(Albany, New York) – Congress Member-Elect Paul Tonko was officially sworn in as Congress Member of the 21st Congressional District this morning. The New York State Young Democrats & The Albany County Young Democrats would like to congratulate Mr. Tonko and we look foward to working with him in the future. We would also like to thank Congress Member Mike McNulty for all of his years of service to the residents of the 21st Congressional District.
A new poll was released today by Quinnipac University. The poll showed that voters are split on whether Caroline Kennedy is qualified to be the next U.S. Senator to fill Senator Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat should she be confirmed to be the next Secretary of State.
According to the poll “New York State voters split 40 – 41 percent on whether Caroline Kennedy is qualified to be a U.S. Senator, but they expect by a 48 – 25 percent margin that Gov. David Paterson will name her to the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Offered a choice, 33 percent of voters say Gov. Paterson should name Ms. Kennedy, while 29 percent say Attorney General Andrew Cuomo should get the nod. Another 4 percent pick Albany-area U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, while 24 percent want someone else and 10 percent are undecided, the independent Quinnipiac University poll finds. Kennedy leads Cuomo 42 – 27 percent among New York City voters and ties Cuomo 30 – 30 percent among suburban voters, while Cuomo leads 31 – 27 percent among upstate voters. Men back Kennedy over Cuomo 32 – 27 percent while women back her 33 – 31 percent. Republicans prefer Cuomo 33 – 20 percent while Democrats back Kennedy 41 – 27 percent and independent voters back Cuomo 33 – 30 percent”.
So the big question of the day is what do the Young Democrats of New York State think about Caroline Kennedy’s qualifications. We want to hear from you! Feel free to post your comments on who you think Governor Paterson should pick to be our next Senator. If you have some free time please visit our new web page at nysyd.org and vote for who you think should be the next senator.
Tonight Jews around the world, including a few million in the state of New York lit candles in celebration of the first night of Chanukah. Jews around the world exchanged gifts and ate food packed with oil. My house was no exception- I got some cool stuff including a book called “The American Wife” loosely based on Laura Bush. My mom made soufgiyot (doughnuts) and I made latkes (potato pancakes), both fried in oil!
Later I went on my computer and started talking to my friend about Chanukah and how problematic it was that we had a holiday based on oil. Now, I didn’t mean it from a religious point of view. I don’t have a theological problem with the holiday. It is a nice story of heroes, miracles, and the Maccabbees. No, my problem is with the observance. My problem is with the oil. After all, living in suburban NY, I am constantly reminded by NYC Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, that oil and fat are unhealthy. So how do we make a holiday about oil healthy? How do we justify the few times of year we splurge for 8 nights on Latkes and doughnuts?
Oil has been on the brains of NYers and Americans for the past several months. First we were paying too much for it, now not as much, but no one has any money left to take advantage of the low oil prices and travel for the holidays is at a low. With a recent bailout plan for the Big 3 Auto industry, there was much talk of energy efficiency and hybrid cars. As heating bills increase consumers think of alternative ways to heat their homes and offices. So maybe I should look into alternative ways to make my latkes? Maybe I should re-think the doughnuts? For our Christian friends, how about Christmas lights? Are they worth the energy? Or maybe we should just deal with this next year—after the holidays….
…either way something to think about. Happy Chanukah☺
The New York State Young Democrats had an Executive Board Retreat on the weekend of December 6th and 7th in Cooperstown, NY. This was the first Executive Board Retreat in about seven years. This retreat showed that the new administration is both dynamic and industrious in furthering NYSYD‘s reach in New York State. About 16 of the 25 elected and appointed members of the executive board were able to attend, which was a great showing.
The meeting portion of the conference was held at The Otsega Hotel and Conference Center, right on the lake. This provided a beautiful setting for a productive session where many important issues were discussed. The Policy Committee proposed four central areas for NYSYD to focus on in our platform: Health Insurance, Environmental Issues, Higher Education, and Equality rights of minorities, disabled persons and women. The discussion was abundant with viable ideas on how to create and promote our positions on these important issues. 
We took a look at what NYSYD and its’ chapters had been actively doing in 2008 and made a list of accomplishments. Then the focus moved on to the future of our organization.The meeting then set goals for Fundraising for the State and Local Chapters, Communications between Chapters and with the National YDA, chapter building in new counties, increasing membership in present groups. We then focused on methods to attain these goals; such as helping High School and College chapters form and working more closely to help these students transition through the levels of our organization. We also focused on the importance of internships and the resume bank which has been created to help members find internships and/or employments within the political field in New York State. Further, we looked into potential community service opportunities, events and potential for political training for interested Young Democrats.
We then focused on planning for the YDA winter meeting which New York will be hosting at the Sheraton in Times Square, NYC on February 20-22, 2009. There is a lot of excitement leading up to this meeting and NYSYD is excited to host this meeting and host Young Democrats from all over the United States.
While our focus is on the upcoming Winter Meeting, NYSYD is also focusing on scheduling and planning out Chapter Leader Planning Conference to help with Chapter Building (possibly in March/April 09), Part 2 of the Executive Committee Planning Retreat (possibly in June 2009), preparations for the YDA National Convention and 2009 Elections, as well as getting our new website up and ready.
We hope that you will stay informed about NYSYD and considering joining and/or supporting our organization. Together, we can make a big difference.
Jennifer Royer
NYSYD Communications Director
Welcome to the official blog of the New York State Young Democrats. We hope that you will check back here for all of your Young Democrats news.
The New York State Young Democrats are the official youth arm of the New York State Democratic Committee. The New York State Young Democrats represent young democrats between the ages of 16-36 in all of New York’s 62 counties.
If you are interested in starting a Young Democrats chapter in your county please email msilverstein@nysyd.net
