State of the Club 2006
Posted by Brooklyn Young Republican Club
Before we get to the rest of our club business and our guest speaker tonight, I want to take a few moments to address the membership in what I hope will be the first of many annual State of the Club addresses.
This most recent incarnation of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club is only a little over 2 years old. Before it was re-founded in the excitement of the 2004 Presidential Election, there had not been a young Republican movement in Brooklyn in many years. Which is a shame, since Brooklyn Young Republicans have had a tremendous history in not only the State Young Republican organization but within the Republican Party as a whole – going back, believe it or not, to the turn of the last century.
I truly believe now, as I did then, that Brooklyn deserves its own Young Republican Club – one that has its own character and its own mission. And we’ve been very successful in creating just that over these two years.
As I wrote in the January edition of the State YR newsletter, the Brooklyn YRs went from 0-60 in 2005…literally. At the beginning of last year, we had 0 members, 0 meetings and $0. By year’s end, we had nearly 60 members and associates, regular meetings at a regular place and a respectable treasury.
We have been blessed with a great diversity of speakers: former Libertarian Candidate for Governor Scott Jeffery, New York State Conservative Party leader Mike Long, former Senate candidates Michael Benjamin (who now runs a PAC called Save New York) and Ed Cox, who I have the feeling we’ll be hearing a lot from in the future, current Senate candidate John Spencer, Assemblymen Pat Manning and Vincent Ignizio – the list goes on and on.
We have also been very high-profile – which has been both a blessing and a curse. The environment in which we’ve operated has often not been hospitable and so it hasn’t been easy. So we have a lot to be proud of.
On a personal level, this past year has also been incredibly eventful for me. Most importantly, Britta and I were married last September. Right after we returned from our honeymoon, I left my job and partnered in a marketing services business, working with a wide range of nonprofits to help them raise money and for some for-profits as well. And just two weeks ago, I was honored to be named Executive Director of The Hundred Year Association, a great organization that since 1927 has encouraged and rewarded public service in the City of New York. I would love to tell you more about this organization when you have some time.
There is a tradition within the Young Republicans that leaders of clubs self-term limit themselves after 2 years. Having served in that capacity for technically more than that time and in looking at the challenges of running my own business, I have decided to follow in that tradition. It was not an easy decision, but it was made more so by looking at the growing number of talented people that come through our doors each month.
I will certainly still be heavily involved with the Club. And I hope to see it do many things.
Last year, we put the vast majority of our resources behind building a structure for the Club and in recruiting new members. While this was not always a popular decision, it was largely successful, and so I stand behind it. Without members, the club is nothing, and so I encourage the Club’s next group of leaders to continue the efforts we’ve made in the past months to reach out to new audiences and new members.
And I encourage all of you to be individual ambassadors for the club in your day-to-day lives. Of course, you should renew your membership if you haven’t done so already but also do everything you can to recruit new members whenever you get the chance.
Some say the purpose of Young Republicans is to be the foot soldiers of the Party. While that is certainly an important role given our oft-promoted relative youth and energy, it isn’t the only one. When I started this club, I certainly had an interest in politics, but I had never really been involved. This Club gave me a way to be involved. It taught me so much. And I have seen that happening to many others in this Club and in other Young Republican Clubs throughout the city, state and country. Sparking an interest now can make a difference for a future public servant and the future of our Party. That is and should always be the true purpose of our Club.
To achieve this, we much remain open and welcoming. Too often I see members of our own Party shutting newcomers out, being resistant to new ideas and wanting only to perpetuate their own interests or those in their inner-circle. And that’s wrong.
Everybody says that the Republican Party in New York State is in turmoil and disarray. If that’s true, it’s because the Party leadership has forgotten the grassroots. I don’t think all is lost this year. We have so many dynamic candidates and we have seen that when one speaks to us from the heart and soul of the Party as John Spencer did just a few months ago, they can generate a lot of enthusiasm. But when a candidate who compromises what the Party stands for because that’s what they think they have to do in order to win is forced upon the grassroots, that seems to me to be a recipe for disaster.
All I can say is I hope and encourage the Club to stay independent of those forces that would try to dampen that enthusiasm and exclude hard working and excited new Party members. Keep reaching out to new people and ideas and embrace those candidates who excite you and want to keep you involved.
In closing, I want to thank those who have been instrumental in the Club’s success throughout all or part of the last two years. Our progress couldn’t have been made alone. I want especially to thank our Secretary Andrew Roman for the great print and web work he’s done, Vice President Bob Capano for lending his deep personal and professional resources and of course our beautiful State Metro Chair and my first lady, Britta.
Working together we will make ’06 a great year!
President Luke Vander Linden
