National Affairs: KEY STATE-NEW YORK

IN any presidential election, the greatest prize among the 48 states is New York (45 electoral votes). This is the situation in the Empire State:

Geography: New York is divided into three parts. The city (comprising five counties), its suburbs (three counties) and "upstate." The city is overwhelmingly Democratic, the suburbs and upstate heavily Republican. New York elections are decided by which area goes its way by the biggest margin. The city's counties (called boroughs) are themselves divided (Manhattan, The Bronx and Brooklyn are Democratic; Queens and Richmond are Republican), but the net result is almost always Democratic. The politicians' rule of...

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