This, in a nutshell, is the upstate challenge. In downstate-media shorthand, we refer to upstate as conservative. Maybe, but it's a conservatism born not of ideological fervor but of the (well-placed) suspicion that our concerns aren't their concerns, and that about their concerns we just aren't very . . . concerned. Rudy Giuliani may have an advantage over Mrs. Clinton by virtue of his party affiliation, but he'll have to jump that hurdle, too.
So there you have it. When Hillary visits, she might do so with Elmira native Tommy Hilfiger, whose sister, Betsy, runs a Hilfiger outlet there. She should certainly stump at Elmira College, the first liberal-arts school in America to award women a four-year degree (bad advance work at the White House, missing that). Finally, how can she not eat -- I'm not making this up -- at the popular supper club called Lib's? "And we," promises Democratic mayor Stephen Hughes, "will pick up the tab."
E-mail: tomasky@aol.com
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