Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hi there,

I'm apparently a minority in my area. Well, I suppose I always knew that; I'm an upstate NY Democrat, there aren't many of us. However, having a Democratic congressman for the first time in, not kidding, a century, makes one feel pretty good. And yet, being a New Yorker, most of the world seems to have written off our February 5th vote to Hillary, being our Senator.

As a longtime Obama supporter, I find this to be somewhat annoying. Hillary is our Senator, yes, because the Republican who ran against her in 2000 was a joke, and I'm not sure if the Republicans even made an attempt in '06. I supported Hillary in her Senate runs, and it wasn't until about a year ago that I fully became aware of her stances on many issues that don't make their way into NY politics (being considered a very Blue state). The city liberals sing her praises, and the upstate conservatives call her a communist. It works out because the conservatives get outnumbered about 10 to 1, so she wins in a landslide anyway.

But I was talking to my father this morning (Town Democratic Party Chairman), and he finally gave into my pressures to get an Obama '08 sign. However, he didn't give much hope for the vote, somewhat resigned to the fact that Hillary would carry the state. In some part of my mind that makes sense, however I do have to question parts of this, specifically the African American population of New York City, and the fact that the majority of Democrats I know don't seem to be overly stupid.

I haven't seen any polling on New York yet, as all the major news networks seem to be centering on SC and Florida right now. If anyone has NY numbers I would love to see them, if not, what predictions do you have as far as his prospects in New York? Losing her home state would certainly put a damper on Hillary's White House ambitions.

Any other New York Obama supporters out there? I'd be glad to know I'm not alone.

~Master of souls