December 7, 2018

"In much of Wisconsin, 'Madison and Milwaukee' are code words (to some, dog whistles) for the parts of the state that are nonwhite, elite, different..."

"... The cities are where people don’t have to work hard with their hands, because they’re collecting welfare or public-sector paychecks. That stereotype updates a very old idea in American politics, one pervading Wisconsin’s bitter Statehouse fights today and increasingly those in other states: Urban voters are an exception. If you discount them, you get a truer picture of the politics — and the will of voters — in a state. Thomas Jefferson believed as much — 'the mobs of great cities add just so much to support of pure government,' he wrote, 'as sores do to the strength of the human body.' Wisconsin Republicans amplified that idea this week, arguing that the legislature is the more representative branch of government, and then voting to limit the power of the incoming Democratic governor. The legislature speaks for the people in all corners of the state, they seemed to be saying, and statewide offices like governor merely reflect the will of those urban mobs. 'State legislators are the closest to those we represent,' Scott Fitzgerald, the majority leader in the Wisconsin Senate, said in a statement after Republicans voted on the changes before dawn on Wednesday. They’re the ones who hold town hall meetings, who listen directly to constituents across the state. Legislators should stand, he said, 'on equal footing with an incoming administration that is based almost solely in Madison.'"

So writes Emily Badger in "Are Rural Voters the ‘Real’ Voters? Wisconsin Republicans Seem to Think So/A last-minute power grab by state lawmakers draws on an argument as old as the nation."

You see what she did there? Fitzgerald spoke of Madison, not because of the "urban" people of this city, but because it's the state capital, full of government workers. He was making an argument for rebalancing government with more weight in the legislative branch. Of course, he likes that now, because his party will continue to hold the legislative branch of state government, while the other party is taking over the executive branch after 8 years of the GOP's holding both branches. And it's fine to criticize that.

But it's a real twist to turn that into a RACIAL argument. Even if Fitzgerald were talking about the general population of Madison — as opposed to the government workers (the "incoming administration that is based almost solely in Madison") — he wouldn't be talking about RACIAL minorities. Emily Badger is a great name for someone who knows a lot about Madison, but did she even bother to look up the demographics before she lobbed her accusation of racism? Madison is overwhelmingly white — 78.9% White, 7.3% African American.

Badger seems to know she stretching it, because she adds:
Robin Vos, the Republican speaker of the Wisconsin Statehouse, drew this distinction even more explicitly after the midterm election.

“If you took Madison and Milwaukee out of the state election formula, we would have a clear majority,” he said. “We would have all five constitutional officers and we would probably have many more seats in the Legislature.”
What you have to click on the link to see is that the Vos quote was reported on November 8th, just after the election, and he was addressing the question of why the statewide elections went Democratic when the legislative majority came out Republican. There's a big lawsuit about gerrymandering in Wisconsin, and the Republican explanation for the way things are is that people who vote Democratic live in the geographically concentrated places, Milwaukee and Madison.

Even that wasn't calling city people a "mob" that can't be trusted with government! Vos was talking about the election results, not justifying the legislation that's been going on in Wisconsin this past week, and it's deceptive to use his quote for that purpose. How hard did Badger look for support for her theory before stooping to taking the Vos quote out of context? I assume she looked pretty hard, so using that quote — along with Fitzgerald's quote, which is only about Madison — reads like a confession that she couldn't find anything at all.

100 comments:

tim in vermont said...

There’s dogwhistles here alright, warning of the deplorable white trash living outside of our elite enclaves. The elite places are the places where all of us are better than them, by definition even.

Laslo Spatula said...

So, the Koan would be:

How you vote is where you vote.

Buckaroo Banzai would understand.

I am Laslo.

zipity said...


"In much of Wisconsin, 'Madison and Milwaukee' are code words (to some, dog whistles) for the parts of the state that are nonwhite, elite, different..."

Hmmmm. I think I would edit that.

"In much of Wisconsin, 'Madison and Milwaukee' are code words (to some, dog whistles) for the parts of the state that are smug, elite, condescending..."

Fixed it for you.

Henry said...

If she took the racial angle out of it, it could be a useful analysis. There is an interesting American divide between urban and rural politics.

One thing she misses -- maybe there was no suitable quote -- is that the legislature literally is the closest to the people, in terms of votes per office.

