A Weekend in New Hampshire

by Rich Alicea, Queens YRs

Growing up and spending my entire life in New York, I have grown accustomed to seeing presidential candidates skip over our state, in favor of those states that are more competitive.
Because of this, I have never had the opportunity to take part in any aspect of a presidential campaign, let alone actually traveling to other states to campaign for a candidate.

Luckily, presidential candidate and former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani has made New York a priority, keeping his national headquarters in Manhattan. As he has said in the past, he is making his presidential campaign a 50-state race, unlike in the past, where candidates would pass over states like New York, which frequently sway to the left.

The Queens County Young Republicans, as well as several other groups in the area, as well as YRs from across the state, including former state Chair, Jason Weingartner, have taken advantage of the opportunities afforded by this campaign strategy to become more active.
For months, volunteers have been working out of Giuliani’s Manhattan phone bank, making calls to Iowa and New Hampshire.

However, during the weekend of January 5th, we got a small taste of life on the campaign trail, making a trip to New Hampshire to campaign for Rudy during the final push before the primary, along with groups from across the five boroughs and Long Island.

Arriving in Manchester, NH on Saturday, we were immediately thrust into what was a hotbed of political activity.

Campaign workers for virtually every candidate, Republican and Democrat, were present, doing things from simple sign waving, to going door-to-door with campaign literature, which is what we spent most of our time doing. In contrast to the first trip we made to NH, back in November, the streets were packed with campaigners and journalists.

The bulk of our time in NH was spent talking with New Hampshirans about the policies we saw enacted by Rudy Giuliani during his tenure as Mayor. Because most of us lived in New York City during the Giuliani years, we were in a good position to speak of the great changes implemented under his administration, from tax cuts to the massive drop in crime rates to welfare reform. Many of the people we spoke to were very receptive to the issues we spoke to them about, particularly tax cuts.

They were impressed by the fact that many of us came up from New York City to talk about the candidate we know very well through our own experiences, rather than some candidate whose policies we learned about on the bus ride to NH.

As one would imagine, the days were long, and there was never a dull moment.

At the same time, it can be exhilarating, knowing the difference you are making on the campaign trail.

Even though the results of the primary may not have been ideal, our time was not spent in vain. According to the campaign, the volunteers from NYC accounted for visits to almost 10,000 New Hampshire homes and several thousand phone calls in only two days, making it one of the largest grassroots operations in the days before the New Hampshire primary.

With similar commitments in other states, especially those whose primaries take place on February 5th, we can hope to see much more encouraging results. Only then will the volunteers who are spending countless hours making phone calls, attending events and traveling to early primary states truly see the effect of their work.

Rich Alicea is the President of the Queens County Young Republicans.

Spitz’ Fits Put “Day One” on Fritz

by Rich Alicea, Queens YRs

On a cold, winter day in January, New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer (D) stood on the steps of our State Capitol and declared that the "Rip Van Winkle" days in Albany were over. He declared that he would usher in a new age of ethics in the state. He declared that everything would change beginning on "Day One."

But seven months later, Governor Spitzer has accomplished little more than bullying and compromising those "ethics" that he promised to promote. His hypocritical "do as I say, not as I do" attitude has become the norm, as he publicly criticized Republicans throughout the state for actions that not only are lawful, but actions that the Governor himself has been doing.

His now infamous outburst to Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco (R), in which he described himself as an “f*****g steamroller”, was only the first of a series of schoolyard bully tactics that Spitzer has utilized to create a double standard in our Capitol.

He chastised the Republican-controlled State Senate for its refusal to, without question, adopt his version of campaign finance reform. At the same time, the Governor, with the practice of bundling, sold access to himself and his office to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars a person, as reported in April by New York State Republican Party Chairman, Joseph Mondello. Is this reform? Instead of leading by example, Governor Spitzer has chosen to lead by public posturing and grandstanding. But, the hypocrisy continues.

As Governor Spitzer publicly criticized Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R) for using public aircraft, he traveled around the state lambasting Republican Senators for ending its legislative session on the scheduled date and not kow-towing to his demands, according to a July 2, 2007 New York Daily News article. In effect, he campaigned for any Democratic challenger to a Republican incumbent, all on the taxpayer's dime. To add insult to injury, the Governor's office leaked police records about Sen. Bruno's travel, for political gain, to the Albany Times Union. The Steamroller's response: "I didn't know it was happening."

In his first several months in office, Governor Spitzer has only proven that his ego trumps all, and that we, the taxpaying citizens, must suffer the consequences. Allowing his feud with Sen. Bruno to get the best of him, he has demonstrated that he either cannot be trusted to monitor what's going on in his own office, or cannot be trusted to tell the truth when it comes to his own office's manipulation of its authority. Either way, this type of behavior is unacceptable.

Rich Alicea is the Chairman of the Queens County YRs.