August 30, 2004, 8:22 a.m.
The NRO Welcome Mat
New York is the right city.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to New York!

The Big Apple is the hometown of National Review, of course, so consider NR (have you seen our Kerry issue?) and National Review Online — with our daily and hourly reporting from Madison Square Garden and beyond — the hometown read.

And try not to hate us. Bear in mind Michael Moore and Jesse Jackson were imports this weekend, though, yes, we have many, many Dems, as Al Gore well knows.

And we have Hillary Clinton. People from these parts elected her to the Senate. Yes, you are surrounded.

And, admittedly, New Yorkers can have a little bit of an attitude problem (outside of the epidemic Leftism). New York magazine, for instance, recently pondered the possibility of New York City seceding from the United States: "After contemptuously dismissing the idea, even the crustiest, crankiest city officials will say that, yes, the Democratic Republic of New York is a very interesting place to contemplate. How fabulous our national anthem would be. How cool our currency, the york, would look. Vera Wang could design our flags, Groucho Marx would be on our stamps; we'd all agree not to have a national bird (sorry, pigeon). Bill Clinton could be president again — assuming, after eight years of presiding over the Free World, he has the patience to worry about potholes — though Ed Koch jokes he'd volunteer for the job, adding he'd name an international airport after himself and call it EIK."

But New York is also the hometown of Jonah Goldberg and K-Lo, among others. It's where the house that Ruth built is — a.k.a Rich Lowry's home. It's where William F. Buckley Jr. ran for mayor. So don't let the Leftists surrounding your hotel and convention center fool you: Conservatives thrive here — even if W. doesn't get the state in November.

Enjoy your stay. You're invited back for the W. victory parties. — KJL

P.S. If you are on the ground in New York and are stuck at a hotel with bad dial-up, look for some of NRO in The Hill newspaper throughout the week.

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