That doesn't necessarily justify what the legislature is doing -- moving powers from the executive to the legislative branch is a recipe for confused governance.

tim in vermont said...

Look what they did in California, they legalized the parties returning absentee ballots en masse in 2016 and used the law to wipe out the Republican Party in the state. We should find a way to wipe out the Republican racist trash in every. state that easily and elegantly!

When we are a one-party country, utopia will not be far behind! Look how popular our policies are in France!

TreeJoe said...

No one can disagree on policy or ideology, people must only disagree based upon prejudicial assessment of you as an individual based upon where you live, what you do, and the background of your parents.

If we do not uphold this ideal, people will try to work with each other and compromise or even come to understand each other.

This. Must. Not. Be. Allowed.

Leland said...

When media publications wonder why readership is down; this article could be just one of the many examples.

tim in vermont said...

Upstate New York has long been ruled by New York City. Which is why it’s pretty much a wasteland.

tim in vermont said...

People in Paris with their short distances, subway system, and bus networks couldn’t understand why anybody would mind being restricted to 50 mph and paying $8 for a gallon of gas. People in the French countryside, on the other hand were just incredulous that they would be that stupid.

The Vault Dweller said...

I really think it is just big government, little government issue and certainly not a racial thing. And I think there is a good argument that the default position when there is division is to have a little of government as is reasonably necessary. It is like if there is a family of four and someone is preparing a dish for dinner. If half the people want it not spicy and half the people want it very spicy, the the best course isn't really some halfway point it is to prepare it generally not spicy and let the other individuals who want it spicy add spice to their own portions. I don't see why that can't be done on a municipal and county level within a state.

Also Madison needs to stop using sand on their streets during winter. Just adopt salt it is way more effective.

Laslo Spatula said...

Many of my favorite films were made by the Koan Brothers.

O Brother, Where Vote Thou?

Red Country for Old Men.

The Blue Lebowski.

The Hudsucker Prezzy.

Milwaukee's Crossing.

Gerrymandering Arizona.

The Ballot of Buster Scruggs.

Like that.

I am Laslo.

Limited blogger said...

I live in that 'wasteland' that is upstate NY

Ron Winkleheimer said...

She's correct on one thing, rural voters usually are different from urban ones when it comes to politics. And that goes back way farther than the founding of the U.S. It most likely developed about 6000 or so years ago in the Mesopotamian and Nile river valleys.

AllenS said...

Out of 72 counties in WI, Evers won only 19. Milwaukee (city and county) is surrounded by RED counties.

Henry said...

Many of my favorite films were made by the Koan Brothers.

LOL.

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou Not?

The Vault Dweller said...

@laslo, you are forgetting The Metrics, the story of how the Democrats keep the poor in a slightly better than subsistence level of existence in exchange for harvesting their votes to maintain their giant political power apparatus.

Chuck said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Robert Cook said...

"Upstate New York has long been ruled by New York City. Which is why it’s pretty much a wasteland."

How does New York City rule New York State? Because of the city's large concentration of voters? How is upstate New York a wasteland and how has the city's alleged "rule" over upstate New York made it a wasteland?

RK said...

In Madison, 'much of Wisconsin' is code for white, racist, gun-crazy deplorables.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

City dwellers tend to think they are more sophisticated than the rubes in the country, after all, they live in the city. People in the country tend to think city dwellers are smug assholes, but since most of the literature and popular entertainment is made by city dwellers its usually their point of view of society that is portrayed.

An illustrative film showing the hate that the "elite" in the entertainment industry have towards non-city dwellers (which includes the suburbs) is American Beauty.

Chuck said...


The Dem legislative majorities in Illinois did the he same to Governor Rauner and the national media mostly ignored it.

James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal was one of the few to take it on.

Excellent post by Althouse.

gilbar said...

i have a hard time thinking of the welfare people in milwaukee as 'elite'
i have a hard time thinking of the 'elite' as non- white

I guess ms. badger was co-mingling different groups?

here's my question?
how is vote harvesting absentee ballots different from card check for union votes?

So, your door bell rings, you open it up; and two activists are standing there, and say:
"hi, we know where you live; going to Want to fill out this absentee ballot, aren't you?
We'll just stand here until you do, and we'll watch you As you do...
If you don't fill it out, or don't fill it out Right; it'd be a shame if anything happened"

Ralph L said...

The Congress is supposed to be the dominant branch in the US Constitution (it can remove the other 2 from office, for one thing). What about Wisconsin's?

