In a NY Times article titled, “The Problem for Bernie Sanders: The Narrow Lane to Hillary Clinton’s Left,” about Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential candidacy announcement yesterday, Montclair is called a “liberal enclave.”
Sanders, an independent senator who caucuses with Democrats, is expected to run to the left of Hillary Clinton. According to the article, “The left wing of the Democratic Party just isn’t big enough to support a challenge to the left of a mainstream liberal Democrat like Mrs. Clinton.” Unless, of course, you’re from “an affluent, secular, well-educated person living along the coasts, in places like Bethesda, Md., Berkeley, Calif., or Montclair, N.J., where the party really is dominated by the uniformly liberal voters who love Elizabeth Warren and harbor at least some reservations about Mrs. Clinton.”
The problem, the article states, is that the Democratic primary electorate is nothing like the liberal enclave of Montclair, or Bethesda and Berkeley. “Elsewhere, the party includes a large number of less educated, more religious — often older, Southern or nonwhite — voters who are far from uniformly liberal.”
What say you Montclair? Are we a “liberal enclave,” and who is your favorite: Sanders or Clinton?
(Photo: Wikipedia)
Well, obviously there are a ton of liberal types in town. Though plenty of moderate Dems, Repubs, and others in between. Not many very conservative religious driven Republicans though. And can’t say I ever met a legitimate Teaparty type.
The real question is who is my fave- Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. Oh, the possibilities!
Liberal enclave my eye…. Montclair is a well established People’s Republic and we’re proud of it!
Montclair voters chose the Democratic candidate for governor in 2013 by a nearly 3 to 1 ratio. The 2013 election local results saw a landslide vote for Barbara Buono, one of the few places in the state where she did well. But, that’s down from the 80%-85% support provided to various county candidates.
But, I’d be surprised if this is Bernie Sanders’ or Elizabeth Warren’s territory. I’d expect it is much more closely aligned with the Hillary Clinton – Chuck Schumer – financial industries wing of the party.
Bernie Sanders is from Brooklyn. Isn’t he required to move to Montclair at some point?
Perhaps “Montclair,” but we in the UPPER Montclair enclave have our own political leanings, which I do not believe the NY Times can penetrate or detail.
You are thoroughly fixated, professore.
If “professore” is the extent of your verbal lashing, I fear very little.
Un pagliaccio.
5th election in a row where we have only muppets to choose from. Smart people don’t run for office. They become doctors, lawyers, engineers, innovators, build their own companies, and then just buy Washington DC, its easier that way.
Whatever you consider Montclair, it does not belong in the same sentence as Bethesda or Berkeley.
Running to the left of Hillary would be the worst strategy of all time.
That is the youngest picture of Bernie I’ve ever seen
“Smart people don’t run for office.”
—just the sort of sweeping generalization that is wholly inaccurate and serves mostly to highlight the author’s sad cynicism. fortunately, in this case, it also serves to demonstrate that its author was correct in writing about “smart people” as if from a distance…
Love Bernie Sanders, but I’m Ready for Hillary!
On average, people here vote democrat >80%, even 1st ward. They went 87% for Corzine… It’s a super town for high income liberals. The operative words being “high income.” Otherwise you’re a loser living here from an economic perspective. Unless you earn enough to gain the full benefit of your real estate deduction, and mtg interest deduction, you’re getting hosed. If you have no mtg, you’ve got no complaints. So, basically in this great melting pot of progressive politics, the high earners can afford their ideals, while the middle income (200m-500m) earners are proportionately shouldering more of the burden as a result of AMT. I give these middle income idealists credit for their masochism, if not their financial acumen; however, at some point the chickens always come home to roost.
I love our hyper libs. I see them on the train. The men are either effeminate, or sartorially challenged owing to a mixture of economic situation and attitude. The women, which I call “frizzles,” are easy to spot, and hilarious to listen to. Grey hair and Birkenstocks… Their cause célèbre is whatever anti GOP theme, or bogus enviro cause they just read about in The Atlantic. They’re like characters in an R. Crumb cartoon, 45 years after the 60’s.
They don’t call him “deadeye” for nothing! On another note….Have Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren ever presented viable solutions to anything they complain about? They tell a segment of public what they want to hear so of course that segment eats it up. I have decided to run for president in 2016. Vote for me and I will make the Koch brothers buy everyone a BMW…whoops make that a Prius.
Sounds like deadeye’s wife ran off with a hipster half his age. The bitterness is palpable.
Flipside – “…They tell a segment of public what they want to hear so of course that segment eats it up…”
Yes. I’ve never heard of that before. A politician voicing the concerns of their constituents. Bravo for the inciteful observation.
