Category: Blog Posts

Watch out Mayor Bloomberg, Congress Member Anthony Weiner is catching up to you in the race for New York City Mayor in 2009. A new poll was released yesterday by New York 1. The New York 1 poll has Mayor Michael Bloomberg leading U.S. Congress Member Anthony Weiner 43%-36% with 17% still undecided.  The poll also had Mayor Bloomberg with a 64% approval rating.  The New York 1 poll has Mayor Bloomberg leading NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson 45%-32% with 19% still undecided.  These numbers are sure to send shockwaves through New York City political circles. Look for the 2009 Mayoral election to heat up real soon.

The New York State Young Democrats would like to congratulate State Senator Malcolm Smith on being elected as the majority leader of the New York State Senate. We are so proud that after many years of hard work the Democratic Party has retaken the majoirty in the New York State Senate. We look foward to our continued work with Majority Leader Smith and the rest of the new Democratic majority in Albany to increase our new majority.

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☺