Henry said...

How does New York City rule New York State? Because of the city's large concentration of voters? How is upstate New York a wasteland and how has the city's alleged "rule" over upstate New York made it a wasteland?

Well they stole its water -- but that was just the Catskills.

Upstate New York is a wasteland, because the economy has utterly changed. Cattle shippers from Chicago no longer need meatpacking plants in Buffalo to make steaks go east.

tim in vermont said...

How is upstate New York a wasteland and how has the city's alleged "rule" over upstate New York made it a wasteland?

SAFE act for one.

Christopher B said...

@Vault Dweller

I don't see why that can't be done on a municipal and county level within a state.

Consider Detroit, MI. You can't harvest enough tax money to implement the schemes of the liberal elite without driving away the most productive and easily taxed, leaving behind only the least affluent and those with enough money to avoid easy payroll based taxation.

This is the same reason liberals are constantly pushing for federal standards and federal funding schemes.

Ralph L said...

how has the city's alleged "rule" over upstate New York made it a wasteland?

During Cuomo I, I saw a map of US counties with percentages of bridges in need of major improvement. Every county in NY state was in the highest category, only a handful were in it in other states. IOW, welfare in NYC was sucking up the money that should have been used for maintenance, repair, and new construction.

tim in vermont said...

To be fair, a lot of what happened to Upstate New York was self inflicted. A lot of strikes, a lot of union demands drove the factories to states where people were happy to have the work. I am remembering Upstate from the ‘60s. Despite Henry’s assertion, at one time Upstate New York was pretty prosperous in manufacturing, but similar things to what he described happened. We all know what happened to Kodak.

Henry said...

IOW, welfare in NYC was sucking up the money that should have been used for maintenance, repair, and new construction.

The problem with that argument is two-fold:

First, rural poverty is New York State is worse than the urban poverty in NYC.

Second, NYC spills off a huge amount of tax revenue. If you include Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk counties, something like 70% of New York State's tax revenue comes from NYC and the people that work there.

tim in vermont said...

You can’t even buy a summer home Upstate because the tax authorities will stretch the law to make you a New York State resident. The same way they drove Rush Limbaugh out of Manhattan. Westport, New York used to be an extremely nice resort community, now it’s mostly a dump because people are afraid to buy there. The locals suffer. You should go there Robert. The scenery is great still.

The Vault Dweller said...

Consider Detroit, MI. You can't harvest enough tax money to implement the schemes of the liberal elite without driving away the most productive and easily taxed, leaving behind only the least affluent and those with enough money to avoid easy payroll based taxation.

This is the same reason liberals are constantly pushing for federal standards and federal funding schemes.


I suppose there is some of that. I'm reminded of when the US recently cut it's corporate Tax rates significantly. Some German Finance Minister described them as an 'unfair' tax cut. I think especially, among the 'Neo-Liberal Elite' there is kind of pressure for different governments to behave in an almost collusive way, to all agree to tax at higher levels that way, each individual government can have more money to play around without worrying about jobs and industry moving somewhere else.

Similarly way back when she was still a Senator from New York, Hillary Clinton admonished the Pakistanis for having a dangerously too low tax rate.

tim in vermont said...

First, rural poverty is New York State is worse than the urban poverty in NYC.

It sure is. I never bought the welfare argument. My beef is about policies that work in hugely economically attractive NYC that crush business Upstate.

Ken B said...

Nice to see we're back to the rhhardin refutation threads.

The Vault Dweller said...

My beef is about policies that work in hugely economically attractive NYC that crush business Upstate.

Can you give examples of some? The only thing that really jumps out at me, would be overspending on public transportation in rural areas, which would be better spent on road maintenance.

tim in vermont said...

Urban poverty in NYC isn’t that bad because anybody who wants to work can have a job. Not so true Upstate.

Roger Sweeny said...

We Madisonians may be white but since we say we care about people of color, we're really black. And anyone who opposes us is racist.

tim in vermont said...

Can you give examples of some?

Agressive taxation.

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/246479-new-york-makes-fracking-ban-official

Ken B said...

The urban divide is stronger in France as we now see. Paris, by which I mean the voters and mindset of the city of Paris, have been ratcheting up the denigration, the fines, and the taxes on rural drivers. The government lowered the speed limits on rural roads, and farmed out enforcement to collectors who keep half the fines. Those fines help pay for Paris's metro.

