19th CD Changes – GOP Must Adapt in NYC
Last week I sat in disbelief at the Northeast Queens Republican party meeting listening to incumbent Frank Padavan outline the recount issues in his bid for reelection to the State Senate. Frank, an honorable and consistent servant of his constituents, was awash in the Obama Tidal wave… and fighting for his seat despite three decades plus of selfless-service.
Though he clings to a few-hundred vote lead in week three of the recounting, his victory is neither assured, nor is his worn away support comforting, to the other Republicans in Northeastern Queens….once a moderately conservative corner of the City.
It is time the party elders vest the fate of the new Republican Party in the hands of a younger generation; one to whom the Age of the Internet is accessible and which reflects the largest growing section of voters, the under 40, college educated, urbanite.
Since this is the age of internet information and educated urbanites- without our party addressing the issues that feed the information superhighway, we will never succeed in making inroads in the urban political scene. We must use the tools and talents of the day to make our voices heard.
What is it that the true Republican ideal speaks to? How about limited government? Or efficient programs designed to reach goals rather than perpetuate dependencies? Perhaps its as simple as reading the Constitution to mean what it says…. or better yet, holding public officials, police, and government accountable to standards of conduct, productivity, and compassion. Our party is about presenting the opportunity to succeed, not giving people a false guarantee of success. Republican ideals are centered about our self-responsibility and community awareness & involvement without which, we cannot effect positive changes.
As someone who thinks that the Party has strayed too far from its ideals and imperatives, I have decided to throw myself into the race in Queens for the City Council next year in my home district, the 19th. I grew up here, from birth to college I lived and learned here, and have now bought my first home, and it too is here in the district.
Perhaps if the people we choose to represent us actually lived life in the places they purport to represent, government would be more conscious of its awesome responsibility. Perhaps neighborhoods would mean more to us then, as would our neighbors, certainly a Republican Party that would count for something would be a good start….
