The nascent New York gubernatorial bid of Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon hit a rough start in the polls. I wondered initially if she was going to attempt to campaign in the more conservative haunts of upstate and how she might fare that far from her usual digs in Manhattan. This week Nixon set out to answer that question, making campaign stops in Syracuse and Rochester. In the latter appearance, she had a message for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Apparently, he’s not done enough to protect illegal aliens from the long arm of the law and if Nixon is elected she’ll make the Empire State a real sanctuary state in the model of California. (Daily Mail)

Let’s start with the video.

Cynthia Nixon has promised to turn New York into ‘a real sanctuary state’ for undocumented migrants in a swipe at Andrew Cuomo, her rival for the Democratic nomination.

The ex-Sex and the City actress areas including New York City for already adopting so-called ‘sanctuary’ legislation but blamed Cuomo, the current governor, for failing to take it up on a statewide level.

This and similar pro-immigrant measures would help turn the state into a ‘progressive bastion’, Nixon said during a speech in Rochester on Thursday.

‘All of these things that we should have done and that New Yorkers want us do, that’s why I am running.

‘Times up on progressive change and waiting for progressive change in New York,’ Nixon said, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

So apparently Nixon is going to win over the more reserved, frequently conservative climes of the upstate region by making New York a sanctuary state. Excuse me, but… wasn’t Andrew Cuomo already doing that? In fact, he’s been pushing one of the more liberal agendas seen in the state’s history. But Nixon’s claim to fame here is that a few Democrats from upstate have been caucusing with the Republicans over the past couple of years, mixing up the legislative battleground.

So that’s apparently Cuomo’s fault now, but if you put Miranda from Sex and the City in charge, we’re going to go the full California route, eh? Yeah… that should win over the upstate vote.

I’m still holding my fire in terms of predictions until we get a few more sets of polling numbers. But in my experience in New York, this isn’t how you win over the upstate vote and she’s clearly not going to win this race with only the Manhatten vote.