As you know, our most recent President Jonathan Judge is running in that race!

Many of the Brooklyn YRs have been out supporting one of their own, and we hope you’ll all come out and support him.

The debate will take place Wednesday, February 24, 7 pm, at the Boro Park YMHA at 4910 14^th Ave. in Brooklyn.

Jonathan will be answering questions from a panel of Jewish Press reporters and editors, from the audience, and from residents who have submitted questions in advance.

Let’s come out to support Jonathan and let our voice be heard!

If you plan on attending, be sure to email us at brooklynyr@gmail.com. We’ll see you then!

We are embarking on a great opportunity in 2010 to show the voters what the Republican Party really stands for.  The disappointment and frustration that people feel with the politicians that have been running government for the past couple of years has reached a fevered pitch.  This past year in particular, government at all levels has been operating and behaving poorly while it has been dominated exclusively by Democrats.

The challenge for us as Republicans this year and in the future is to show the voters that we get it. History has shown that Republicans, too, get caught up in the worst brand of politics, which contributes to the voters’ apathy and disgust with all politicos.  However, in order to compete successful this year, we must demonstrate that we have a strong platform of smaller, more efficient government, and one of reform at all levels of government to protect and expand on the best notions of American life and liberty.  But above all else, we must be capable of campaigning and administering the people’s business without the kind of corrupting self-interest that time and again sabotages what’s in the best interests of the people.

This year has hardly begun and we already see many opportunities for us to begin to make inroads throughout Brooklyn and beyond.  However, in order to be successful, we have to keep in mind that, without the interest and support of Republican and conservative/libertarian voters and activists, without qualified and community-minded candidates running on a principled Republican platform, we will not be capable of showing the voters that we can and we will do it better.

Before getting involved in a campaign or deciding whether to run for office, too often people ask themselves  ”What’s in it for me? A job? Money? Some other quid pro quo?”  This way of thinking is the politics of the machine, the precise form of destructive politics that has gotten government to the point it is at today.

Instead, the benefits we should all seek from our involvement in politics are the very tangible improvements that we can make for everyone.  Lower taxes and less burdensome government benefit everyone.  More efficient use of government resources benefits everyone.  Promoting small business entrepreneurship benefits everyone.  Making sure everyone counts and government is treating everyone equally, regardless of their political or social connections, benefits everyone.

Our individual activism–whether as candidates, as petitioners, as door-to-door campaigners, as contributors, as social media gurus, or whatever we have to offer to build support for Republican principles in government–must be performed not because of a quid pro quo, but because all New Yorkers, whether they realize it or not, are depending on us to provide them with viable alternatives to government dysfunction and mismanagement for a better Brooklyn for all.

In closing, I want to quote from an article I shared with you a while back from the New York Times in 1882, entitled “The Power of Organization“, which specifically talked about the power and influence of our club only two years after its founding in 1880. Their organization is respected and feared because its motives are unselfish, its conduct courageous and its methods business-like. The club is not composed of men who make politics a trade, who seek in party service a passport to public position, or who endeavor to justify their fitness for office by the manipulation of primaries or the packing of conventions. In fact, the club is an organized protest against the supremacy of just such persons in party politics…

…We shall never have a decent City Government in New York till we get together and keep together such a body of young men, who, neither holding nor desiring office, are willing to take their share of the active work of politics simply for the public good. Intelligent and self-respecting Republicans will never have their wishes heeded, here or elsewhere, till they either take hold of the party organization themselves or place in competition with it an organization equally well fitted to bring voters to the polls and provide them with ballots when they get there.

With that, on behalf of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club, we are thrilled to be working together with you and anyone else who wants to be a part of a better, stronger and reformed Republican Party for 2010.

Best wishes,

Jonathan J. Judge
President

In the letter of nomination, Mrs. Regina-Potter, was informed that she had been selected for her “passionate devotion to the welfare of those in need and your outstanding leadership in establishing positive alternatives for our youth. You are much admired and respected as an exceptional role model in our community. Your acceptance would provide much needed inspiration for our youth and volunteers in their continued work to improve quality of life.”

The ceremony will take place on Saturday, January 23, 2010 at The Grand Prospect Hall in Brooklyn. For further information and reservations, please call (718) 256-4414.

Congratulations to Mrs. Regina-Potter on this tremendous honor!