New York Values

City Mouse and Country Mouse

The consensus of the news shows reviewing last night's debate was that the big winning moment was the earnest support by Donald Trump for New York, spoken in response to Cruz's comment accusing Trump of having "New York values."

I agree it was a good moment for Trump.  He seemed more sentimental and less boisterous than normal and it presented a softer side of Trump.   Audiences liked it.  Pundits liked it.

But Cruz was not defeated in that exchange.   Indeed, for the purposes of the upcoming votes in Iowa and South Carolina it is possible that Cruz was actually the bigger winner.

Speaking to reporter Maria Bartiromo, Cruz said, "I think most people know exactly what New York values are. You're from New York so you might not."

I think the accusation by Cruz will ring true to many voters, and for many of those voters "New York values" are a bad thing, not a good thing.   What are New York values?  Multicultural, tolerant, worldly, cosmopolitan.  There are Jews in New York.  And homosexuals.  "Theater people." Muslims.  Immigrants. New Yorkers take cabs,  they recycle, they have sidewalks, they are close to high-culture, and they don't wake up in the morning to shoot ducks with shotguns.

There is a difference in America that is as profound as Republican-Democratic and that is urban-rural.  Rural people don't have public water systems and sewerages; they have wells and septic tanks.  Rural people don't have public transportation; they have cars and light trucks.  Rural people in Oregon vote Republican, but they are outvoted in statewide elections by the Democrats in Portland.   In my home of Jackson County the prosperous neighborhoods of Ashland and Medford vote for Democrats; the rural areas are heavily Republican.   The same pattern takes place nationwide.

Is the cultural difference real?   Well, the Democratic-Republican ratio is about 5-1 in Manhattan.

Ted Cruz did not lose in that exchange.   And the longer the controversy lasts, the better for him.  Let the critics prattle on, as far as Cruz is concerned.   Ted Cruz will not be elected because he wins the electoral votes of New York.  He will win despite them.   Ted Cruz is selling the idea of him being a consistent conservative.   Consistent conservatives oppose New York values.

Ted Cruz was staking his ground: he represents the rural and suburban traditional values Republicans.    They resent New York, urban values.   They want their taxes to be used to build to build roads for cars, not mass transit and bike lanes.  When there is a gathering of 400 people they don't want to have to consider than many of them will be Jewish, some non-religious, some Muslim.  They are tired of hearing about "diversity."   They expect people to speak English and resent having to accommodate non English speakers.

Trump came out okay in the debate exchange and if he is the Republican nominee he will be helped by that comment.   But if Cruz does surprisingly well in Iowa and South Carolina and then in the big "SEC" primary it will be in part because Cruz succeeded in tagging Trump with New York values.