By:Jonann Brady
About a dozen members of the Young Democrats gathered at Revere-s Pub in Mineola on Super Tuesday to watch the returns come in from the Democratic presidential primaries, while others in the group were out campaigning for various candidates. By 8 p.m., it seemed clear that Massachusetts Senator John Kerry had the nomination locked up.
Though there was little drama surrounding Kerry-s primary victories, these Young Democrats were getting energized for the presidential contest in November, eager to capitalize on the anti-Bush sentiment that they say is creeping into the American electorate.
There-s a love/hate relationship with President Bush, said Young Democrats President Ryan Cronin, a 23-year-old who grew up in West Hempstead and lives in Long Beach.
Jeff Schiff, 21, a C.W. Post student and former Howard Dean supporter, pulled a Dean button out of his pocket and said with a smile, I-m on the very extreme side of hate.
By using the Internet for fund-raising and organizing meet-ups around the country, Dean tapped into a sizable group of young people turned political activists. