NYS Young Democrats Newsletter

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Frieda Menos, President
Fall 2006 Edition		Ocotober 17 , 2006
SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM YOUR PRESIDENT Dear Fellow YDs, As we move into the final weeks of the 2006 campaign season, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate all of our chapter leaders and dedicated members for your hard work and dedication to the mission of the New York State Young Democrats. In the short time since I became President of this great organization this past May, you all have inspired me with your passion for effecting change in the political world around you. This fall, with the help of the Young Democrats through out our Great State, we will have elected Eliot Spitzer as our next Governor and as a party have taken control of all four statewide offices - with our eye on doing even more in 2007 and 2008. I’m happy to report that our YoungDems After Dark '06 fundraising campaigns have been extremely successful, with a fantastic kick-off held in New York City in August, and with two more scheduled on opposite ends of the Erie Canal: one in the Central Region (Albany) for Wednesday October 18 @7pm and in the Western Region (Buffalo) on Thursday November 2 @ 6:30pm. Earlier this year, we held our 1st Annual “Building for Tomorrow… Today” Fundraiser featuring Mr. Spitzer and this past September our Caucus of Color organized a huge event in September featuring David Paterson and other special guests. Additionally, this year NYS Young Democrats successfully organized their first AG candidate forum series that began in May with all six candidates appearing at Cardozo Law School, the success of which precipitated a second forum with the remaining candidates. Mr. Spitzer will not be the only candidate to benefit from our hard work this fall; Our other big push, the Take Back NY (get out the vote effort mobilizing young people throughout the state) has shown similar success; by Election Day, through our local chapter membership we will have conducted major Congressional campaign efforts for Kirsten Gillibrand, County Legislator Dave Mejias, Stephen Harrison and Mike Arcuri, as well as significant State Senate campaign efforts for Andrea Stewart Cousins, State Senator David Valesky and Brian Keeler. One of the great things about these regional events is that they help increase NYSYD membership, while providing the much needed networking opportunities essential for keeping our peers engaged now and year round. I’m especially excited to report that we currently have several new or reorganizing chapters around the state, a testament to the success and hard work of our members. A few final words of encouragement: You can make a difference – you already have! November 7th is only a few weeks away, so volunteer for campaigns, attend events and most importantly, vote! Democratically Yours, Frieda Menos President		In this issue: » President’s Corner: A message from the NYSYD President » YDA Conference » Meet the Newsletter Team » Featured Region: Downstate » Regional Updates: Central, Western, Upstate » Featured Caucus: Young Democrats Rural Conference » Get Involved » Fall Contest » Support the Young Dems
		YDA Conference The Young Democrats of America Fall National Conference will be in Jackson, MS on November 17-19. Register here with YDA. When you sign up for a NYS Young Democrat account you get access to numerous tools to help Young Democrats. You can recruit friends, plan and find events, register new voters, and more. The site will be growing by leaps and bounds. Signup or update your information now!! Join us Today!
		Meet the Newsletter Team Elizabeth R. Bailey, Buffalo, 24, Co-Editor: Liz works as the Western New York Assistant Regional Representative for an elected official and serves on the Women below 30 Advisory Board of the Erie County Commission on the Status of Women. Matthew S. Corritore, Depew, 20, Co-Editor: Matt works as the Community Awareness Specialist for AIDS Community Services of Western New York through the Americorps VISTA program. Udai Tambar, Queens, 30, NYSYD Communications Director: Udai works at a policy institute and teaches at Princeton University.
FEATURED REGION - Downstate Regional Vice President: Stephanie Hausner Counties: New York, Kings, Queens, Richmond, Bronx, Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester The Downstate region young democrats have been extremely busy this election season, volunteering for campaigns, hosting candidate forums, and bolstering county chapter membership. By now you’ve probably heard how amazing the Young Dems After Dark NYC event was on August 9th, a region-wide fundraiser at Via Bistro in New York City that attracted over 100 young democrats and a dozen elected officials for a night of food, drinks, networking, and fun. But what you might not have heard about is the work of three counties in particular, which have produced particularly effective programming this season: Rockland, Dutchess and Manhattan. On the last Tuesday in August, over 100 people crammed into the Finkelstein Memorial Library in Spring Valley, NY, along with members of the Hudson Valley-area press to watch Rockland County legislators David Fried and Ellen Jaffee debate as candidates for the 95th district NYS Assembly seat. The event was a roaring success, attracting several candidates from other legislative races as well as two judicial hopefuls. Not only did the debate feature a large audience and excellent press coverage, but also served as a shot in the arm for the young chapter which has since seen promising growth in membership. The Rockland County group plans to continue this momentum with another forum, “Making Rockland County Affordable for Young People Again,” scheduled for October 17th. Special kudos go out to Rockland President Daniel Friedman, who reports that every single member of the Rockland County young dems volunteered on at least one campaign this summer. Not to be outdone, the Dutchess County Young Democrats made their own mark on state politics this summer with two successful events. In late July, the Dutchess County chapter hosted a summer candidate picnic at Quiet Cove Park. Less than two months later, the group held its annual Unity Event during the week following primaries to foster party unity. About fifty guests gathered at Amici’s restaurant in Poughkeepsie for the Unity Event, including Vassar Young Democrats, local party officials and representatives from local campaigns. Last but never least, the Manhattan Young Dems had a great season as always, which featured a campaign training workshop and plenty of charity and community service work. Set at the Musician’s Union on West 48th Street, the campaign training session featured NYS Senator Liz Krueger, Chair of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee of New York State, Leecia Eve, former candidate for Lieutenant Governor and founder of SHOW UP New York, and several other prominent democrats as presenters. Also in the works is a brand-new teen mentoring program through a MYD partnership with the Felisa Rincon Gautier Institute for Law and Public Policy, a high school in the Bronx. Other downstate events included the “Summer Bash,” a chapter re-launch party with over 60 guests co-hosted by Queens and Nassau Counties and 100+ guests at the Richmond County Annual Awards Dinner. Want to get involved with the Downstate region young dems? Email Stephanie.Hausner@youngdemsny.org for more information. Want to energize your home chapter? For tips on coordinating these and other events, get in touch with other chapters around the state – all chapter contact information can be found at our website at www.youngdemsny.org. For additional information, email our Executive Vice President Brian.Switzer@youngdemsny.org.
Regional Updates CENTRAL Under regional Vice President Laura Turnblom’s leadership, the NYSYD Central region (including Albany, Chenango, Columbia, Delaware, Fulton, Greene, Madison, Montgomery, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Sullivan, Ulster and Washington Counties) has been having an exciting year. In addition to volunteering for Eliot Spitzer at several community events and festivals, the Albany County Young Democrats, coordinated a successful Take Back NY day for Kirsten Gillibrand’s Congressional campaign. A special effort went into planning their annual Albany County Unity Event on September 20th at DeJohn’s restaurant in Albany, an event designed to promote party unity after the primaries. Over forty Democratic supporters attended, along with several elected officials, including Albany County Executive Michael Breslin and Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings. These days the Central region has been focusing on voter registration drives as well as doing lit drops and phone banks for local candidates. On Wednesday October 18, the Central Region will host their YoungDems After Dark'06 Party event with special guests, visit www.youngdemsny.org for details. As a special note, young democrats in Rensselaer County are on the verge of forming a new NYSYD Chapter under the tutelage of the region’s Vice President. Want to get involved with the Central region young dems? Email our Central Region VP Laura.Turnblom@youngdemsny.org for more information. WESTERN Over the past two months the Western Region VP Paul Henderson (representing Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Cortland, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates Counties) has made a concerted effort to increase local chapter presence and assist Democrats seeking election in November. Paul has gathered a brand-new group of provisional officers in Erie County to get the Erie County chapter back up and running. The Erie County Young Dems have already held a recruitment open house and attended local political events to recruit additional membership. Additionally, they have taken an aggressive approach to recruitment, making personal outreach calls to every democratic group in the county in order to increase awareness and membership in the Erie County chapter. They will host their first event, the Western Region YoungDems After Dark'06 party on Thursday November 2, for details visit www.youngdemsny.org. Watch for an email with more complete details on this event, coming soon to an inbox near you! Want to get involved with the Western region young dems? Email Paul.Henderson@youngdemsny.org for more information. UPSTATE Despite lacking a regional Vice President, the Upstate region (Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, St. Lawrence, and Warren counties) has kept busy, working hard to foster club development and organize GOTV efforts. The SUNY Canton, SUNY Potsdam, and Clarkson Young Democrats are enjoying election season surges in membership and participation. Each chapter is striving to maintain its current enthusiasm and excitement beyond the November elections. The St. Lawrence Young Democrats have been focusing on a school-wide voter registration drive in which they hope to register every U.S. citizen on campus. The Upstate region has some solid events planned as well. An intimate meet-the-candidates evening is in the works for State legislature hopefuls at Ogdensburg’s Rosy Tavern, while over two hundred attendees are expected to attend St. Lawrence’s meet-the-candidates night in Massena on Saturday, October 28, featuring U.S. Congressman John McHugh (R) and democratic challenger Robert Johnson. Want to get involved with the Upstate region young dems? Email Executive Vice President Brian Switzer at Brian.Switzer@youngdemsny.org for more information.
FEATURED CAUCUS: Rural Conference The Young Democratic Rural Conference works to involve young democrats living in rural areas around New York State in democratic politics, with an emphasis on providing grassroots campaign support to democratic candidates in close elections. An extremely active caucus, membership in the YDRC is growing quickly this fall. This sharp increase is undoubtedly due to the leadership of Caucus Chair John Byrne. John has spent countless hours recruiting new membership, planning events, and hitting the streets for rural democratic candidates. John’s hard work definitely paid off this spring at the annual YDRC Convention held March 3-4th in Ithaca. Attended by some of New York’s top democratic leaders, the convention was a weekend of networking and training focused on issues specific to rural New Yorkers. In addition to almost four hundred attendees, the VIP list included U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, and Andrew Cuomo. The next challenge for the YDRC will be its annual Campaign Invasion; this year’s efforts will focus on Rochester’s Eric Massa’s campaign for U.S. Congress as well as NYS Senator Dave Valesky’s re-election campaign in Syracuse. When they are not planning events, the YDRC continues to combat Upstate New York’s “brain drain” by mobilizing against conservative elected officials. The YDRC is collaborating with young professionals and labor leaders around New York State to form a new 527 organization, WinUpstate.com, which will be dedicated to opposing the re-election of conservative State Senators. The YDRC also published a wildly popular Campaign Resource CD-ROM earlier this year, which provides rural young democrats with innovative campaign literature, fundraising tools, GOTV ideas, sample phone scripts, and everything else a well-run campaign needs to win. Want to get involved with the Young Democratic Rural Conference? Join the caucus at www.nysydrc.org or email info@nysydrc.org for more information. The NYS Young Democrats has several caucuses and are always seeking bright, hardworking young democrats willing to join, promote and provide opportunity to their respective constituencies. To learn more, visit our caucus page at http://www.youngdemsny.org/chapters/caucuses.html.
Get Involved This area of the newsletter will provide ideas about how to get more involved with the NYSYD. Look here for open positions in NYSYD on the Executive Board, committees, caucuses, and other internal leadership roles. OPEN POSITION: Upstate Vice President The Upstate VP is responsible for chapter development, membership recruitment, organization of political activities, and coordination of GOTV efforts throughout the Upstate region, which includes Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, St. Lawrence, and Warren counties. The Upstate VP must live in one of the aforementioned counties. To apply for the position, submit your resume and a 100-word statement including all pertinent organizing experience to info@youngdemsny.org. OPEN POSITION: Labor Caucus Chair The Labor Caucus Chair is responsible for managing the NYS Young Democrats Labor Caucus, working closely with the local New York labor unions, organizing political activities, and the coordination of campaign efforts with the labor community. To apply for the position, submit your resume and a 100-word statement including all pertinent organizing experience to info@youngdemsny.org. BE AN INTERN The quickest way into a paid position in politics is to intern in a political office. Be aggressive – choose an elected official you would like to work for and call the office with your resume ready. If you need some help getting started, the NYSYD website features an up-to-date job/internship page at www.youngdemsny.org.
Fall Contest Being a New York State Young Democrat has its perks: Read the quarterly newsletter, browse www.youngdemsny.org and have the chance to win cool prizes! Find the answers to the following questions by surfing our website. Get all 10 answers correct and be entered into a random drawing for exciting secret mystery prizes! The winners will be named in the next newsletter. 1) How many NYSYD members campaigned for John Kerry in Ohio in the final five days of the 2004 election? 2) How many NYSYD executive officers are from Queens? 3) The NYSYD Constitution has how many articles? 4) New York State Democratic Headquarters is located in what city? 5) How many “National Democratic Links” are listed on the site? 6) How many NYSYD County Chapters have their own websites? 7) What is the last possible day to register to vote in the 2006 November elections? 8) Name all the counties in the Western Region. 9) The name of the NYS Young Democrats 2006 GOTV Program? 10) Name five elected officials who spoke at the New York City YoungDems After Dark event in August 2006. Email your responses by December 1st to newsletter@youngdemsny.org.
Ensure a Successful Campaign for all NY Democrats this November!!! Part of the NYSYD mission is to raise money for Democratic candidates around the state. If you would like to donate to the NYSYD, visit us online at Support Young Democrats. For additional details, email finance@youngdemsny.org.
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