Let's not get carried away here. Last night's Bushwick United Democratic Club meeting (at Vito Lopez's Bushwick clubhouse) was a big step forward for the Brooklyn Young Democrats which has been trying to get chartered for the past couple of years after dwindling membership. Lopez's involvement bringing Obama For America New York director Melissa DeRosa to Bushwick for a meet-and-greet is less a tie-in between Kings County and OFA and more of a boost for a fledgling young democrats organization that is trying to get off the ground by working within the County's structure.
OFA is willing to meet with pretty much anybody. They've even been to Bushwick before, as Councilwoman Diana Reyna invited them to talk about organizing for health care reform before the bill eventually passed Congress.
The story here regarding The Bushwick United Democratic Club is more about political rookie Andy Marte's emergence as a neighborhood leader. The Georgetown senior and Lopez favorite is back in Williamsburg this summer working to bulk up his organizing and policy skills and he's probably going to be given some added responsibilities in Lopez's office.
The other interesting story is that Lopez is trying to develop the Brooklyn Young Democrats as a counterweight to the New Kings Democrats, though its unclear whether the New York State Young Democrats of America would prefer some degree of autonomy in Kings County (I'm not betting on it as many vocal YDA leaders have state assembly races of their own to worry about in Queens).
Ultimately, I don't see OFA playing a big role in Kings County elections this summer (read: District Leader and County Committee) particularly since New Kings Democrats actually started out of Matt Cowherd, Rachel Lauter and Lincoln Restler's efforts to get Obama elected in Brooklyn while the County organization was solidly pro-Hillary Clinton. Andy (or anyone else), want to write in and tell me why I might be wrong?
7 comments:
Aaron,
I appreciate your effort to write a story about a meeting which you did not even attend. This meeting was not a Brooklyn Young Democrats (BYD) meeting it was a Bushwick United Democratic Club meeting (BUDC). In fact, there were no board members of BYD in attendance. It would've been helpful if you called or reached out to me before you wrote a story.
I hope without prejudice you leave my post, edit the existing article and reach out to the BUDC for the accurate information.
Andy J. Marte
Allright, so this must have been a small meeting. The press release made it sound like it was a BYD event. Still, that doesn't change the analysis, does it?
And I doubt it would have been an open press event anyway if it was held at the club at Wyckoff Ave. I thought I'm not allowed in there anymore.
Wrong again, Aaron!
The press was present and it was a well attended meeting. It was a remarkable success and the meeting stimulated interest in the young people of Bushick that attended.
We need to stop gossiping and stirring up controversy in an effort to have people read your blogs, Aaron. There are young people in this community that are dropping out of school, getting shot at, getting pregnant, and getting into trouble. But there are even more young people who want to get involved, who go to school, and care about their community. And we must get ALL these young people involved for the community's sake.
President Obama's goal, I am sure, is to get all young people involved in their communities to make a difference; not to divide communities for political gain. Your divisive approach and attacks on positive issues and meetings is not good journalism and does not serve our community well.
In terms of your analysis, I don't see any value in it. It is my understanding, that OFA will not get involved in local politics unless it's a congressional race. Therefore, the fact that one group or another was in favor of Obama or Hillary doesn't really matter.
Andy J. Marte
Press. Really? Who showed up to this?
Dude, thanks for pointing out that OFA won't actually get involved in local races. All I'm here to do is to reflect and explain.
Are there some actual summer programs or activities that these young people will be doing in Bushwick as a part of OFA, or of anything else? Summer programs always seem to be on the wane in Bushwick for one reason or another.
"Ultimately, I don't see OFA playing a big role in Kings County elections this summer (read: District Leader and County Committee) particularly since New Kings Democrats actually started out of Matt Cowherd, Rachel Lauter and Lincoln Restler's efforts to get Obama elected in Brooklyn while the County organization was solidly pro-Hillary Clinton"
Aaron, if the above is your analysis, then I think you're pretty far off.
OFA members may or may not get involved in local races here, but the organization has as it's mission protecting the Democratic majority in Congress, not ensuring that some NKD member loses by 25% instead of 40%. In much of the rest of the country, the kind of criticisms coming from the New Kings Democrats of the Democratic party here in Brooklyn would seem quixotic at best at a time when the Democrats are fighting for their political survival against REPUBLICANS.
Dear anonymous,
Actually I'm not far off, I'm right on.
My point is that I think it is unlikely that OFA will not be involved in on-the-ground organizing activities in Brooklyn despite what the Lopez press release alludes to. There aren't any competitive congressional elections in Brooklyn (the closest one is Maloney-Reshma and that's a primary and maybe if Grimm gains some traction in Bay Ridge to McMahon). The question, which you but the point is, why is OFA speaking with County at all when the most competitive races in Brooklyn this summer are at such a neighborhood level?
It's about Vito looking to beef up the County's youth development.
Right on? Are you serious?
No one disputes that OFA won't get involved in local District Leader races.
However, your "analysis" (the why in your short little post that leads to your conclusion) is that OFA won't get involved because "New Kings Democrats actually started out of Matt Cowherd, Rachel Lauter and Lincoln Restler's efforts to get Obama elected in Brooklyn while the County organization was solidly pro-Hillary Clinton." If you think that's why OFA won't put feet on the street against New Kings members, instead of the fact that they are engaged in their own capacity building, as well as organizing to send members to places where Democrats are facing stiff Republican opposition (mostly out of state and out of NYC) then you are delusional.
Aside from that, why would they get involved? Restler, Jesse Strauss and Esteban Duran, the three New Kings Members that are running for District Leader positions, are each long shots. None of them has any real chance of winning, and the fact that you seem to glaze over this simple fact is just another example of the deep bias in your "reporting" of Brooklyn politics.
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