>Can you flesh out these 3 items more please?
>I kind of "forget" that Syracuse and Rochester and Albany are
>in the same state as Harlem and Flatbush.
>
>1. What "brand" of conservatism do they have in Western NY?
>
>2. What platform do they have out there?
>
>3. Specifically, how was your view/definition of
>"conservative" white male changed?
>
>4. Compare/contrast these Western NYers with GOPers, please.

Sure thing. My experience with "White conservative males" is completely different from growing up in NC. My earliest political memory is going to the public library with my Dad. I was wearing a Clinton/Gore hat as we were walking in, and walking out this older white dude saw my hat and like swatted it off my head. Growing up with that and all of the racially tinged legislation, and the Darryl Hunt case in the background (RIP) really shaped my Black Political Thought.

Up here, I expected NYers to be a bit of the same from the conservative mindset but they aren't. Most are middle class or above in the upstate/west NY areas. They live modestly and have suburban lifestyles. But their conservatism is anti-prison, pro-environment, pro wage increase, anti-wall street deregulation, pro-single payer system. Beyond the moral justifications they understand or at least have considered the monetary approach to policy. It is better to invest in schools than prisons. It is better to protect the environment than clean up spills or disasters. If the minimum wage is raised more people have money to participate in the economy. They didn't want another housing bubble/market crash that wiped out their savings.

Their conversations helped hone my liberal idealism into actually looking at achievable legislation. Conservatives I met were less Tea Party and more Working Families Party. Same with many of the independents. However, racism is everywhere, and there will always be those types of people, but it was really refreshing to have so many of those conversations up in Syracuse, Niagara, and out on Long Island as well.