@ronm…big difference between being told what you would like to hear and being told what is true. Being told everything you don’t like about life, work, education, etc. is someone else’s fault may be comforting and gain votes but doesn’t affect what is true….though it may appeal to your own personal “truth”. Both sides of the the political aisle use the same tactic and their respective bases fall for it.
From my perspective Hillary is not a shoe. From corrupting the term BLACK LIVES MATTER to ALL LIVES MATTER, she is not speaking to the consequences of the inhumane racist policies signed into law by her husband such as hear Hillary demand repeal of the laws that hold predominantly Black targets and victims of the war on drugs homeless (Bill Clinton signed laws banning convicted felons from being REUNITED with their families and children residing in Public or Federally subsidized housing). She is not speaking to the never before barring convicted felons from receiving Pell Grants and State higher education grants or vocational training which serve to condemn felons and their families to poverty. Clearly Hillary is not the former president but she is not addressing the issues that would make her a decent, if not humane candidate. In my mind it is to Hillary’s advantage that the supreme court has invalidated an integral part of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act, she only has to appeal to feminist who are totally unsympathetic to the suffering of inner city Black Women whose family have been BROKEN SINCE BILL SIGNED INTO LAW legislation barring felons from residing in public or federally subsidized housing! Even Rubio has vowed to end Mass Incarceration! Hillary is just WRONG FOR AMERICA.
From my perspective Hillary is not a shoe in. From corrupting the slogan, BLACK LIVES MATTER in her recent speech on the Baltimore protests to NOT speaking on Mass Incarceration Hillary does not get it or is in denial. By her silence on certain legislation Hillary is denying the major causal factors certain policies signed into law by Bill Clinton to the impoverishment of the most marginalized members of society. THIS IS OFFERED AS AN EXAMPLE OF HILLARY BEING OUT OF TOUCH: The three youthful Black and Hispanic/Latina Queer women creators of the slogan BLACK LIVES MATTER, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, are very sensitive to the bastardizing of the slogan BLACK LIVES MATTER. In bastardizing the slogan to ALL Lives Matter Hillary, a feminist, dis-ed these sistahs request and engaged in the ‘Theft of Black Queer Women’s Work.’ I am banking on residents of Montclair, a socially conscious community where their first Black American mayor was elected in 1968 on holding Hillary accountable. Simply stated, Hillary is not good for America! Monclarions are wise to her.
God help America if Jeb Bush becomes President.
God help us if Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders (or Elizabeth Warren) become President!
Marco Rubio is my guy… oh wait he’s a republican. Maybe I should move to Glen Ridge.
Rubio (I’m no scientist) is a lightweight . But it’s going to be entertaining watching he and Jeb go head to head in the Repub. Florida primary.
Rubio is no lighter weight than President Obama was when he was initially elected. in fact, nobody in these fields outside of Teddy Psycho is.
@ montclairdad…You may not like Ted Cruz’s political views but he is far from a lightweight.
I really had to reread deadeye’s last paragraph a second time. To make such a statement, to characterize any group in such generalized terms is to reveal a smallminded and narrow way of thinking that is embarassing and reflective of someone who carries resentment and deep seeded antagonism. If he defines liberals in such terms, one wonders what his really thinks about other races and ethnicities outside of his own. What a poor, pathetic man.
I like my socks with sandals just fine. But they’re Tevas.
@flipside – While I don’t agree with most of Teddy’s views, that wasn’t what I meant. My definition of a light weight has to do with time served, so to speak. Not beliefs. Sorry for the confusion.
That’s the last straw! Hillary stealing slogans from queer black and Latina women to use for her own political ends?!? Where is the outrage?
Depends on what you definition of “lightweight” is. If your definition includes policy prescriptions that have some basis in reality (as opposed to the fever dreams of wackos) then Teddy is a lightweight. And as a junior senator, by definition of “time served” he is as well.
By the time he ran, Obama was best known for giving a speech at the Democratic convention. Rubio is best known for being thirsty.
80% for whomever the DEM candidate is, leaves the problem of surviving the irrationality of the red-state citizenry. Just the prospect of accommodating their destructive ideas leaves me weary. Give me strength.
flipside – “..Being told everything you don’t like about life, work, education, etc. is someone else’s fault may be comforting and gain votes…”
What politician has ever said that? You yourself just told YOURSELF something you like to “think” about politicians that isn’t true just to confirm your own cynicism about cynical politicians. Your statements are so internally contradictory I don’t know where to start.