Henry said...

@tim in vermont -- I was using the power of example. The upstate economy has utterly changed. Shipping cattle eastward was once a big industry. The collapse of manufacturing in Rochester and Schenectady follows the same pattern. Manufacturers don't want to pay the costs of high taxes and unionized labor, true. But they also don't want to manufacture in landlocked cities that suffer crappy weather half the year.

I grew up in Schenectady and lived for a while in very rural New York, near Cooperstown. I used to drive to Syracuse occasionally to hang out with friends. I would ask myself, why does this city even exist? It's an island.

chuck said...

Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray's case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the "wet streets cause rain" stories. Paper's full of them. In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.

— Michael Crichton

Limited blogger said...

The King Cuomo I bridge is now complete! Only cost $3.98 billion. You don't have to go thru Jersey to get to NYC anymore.

tim in vermont said...

Of course the aggressive taxation is also affecting Manhattan now.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/finance/realestate/new-yorks-wealthiest-cut-losses-as-manhattan-real-estate-falters/ar-BBQB3zI

Who wants to have a condo you use for a couple weeks a year that costs you ten percent of your income? I don’t care how rich you are, that’s a steep price to pay. This has affected resort communities Upstate even more.

tim in vermont said...

Manufacturers don't want to pay the costs of high taxes and unionized labor, true. But they also don't want to manufacture in landlocked cities that suffer crappy weather half the year.

Yes. It’s less attractive, which is why it can’t support the same level of taxation. You can pull a bigger cart with a stronger horse, and NYC is a stronger horse. It’s not just about taxes, but taxes have to take into account realities that people in big cities don’t even think about if they want to work for everybody in the state. The French are seeing the affects of this too.

Bob Boyd said...

There's a consensus. The majority of political scientists agree that rural Americans are like, racists and stuff. It's settled political science.

Gahrie said...

She's correct on one thing, rural voters usually are different from urban ones when it comes to politics. And that goes back way farther than the founding of the U.S. It most likely developed about 6000 or so years ago in the Mesopotamian and Nile river valleys.

That because cities have always relied on confiscating the wealth of the surrounding countryside to exist.

MST said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ralph L said...

They need more government to keep them from harming each other.

Seeing Red said...

How does New York City rule New York State? Because of the city's large concentration of voters? How is upstate New York a wasteland and how has the city's alleged "rule" over upstate New York made it a wasteland?


The same way Chicago turned Illinois into Debt Central.

You are not this naive. It’s beneath you.

MadisonMan said...

Of course the aggressive taxation is also affecting Manhattan now.

The best line in that linked-to article:

"“I felt like I was in the White House briefing room,” Mr. Haber said, who said he spent so much time fielding questions, he hardly got to touch his pan-roasted chicken and broccoli rabe, and had to grab a slice of pizza on the way home."

Pity the Manhattanite who can't eat his pan-roasted chicken. I weep.

Seeing Red said...

Via Insty:



SENATOR MAZIE HIRONO: Dems Struggle Appealing to Voters’ Hearts Because ‘We Have to Tell Everyone How Smart We Are.’
Please show some sympathy. It’s hard for Democrats because they’re just so much better than you deplorably irredeemable bitter clingers.

Caligula said...

Emily Badger explains why, really, it's all for the best that the Chicago Machine should run the entire state ... while Wisconsin residents look south and think, umm, maybe that's not working out so well?

Seeing Red said...

The Chicago Machine ran the country and we got “the new normal.”

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"... The cities are where people don’t have to work hard with their hands, because they’re collecting welfare or public-sector paychecks.“

There must be some term for telling a truth that invalidates the argument you’re making.

Ideology aside, due to the internal combustion engine and modern communications the divide between urban and rural is much smaller than the divide between urban haves and urban have-nots. It’s what makes talk of a new civil war so ridiculous.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Democrats live and die for aggressive taxation. But we dare not revolt like they are doing in France.

Obey the blue wave.

Fred said...

I question your statistics. Sure, the government may endorse your 78.9/7.3% divide -- but the gov't doesn't ask people whether or not the identify as white.

It's a good bet that many of the 78.9% who are labelled white don't identify that way. At least, not while they're in Madison.

Larry J said...

For a sizeable percentage of them, “government worker” is an oxymoron.

Fernandinande said...

Madison is overwhelmingly white — 78.9% White, 7.3% African American[sic].

