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New York, New York!

Posted April 8th, 2016 at 1:16 pm (UTC-4)
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After the Wisconsin primary upset of both Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, there is a feeling that real race has finally begun.

And what better place to hold the next nominating contest than in New York, where the delegate count is high, the voters diverse and the political landscape notoriously tough?

Donald Trump supporters gather during a campaign appearance by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Bethpage, New York on  April 6, 2016. (AP)

Donald Trump supporters gather during a campaign appearance by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Bethpage, New York on April 6, 2016. (AP)

Trump, a New York City native, and his Republican rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz are vying for 95 delegates. 291 Democratic delegates are up for grabs for Brooklyn native Bernie Sanders and Clinton (who made the state her home and became its senator after serving two-terms as First Lady).

For both parties, winning or losing the April 19 primary could make or break a candidacy, either mathematically or invincibility.

And political experts agree: New York is not a slam-dunk for any of them.

Get Ready for Real Show in New York

S.E. Cupp – CNN

In a city where liberalism is rote, Republicans exotic, it’s no surprise most elites there find Trump’s brand of carnival barking uncivilized and uncultured…
New York City's famed Empire State Building is seen protesters rally against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Manhattan on Dec. 20, 2015. (Reuters)

New York City’s famed Empire State Building is seen protesters rally against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Manhattan on Dec. 20, 2015. (Reuters)

To be sure, there are probably even fewer Ted Cruz fans in New York City. And the number of Republicans registered to vote in the city is only around a fifth the number in the rest of the state.

But if the anti-Trump sentiment in New York City is strong enough, it could dent his big numbers upstate, delivering an embarrassment and a closer race than expected….

…[T}he real action is on the left. Hillary Clinton is leading Bernie Sanders in New York — where both can claim roots — by a much thinner margin of 54% to 42%.
Sanders was born in Brooklyn, where Clinton has set up her campaign headquarters, across the river from Bill Clinton’s former offices in Harlem. And Hillary famously took up residence in New York in order to run for Senate there in 2000. The narrow lead she has over Bernie should be very, very troubling. There’s no way around it: New York is a must win for her.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is greeted by a supporter with a baby during a campaign stop in the Bronx on April 7, 2016. (Reuters)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is greeted by a supporter with a baby during a campaign stop in the Bronx on April 7, 2016. (Reuters)

Who Is More New York: Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders?

Sam Frizell – Time

Clinton tipped her cap to New York’s up-by-the-bootstraps ethos: “What I love about New York is we don’t whine or moan about it. We roll up our sleeves and we get to work,” she said.

And Sanders winked at the honored tradition of subway fare-beating: “Jump over the turnstile,” he joked when asked how one rides the subway. It is the most attention New York has gotten in a presidential election in decades.

New York is an important state for both candidates. It will send more delegates to the Democratic convention than any other state so far, and after Sanders’ big win on Tuesday in Wisconsin— his sixth out of seven states—Clinton and her aides are hungry for a victory. If Sanders manages to win New York, it will embolden him and stir further doubts about Clinton’s campaign.

People line up for a campaign rally for U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders at Saint Mary's Park in the Bronx on March 31, 2016. (Reuters)

People line up for a campaign rally for U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders at Saint Mary’s Park in the Bronx on March 31, 2016. (Reuters)

Donald Trump Needs to Win N.Y. — and Win Big

Tracy Jan and Alice Yin – The Boston Globe

But Trump not only has to win New York, which votes April 19, to erase the nightmare of Ted Cruz’s win in the Badger State primary. Trump has to win New York big. To fail is to increase the odds of a contested GOP convention in Cleveland this summer.

While many voters, Republicans and Democrats, are repelled by Trump’s harsh rhetoric on immigrants, Muslims, and women — as well as the violence that has plagued his rallies — the majority of New York Republicans in a new Monmouth University poll say Trump’s controversial statements have no impact on how they will vote in the primary.

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz wears a yamaka as he speaks to Jewish community leaders at a campaign event in Brooklyn, New York on April 7, 20, 2016. (Reuters)

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz wears a yarmulke as he speaks to Jewish community leaders at a campaign event in Brooklyn, New York on April 7, 20, 2016. (Reuters)

 

G.O.P. Donors, Eager to Defeat Donald Trump, Learn to Love Ted Cruz

Nicholas Confessore and Matt Flegenheimer – The New York Times

Since Mr. Cruz’s election to the Senate in 2012, many traditional Republican donors have spurned him, viewing him as a hopeless ideologue whose antics — particularly his leading role in the 2013 government shutdown — damaged the party in service of his ambitions.

But in recent weeks, at small events from the Upper East Side of Manhattan to the Republican precincts of Newport Beach, Calif., they are learning to love Mr. Cruz….

Bolstered by Mr. Cruz’s overwhelming win in Wisconsin on Tuesday, his campaign is moving aggressively to take advantage of the thaw, reaching out to some of the party’s most prominent donors to seek a hearing. Many — though not all — said they were now far more inclined to take the senator’s calls. Former backers of Jeb Bush and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida have hosted fund-raising events or meet-and-greets for Mr. Cruz, even while some privately concede that they have their doubts about his temperament.

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