You exaggerated to make a point and weren’t telling the truth. Sorry. But you’re really not defending your point well by making false blanket statements like that. I’m sure it feels good to you to make them though.
You’re appealing to your own base by saying what you feel, even though it isn’t true.
@ronm…either that or I hit a nerve….
Have to agree with flipside – Ted Cruz is no lightweight, the young man is in fact, quite smart.
He’s basically Sarah Palin with a brain …… Which is precisely why he semi scares the crap out of me.
Flipside – Yes. You hit my “can’t stand pretentiously vacuous and oxymoronic statements” nerve for sure.
ronm…in that case, beware of self-inflicted nerve damage.
Flipside – You can no longer defend your statements.
ronm…nothing needs to be defended. Let me state my point more clearly. People that lean far left or far right have more in common than they realize. They share the same mindset but differ in ideology. Politicians and news outlets cultivate and exploit the “it’s someone else’s fault” mentality and get elected and ratings doing it.
progressive enclave?
Mediocre schools but at least they’re diverse check
No charter schools here check
Home of the League of Women Appointers check
Legacy of the Fried Five environmentalist wackos check
Middle class home owners subsidizing “affordable” renters check
Thinking Left and living Right check
Just like Park Slope and Upper West Side antecedent Schumerites double check
I like Bernie Sanders as a person. Not sure he would make a good President but I would enjoy an off-the-cuff conversation with him. I think he’s down to Earth (unlike Hillary), not wooed by BIG MONEY (unlike Hillary), and not afraid to discuss/face/answer tough questions (again, unlike Hillary).
Go Bernie!!! Finally a candidate for the people with ideas to help the greater good. This is what America needs, not more wall street candidates and over lobbied favoritism. Maybe middle america will wake up to the fact that the political parties serve billionaires and corporations, not them. He might not win, but at the very least his message will be added to the national conversation.
Although change has been promised and not delivered, I still think change can be possible.
Bernie Sanders for President? Be careful what you wish for. He makes promises but offers no long term sustainable solutions. The world has changed…billionaires and corporations can take their ball and go wherever they want. If you think things are tough living with them try to visualize life without them. I guess we can all go back to farming…doesn’t look so bad…
https://pages.uoregon.edu/kimball/images/1941su%20krx%20flee%20GRM~%20Wgn20.jpg
Old Spiro here is very pleased that Senator Sanders is in the race. Until he threw his hat in the ring, we had a parade of bought-and-paid for fundamentalist hacks (plus the elusive Rand Paul ) on one side of the aisle, and a smart woman with too many IOU’s to Wall Street and AIPAC on the other side of the aisle. Hopefully Bernie can shake things up in a major way, for everyone’s sake. Let’s hope we all benefit from this development.
“He makes promises but offers no long term sustainable solutions.”
As do the billionaires and corporations. I’m a conservative but I don’t like that that wealthy power brokers hold the puppet strings. I don’t agree with much of Bernie Sanders’ political philosophy but he’s just the person to shake things up a bit.
Martta…I hear you. It would be nice to have some politicians whose main concern was the greater good. We peaked in that department with George Washington. Billionaires and corporations wield too much power but in the big picture they are sadly the lesser of two evils. Take your paycheck and follow the money…it will eventually lead back to a large corporation.
Why the endless preoccupation and obsession with labels, categories and stereotypes? These days it seems everything and everyone must be neatly classified into some kind of category just for the sake of classification itself, regardless of the accuracy, relevance or necessity of the labels applied, and this latest example is no exception. As for Bernie Sanders, he may well have more in common with Montclair voters than with his own constituents. From spending almost as much time in Vermont as I spend in Montclair, I know that with each passing year Sanders is becoming increasingly unpopular and out-of-touch with Vermont residents and there is little if anything he can point to as having actually accomplished for his state except for producing copious amounts of partisan political rhetoric. Of course, this is also true of many other longtime politicians who have worn out their welcome long ago and look as if they’ve been around since the dawn of time, and is a good reason why (to paraphrase what one vampire said to the other) we could really use some fresh blood around here!
The New Yorker had an article about Senator Elizabeth Warren’s ability to influence the discussion about “bought and paid for politicians” of both parties.
One conclusion was that the populist positions espoused by Senator Warren, Bernie Sanders, Bill DiBlasio, etc are increasingly out of the mainstream Democratic party outlook. Which the article described as Clinton – Schumer – Wall Street – big banks controlled.
It should be interesting to see if the activists in the party (move.on, the UNITE folks, the serious immigration reform crew, etc) decide to move in Sanders’ direction.