It's also 7.4% Asian, but they're not worth mentioning.

tim in vermont said...

Republicans in California should challenge that “ballot harvesting” law in California on the grounds that it takes away the privacy of the voting booth.

Dad29 said...

"In much of Wisconsin, 'Madison and Milwaukee' are code words (to some, dog whistles) for the parts of the state that are smug, elite, condescending..."

"....and willing to hoover every single dollar from your pockets into theirs"

Even MORE fixing it for ya!!

Rory said...

Big cities began as ports or crossroads that were supposed to serve the surrounding territory. Big university towns began as public setasides to educate the children of the state. Over time, these support stations have taken to ignoring their purpose and have been talking to each other over the heads of the people they were intended to serve.

The "resistance" has largely been the people in these places leveraging their central locations, in everything from tearing down statues in public parks to taking the knee during the National Anthem.

I'm not really sure how to counter it, but it's a problem when people in cities think they have more in common with city dwellers around the world than they have with people living 50 miles away.

Static Ping said...

When your entire world view - in fact, you de facto religion - is based upon finding oppressors and victims, you find oppressors and victims. Even if you have to manufacture them.

Wince said...

tim in vermont said...
Who wants to have a condo you use for a couple weeks a year that costs you ten percent of your income?

Good news for the short-term rental business model?

Depreciable business properties for the owner that don't trigger state residency for the user or, necessarily, the owner?

No wonder why they want to tax them more.

Ralph L said...

the divide between urban haves and urban have-nots

Who vote for the same people. What's the Matter with Manhattan?, not by Thomas Frank.

Original Mike said...

Blogger tim in vermont said..."You can’t even buy a summer home Upstate because the tax authorities will stretch the law to make you a New York State resident."

I don't understand this. Can you explain, Tim?

Ralph L said...

Non NYers get sucked into NY taxes if they buy a summer home there.

Original Mike said...

Maybe, someone who lives outside of New York can't buy a New York summer home without tax consequences?

Original Mike said...

Ahh, thanks Ralph. I was curiuos because my wife and I (Madison, WI residents) are considering buying a summer home in Northern WI and are wondering if we should extend our search to the UP of Michigan. Where we have been looking is right near the border. I wonder if there are adverse tax consequences of buying in another state.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"the divide between urban haves and urban have-nots

Who vote for the same people."

For very different reasons. And they'll gladly cut each other's throats in a crunch.

wildswan said...

Upstate New York could share in the fracking boom because the Marcellus shale formation crosses into upstate New York. But New York city votes have prevented fracking in New York upstate.

New York city supported NAFTA and TPP which caused enormous manufacturing job losses in upstate New York. Many people upstate were living in "rural" areas, i. e. bedroom communities, and working in manufacturing in the cities. They lost their jobs.

Murder and homelessness is mostly a problem in the big cities but the taxes to pay for social legislation which ineffectively counter these two problems is spread out across the whole state. A lot of money is spent this way and it wouldn't be anything like as much, if not for the cities. New York has this rural urban divide.

Very poor education is a big city problem and the extra money spent in ineffectively countering rotten public schools is spread out over the state.

Urban simply doesn't care what happens to rural in the world as it is today. And this is selfish and shows what a piece of hypocrisy it is to say that the Democrats, resting a city vote, are concerned about community.

Seeing Red said...

Via Insty:

...The Goliath is the 13th Ward Democratic Organization run by House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, aka Boss Madigan, the most powerful politician in the state. Boss Madigan has long hand-picked his aldermen. He likes them loyal and quiet. The current silent alderman of the 13th Ward is Marty Quinn.

“I’m from Clearing,” Krupa told me. “All I want to do is get on the ballot to address the serious issues we have, from public safety to taxes. People don’t want to say things out loud here. People who’ve challenged the 13th Ward get intimidated. You know the neighborhood.....”

To get on the ballot, Krupa was required to file 473 valid signatures of ward residents with the Chicago Board of Elections. Krupa filed 1,703 signatures.

But before he filed his signatures with the elections board, an amazing thing happened along the Chicago Way.

An organized crew of political workers — or maybe just civic-minded individuals who care about reform — went door to door with official legal papers. They asked residents to sign an affadavit revoking their signature on Krupa’s petition.

Revocations are serious legal documents, signed and notarized. Lying on a legal document is a felony and can lead to a charge of perjury. If you’re convicted of perjury, you may not work for a government agency. And I know that there are many in the 13th Ward on the government payroll.

