Which is relevant only to show Bernie is not a New Yorker anymore. He happened to be born there. But his adult life has been in Vermont.
“Bernie’s life has been Vermont,” Mr. Byrnes said between phone-bank calls at Mrs. Clinton’s headquarters. “He was factually born in Brooklyn. I don’t think he devoted much of his life, especially his professional life, to Brooklyn. I think it’s basically an accident of birth. We are all born somewhere.”
Who's a New Yorker? My parents and aunts and uncles were born and raised in Brooklyn. My great-grandfather and all four grandparents spent their adult lives in Brooklyn. I was born in Queens and moved to Westchester at age 5 where I lived until I started law school in Denver. Is it once a New Yorker, always a New Yorker? Or is it like Colorado, where "native" means born here and even after 45 years, you'll still not a native Coloradan but a transplant? [Added: I should clarify I never actually lived in Queens and I have no idea why I was born in a hospital there -- my parents lived on Long Island at the time, which is where we lived until I was 5.)
My parents left Brooklyn when my father returned from WWII. They left New York for good in 1968. After a decade in Puerto Rico, another in Florida and two decades in Colorado, they were still Brooklyn, and remained so until they died. Their politics were the same as mine -- when I would mention that to them, they would respond, "Where do you think you got it from?". (A reminder that my leftist politics of the sixties were not original with those of us who grew up in the sixties.) Bernie has a lot of these same positions on issues -- but he certainly didn't invent them, they were very widely-held positions in Brooklyn, and still are.
Even if once a New Yorker, always a New Yorker holds sway, I don't think Bernie has the "home court" advantage. Hillary does, because even though she's a transplant, she represented New Yorkers in the Senate for years.
So don't let the accent fool you -- Hillary is far more New York than Bernie.
Some things worth noting:
A month ago, Bernie had support in the parts of Brooklyn that are now home to young and non-native New Yorkers, but not so much in the section of Brooklyn he came from. It appears many prefer Trump -- even many who voted for Obama last time around.
New York has a dismal voter turnout record -- and Brooklyn has among the lowest turnout rate in New York.
Hillary will win New York but Bernie will take some of the momentum out of her win by doing well in pockets of the state, such as those mostly occupied by the young and newly minted NY transplants. Here's 538 today on why Bernie is even less of a threat than he appears.
My view: Bernie's turning into a real downer. He's just depressing to watch.
