A tale of two Brooklyns: Iowa town not feeling the Bern like New York borough

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/22/bernie-sanders-brooklyn-iowa-new-york-voters

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A tiny city 70 miles east of Des Moines differs from its namesake New York borough in many ways.

In Brooklyn, New York, the main industry is independent coffee shops and almond milk. In Brooklyn, Iowa, it is agriculture: corn, soy and milk from cows.

More than 2.5 million people live in Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn, Iowa, has a population of 1,500.

Oh, and in Brooklyn, New York, Bernie Sanders is wildly popular. Indie musicians play benefit gigs for him in Williamsburg. There are T-shirt printing parties in Bushwick. His speeches are screened in Greenpoint.

Whereas in the Iowa Brooklyn, no one seems to like him very much.

“No,” said Marcia Kilmer, 66, when asked if she would be voting for Sanders, who grew up in the New York Brooklyn. She was having her hair cut in Shear Expressions. “He’s too old. I don’t like his age.” She likes Ted Cruz and Ben Carson.

“I do not myself,” said a woman in Brooklyn’s pharmacy, when asked if she liked Sanders.

“I’m not a big fan of spreading the wealth. I think you should get what you earn,” said a man called Paul. He was sitting in Brooklyn’s grocery store, Seaton’s Flag Foods, with five friends. None of them supported Bernie Sanders.

I changed tack and asked them what their impression was of Brooklyn, New York.

“I think the fashion’s a little more upscale from here,” said Lynsey Chalupsky. She pointed out that the group were all wearing jeans and sweatshirts.

Brooklyn, Iowa, is known as the “community of flags”. This is because there are a lot of flags there. The flags of various countries – Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, to name a few – line Jackson Street, the main road through the city. The street is home to a deli, a now closed red-brick Opera House building, and the Brooklyn library, among other businesses.

On a hill overlooking Jackson Street 50 flags fly from 30ft poles, one from each state. It is pretty.

In Seaton’s Flag Foods I asked Paul what the deal was with all the flags.

“Roughly 20 years ago a couple of guys in town wanted something to attract people here,” he said. Paul was dubious as to how many people the flags had actually managed to attract to Brooklyn.

“I think basically it was a guy who was in the flag-selling business,” he said of one of the brains behind the scheme.

His story was roughly corroborated in the Brooklyn Flag Store, a volunteer-run shop which sells lots and lots of flags. Rita Ferneau was on duty behind the counter. She said all the flags were made in America, not in China. She believed that every country was represented in the city, although said she “couldn’t swear it in a court of law”.

Ferneau, 74, appeared to be Brooklyn’s sole Bernie Sanders fan, but shared Kilmer’s reservations about his age.

“I think he’s a wonderful, wonderful man. He’s a great guy,” she said. “I’m a Hillary supporter, but I do wish Bernie was younger.”

So there’s one more difference between the two Brooklyns.

In Brooklyn, New York, Bernie Sanders is wildly popular – perhaps, in part, because of his age and longevity.

But for some of the people in Brooklyn, Iowa, the Vermont senator is simply too old.