More than 2,700 revocations were turned over to the elections board to cancel the signatures on Krupa’s petitions. Chicago Board of Elections officials had never seen such a massive pile of revocations.

“The board has received a few revocations here and there in very rare electoral board cases over the years,” said election board spokesman Jim Allen.

But more than 2,700? Impossible, no?

“They're pretty rare, and no one can remember anything approaching this volume of filings in past cases,” Allen said. “For the board, the next step is to begin the hearings on all of the objections that have been filed against any candidates' nominating petitions. We can't speculate, though, on the legitimacy or any other legal questions about any of the objections or the corresponding petitions.”

The number of revocations far exceeds the number of signatures Krupa collected. That means false affidavits were filed with the elections board....

Jupiter said...

"Murder and homelessness is mostly a problem in the big cities but the taxes to pay for social legislation which ineffectively counter these two problems is spread out across the whole state."

Actually, here on the Left Coast, the municipal governments are conducting a competition to see who can get the most "homeless" people to come and despoil their citizens. They always refer to "our homeless problem", as if the anomic drifters washing up and down I-5 in search of the most generous handout are somehow connected to the locale where they steal their shopping carts.

Seeing Red said...

Very naive at your age, Cookie.

Tim said...

Senator Mazie Hirono displayed her smarts at the Kavanaugh hearing. An obvious genius.

Jupiter said...

Maybe someone here can explain this to me. The sob sisters who consider themselves to be the leaders of our "community" are not actually so stupid that they cannot comprehend the simple idea that providing food, housing and money for "homeless" people is a recipe for ever more "homeless" people. Yet they speak and act as if they were that stupid. So, they are dissembling. They won't admit it, but they are trying to attract more unproductive and needy people to the cities they control. That is clear. But why? How is that in their interest? I suppose it is the same as the immigration thing. Vote-buying, pure and simple.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Urban simply doesn't care what happens to rural in the world as it is today. And this is selfish and shows what a piece of hypocrisy it is to say that the Democrats, resting a city vote, are concerned about community."

But the reverse is true as well. All my life I've known rural people that have a smug indifference to the fates of urban people. Especially "urban" people, if you know what I mean.

Gabriel said...

Well, in defense of TFA, Milwaukee is only 37% non-Hispanic white.

You could, if feeling charitable, connect "elite" to Madison and "non-white" to Milwaukee.

cubanbob said...

The LLR wing of the Republican Party blew a perfect opportunity to choke the Blue cities when it had control of both houses of Congress. A few things like not subsidizing mass transit with federal gas taxes. Not allowing rent control in exchange for HUD housing and section eight housing and eliminating the tax exempt status on municipal bonds.

DavidD said...

It seems to me that people who vote Democrat nearly all live in the geographically-concentrated places, regardless of state.

Why is that?

What is it about cities that makes people vote Democrat?

What is it about rural areas that makes people vote Republican?

pfennig said...

For how Madison and Milwaukee view the rest of the state, check out any "Manitowoc Minute" episode on YouTube.

DavidD said...

tim in vermont said...
“Look what they did in California....”

That’s not all they did in California. In California two Democrat Senate candidates ran against each other in the General election because each of them got more votes than any Republican in the open primary.

California is messed up.

Earnest Prole said...

This question is as old as America, and answered by the location of most state capitals: Buffalo not New York City, Sacramento not San Francisco, Harrisburg not Philadelphia, Olympia not Seattle, Springfield not Chicago, Salem not Portland, Baton Rouge not New Orleans, Frankfort not Louisville, etc.

Original Mike said...

"What is it about cities that makes people vote Democrat?
What is it about rural areas that makes people vote Republican?"


Anybody know the Dem/Repub vote percentages of the urban and rural districts? I don't, but I'm willing to guess that rural is closer to 50/50 than urban is.

pfennig said...

For how Madison and Milwaukee view the rest of the state, check out any "Manitowoc Minute" episode on YouTube.

Earnest Prole said...

What is it about cities that makes people vote Democrat? What is it about rural areas that makes people vote Republican?

I divide my time between the bluest of blue and reddest of red places. I’m convinced Democrats know how to govern those who choose to live in the city and Republicans those who choose to live in the country, and if this were somehow reversed the result would be disaster. Fortunately the Founders gave us a system that tends to balance power rather than concentrate it.

