New York, NY —
Republicans in New York City are used to being outnumbered. They make up only 13 percent of the city's registered voters. And even with the arrival of next week's Republican Convention they'll still be a lonely minority - with the possibility of 50 protesters for every delegate. WNYC's Beth Fertig checked in with some Republicans to see how they're getting by in this election year.
As a Manhattan Republican, Peter Hort has spent a long time swimming upstream. But now he's taking it to a whole new level.
HORT: My name is Peter Hort. I'm running for United States Congress for the 8th congressional district.
Hort has been riding the West Side subways in his bid to defeat the longtime Democratic incumbent Jerrold Nadler. He doesn't have much money in the bank, or any organized support from the Republican party. So he's going it all alone.
Tall and outgoing, with a mop of dark curly hair, Hort gamely passes out fliers and buttons. But they don't mention his party, prompting one man to ask -
MAN: Are you a Republican or a Democrat? HORT: I'm a Republican.
When the man hands back the flier, Hort doesn't give up.
HORT: Don't hand it back. Thing is, I'd say to you it's about issues, not ideology. MAN: No, this administration is all ideology. HORT: I encourage you to vote, but the key is I'm running actually against a man named Jerry Nadler.
Hort has obviously had this conversation before. The married father of two lives in TriBeCa. He defends himself by saying he's a fiscal conservative who's socially progressive - a supporter of abortion rights, who wants to eliminate the federal income tax for public school teachers. But while some voters are willing to hear him out, he says others have been downright rude.
HORT: I would say probably the worst experience I've had on the campaign trail was marching in the Gay Pride parade. Now this is a parade in which I've marched in for a number of years. I go with my daughter she goes in her princess outfit with her tiara, she's three years old. During the course of the parade route there were announcers announcing all the different groups going by. And the announcer said Peter Hort, United States Congress, he's a Republican. And there were boos, there were hisses, people were throwing things. And the announcer would say listen he's here to support us. The least we can do is be civil supporting in supporting him.
Hort found himself on friendlier ground recently at a party on the Upper West side. Those invited were registered Republicans who had signed petitions to get him on the ballot.
HORT: You live in Chelsea? WOMAN: I live in Chelsea, yes
Attorney Meredith Elliot commiserated with the candidate about being a lonely, downtown Republican.
ELLIOT: Well I have to say I'm a very popular girl in the Chelsea scene and when we start talking politics at a bar or something like that immediately all the boys are like, I had no idea you were Republican I hate you I can't talk to you.' But there are some people who will listen to you and talk to you and you'll start having a very intelligent conversation. Why do you have that ideology? And then I explain it and some people are swayed to your side really, and they do understand it.
Like Hort, Elliot describes herself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal. She says she agrees with many of the goals of her Democrat friends - she just has a different philosophy on how to get there. Sixty-two year old Michael Miller tells Elliot he remembers a time when such debates weren't so polarized.
MILLER: Our party in my opinion is hijacked by crazies. The Tom Delays, I think he's a bad man. OK. The Senator from Pennsylvania who said being gay was like, I think he equated it with bestiality. ELLIOT: It's disgusting but I think those viewpoints are going away. I think the new Republican, the younger Republican doesn't share those viewpoints.
As the national convention approaches, New York Republicans acknowledge anger at the national party might make it even harder to have these conversations across party lines. But they're also well prepared after a lifetime in the political minority.
JACKSON: I just think that people have no problem engaging in casual cruelty toward Republicans that they would exhibit toward other types of people.
Lolita Jackson is an alternate delegate to the Convention who lives on the Upper East Side. She's African American and a lifelong member of the GOP who runs the Metropolitan Republican Club. She blames Bush-hatred for the problems facing Republicans in New York.
JACKSON: Even if I had a problem with Bush I was a Republican before I knew who George Bush was. So I'm not going to not vote what I believe in because of that person.
In case you're wondering, Jackson does support the President. She thinks he's stronger on defense than Democrat John Kerry.
While New York City voters have elected 2 Republican mayors in a decade, there are now just 3 Republicans in the City Council and 6 in the state legislature. The city's only Republican member of Congress is Vito Fossella from Staten Island. He's both socially and fiscally conservative and represents the borough with the greatest percentage of registered Republicans. Congressional candidate Peter Hort hopes the convention will boost his chances, even on the more liberal West Side.
HORT: I think a lot of Republicans are bonding together. For me, like I'm going to be a part of the parties and I may go to the convention itself. But I'm trying to focus on our community.
So when the convention comes to town next week, Hort plans to be a fixture outside Madison Square Garden - campaigning in plain view of the protesters. After all, he says, they are his constituents. For WNYC I'm Beth Fertig.