn’t set up to support more than 2 parties–err, clubs.
Well that’s true. Through the accretion of tradition, we have two parties. The people who drive me nuts are the ones who don’t get that, and piss and moan about it.
If people didn’t register as Dems in New York, and other closed primaries, then they disenfranchised themselves. (That doesn’t mean that we don’t need to make registration easier.)
Bernie became a Dem because he would benefit from the Dem infrastructure, exposure, and, if he were the win, the money. A good campaign (think Obama 2008) is all over this sort of thing from day 1.
Think of it this way. What if the GOP wrapped up their primary early (Feb/March) and their nominee was set. Everybody okay with Republicans – who already have their nominee – voting in the Dem primary? It’s easy to say it isn’t fair when you view voters as being on your team, not so easy in the above scenario.
Here’s some good news:
NY exit poll: Has this campaign energized/divided your party?
Dems
68% energized
27% divided
GOP
Energized 39%
Divided 57%
What to watch for:
According to Nate Silver, in order to be on track for the nomination (i.e. win more than half of pledged delegates), Bernie Sanders has to win 128 delegates and beat Hillary by about 4 percentage points tonight. Any less than that, and he’s falling further behind. Much less than that (e.g. double digit win by Hillary), and it’s basically over (Nate projects a 7 percent Hillary win).
And even if Sanders accomplishes getting 128, there’s no clear indication that he’ll sway a majority of the super delegates. He has no path forward without them, unless there some major unforeseen event.
First sign of trouble for Hillary…. not projected to win based only on exit polling (but Trump is).
CNN has an exit poll 52/48 for Hillary….which is closer than I expected.
Just think of the result if the Party didn’t go all out to rig it for Clinton.
Rig? Can we please stop with the conspiracy theories – that only seem to come out when Bernie loses (or looks like he’s going to lose). It’s amazing how we never hear anything about a rigged election when Bernie wins. Seriously, this sort of stuff sounds like Trump.
It also reminds me of the way Republicans are always trying to delegitimize Obama.
When Bernie’s won I’ve always congratulated Bernie supporters.
@pandora: It also reminds me of the way Republicans are always trying to delegitimize Obama.
What’s been blindingly obvious in this Democratic campaign is that the GOP tactics of the past eight years have–of only by osmosis–seeped into the Dem DNA as well. You can’t cheapen the quality of one major national party without it affecting the other, at least in terms of how venal the process becomes.
You have a point, Steve. I’m so sick of the whining on both sides.
It looks like a big night for Hillary. She’s going to increase her lead by about 30 delegates or so.
What this means for Bernie is that, going forward, he’ll need to win 3 delegates for every 2 that Hillary wins…. Nearly impossible, especially if you look at the polling for upcoming races (e.g. HRC up by 25 in MD).
“Old guy? Sanders is 74. Trump turns 70 in <2 months. Interesting line in the sand he draws."
Sanders looks much older than Trump, and for many (most?, all?) Trump supporters, appearance beats facts every time.
I dont understand why it is a GOP talking point that Hillary is too close to Wall-street. Aside from this new “torch it all” wing of the GOP, you’d think they would celebrate such capitalism. anyone care to explain without using the term “berniebro?” (assume i’ve moved on and have questions about the candidate i support)