Despite New York State being the fourth-most populous state, and third-most populous for the previous few elections, presidential candidates rarely pay attention to the state since it’s been a Democratic stronghold since Reagan’s last election. Combine that with the fact that the primaries are so late that it seems that the nominees are already all but decided, and it often seems, to a New Yorker, that their vote doesn’t matter because the Democratic nominee, who is already apparent by late April, will win regardless. I suspect many New Jersians at Stevens feel the same way since NJ has gone blue since 1992 and has a primary even later than New York.
However, this year, the primaries are far from over. The current runner-ups in each party have been catching up to the frontrunners, and now the candidates have to pay attention to New York because of its population and delegate count. It’s been amusing watching all of the candidates, especially the ones with ties to New York, running around the city. Here’s a brief summary of what’s happened so far: Bernie Sanders has been playing up his Brooklyn roots, holding rallies around the borough last Friday. Hillary Clinton knows the frustrating words “Please swipe again at this turnstile.” Both Democrats held rallies in the South Bronx, which is only 6% Republican. Naturally when Ted Cruz tried doing the same, he got 12 people to come, including 2 protesters. Kasich seems to be enjoying the food around the city, which beats trying to get our votes considering that he needs 128% of remaining delegates. The original Ben & Jerrys gave out free “Bernie’s Yearning” ice cream in Union and Washington Squares a couple weeks ago, and Sanders is having a rally in Washington Square this week. I can never write about Trump and stay serious, so I’m not going to try.
I’m really cherishing the campaigning, even though it is obvious that the candidates are just doing it for votes. I decided a couple weeks ago who I would vote for on my absentee ballot, but it’s nice to see that my vote matters for once. The campaigning is proof that it matters. I’m sure that students who come here from Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, or any other swing state are sick of seeing campaign ads year after year, but for me it’s a sign that my vote will matter in a national election for once. Most of the states I’ll likely live in are either ‘solid red’ or ‘solid blue’ in November, so this is probably a pretty rare experience for me.
Of course, this whole time, New Yorkers who live anywhere upstate besides Buffalo or Rochester have felt drowned out and ignored in politics, just like any other year.