Ralph L said...

I guess Albany shuffled off to Buffalo.

MB said...

"Republicans are racist" is a winning issue for Democrats. Why would they ever stop pushing it, since it's working so well.
Besides, it's impossible to refute, because there are thousands of small pieces of evidence that confirm it (witness the "hanging" incident remarks during the recent elections).
Taken separately, each piece of evidence means nothing, but, interpreted in light of the overarching theory that Republicans are racist, they confirm that Republicans are racist.
If you disagree, you are a racist.
PS This way of framing the problem has the added benefit of disassociating Democrats from problematic whiteness. Republicans are racist; Republicans hate Madison residents; ergo, Madison residents are honorary non-whites.

chuck said...

> "What is it about cities that makes people vote Democrat?

Corruption. There is money to be made running a city and buying votes.

Earnest Prole said...

I guess Albany shuffled off to Buffalo.

Sorry, brain blip -- Albany is far stronger proof of the dynamic.

n.n said...

Diversity or color judgments, includes racism, and so-called "identity" politics.

The high-density population centers must be subsidized and Planned, with trains to move large bodies of people, and Democrats are known to favor the former votes, the latter wicked solution, and leftists like the order in the last.

rcocean said...

Frankly, I no longer take these non-stop, never ending, accusations of "racism" by Democrats seriously.

So, I'm not interested in rebutting them. Its like "Oh, the Democrats are losing, here come the charge that Conservatives/Republicans are raciss".

And anytime you see a MSM/Dem/liberal use the phrase "Code Words" - you know they're you're dealing with bullshit.

tim in vermont said...

While New York State has for many years sought to audit taxpayers with homes in New York and out of state, more recently New York City has been more aggressive in asserting that a taxpayer with an apartment in the city is a NYC resident. The rules and audit guidelines for determining whether someone is a NYC resident or domiciliary are the same as for determining whether someone is a resident or domiciliary of New York State, and the government relies on the same legal precedents.

https://www.litaxattorney.com/residency-hidden-cost-having-place-city/

A New York court ruled last month that all income earned by a New Canaan, Conn., couple is subject to New York state taxes because they own a summer home on Long Island they used only a few times a year. They have been hit with an additional tax bill of $1.06 million.

Tax experts and real estate brokers say this ruling could boost the tax bill for thousands of business executives who own New York City apartments they use only occasionally. It could also hurt sales in the Hamptons and New York's other vacation-home communities.


https://www.businessinsider.com/own-a-second-home-in-new-york-prepare-for-a-higher-tax-bill-2011-2

While I am sure Robert Cook and his commie cohort in the city are cheering them on, this has clearly damaged the economies of many small towns in Upstate New York, restaurants, services, even the tax base.

rcocean said...

What the hell does NY law have to do with ANYTHING in this thread?

MB said...

There's no point in rebutting these charges anyway, because Democrats use very dubious and largely discredited implicit association tests to "prove" that everyone is a racist.
It's a practice similar to Dianetics and these tests are their E-meter. Reluctance to submit to auditing and to confess your faults is a sign of a reactive mind, or maybe racism.
The only way to be cleared of racism is to undergo a long and expensive course of study run by the Democrats themselves.

RMc said...

Madison is overwhelmingly white — 78.9% White, 7.3% African American.

Yes, but they're good white people who live in Madison, as opposed to the bad white people who live elsewhere.

FIDO said...

Non-white elite and liberal? How about condensing it into 'batshit insane'. You save a word and it is more accurately descriptive.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Madison is still less white than Elizabeth Warren.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

And less elite.

Tommy Duncan said...

I have irrefutable proof Madison is a white elitist hive: The UW Badger men's basketball team has 11 white players and 6 black players. How is that possible without institutional and systemic racism?

tim in vermont said...


Blogger rcocean said...
What the hell does NY law have to do with ANYTHING in this thread?


You could read the thread and find out... Naah!

Rusty said...

"While I am sure Robert Cook and his commie cohort in the city are cheering them on, this has clearly damaged the economies of many small towns in Upstate New York, restaurants, services, even the tax base."

To hone the point you wish to make. Illinois is run politically from two locations. Springfield and Cook county,(including Chicago). It really makes no diference how the rest of the state votes. Policy is made by and for the people tht administer those two loctions.
Read John Kass' column about the college student who wanted to run for alderman in Chicago.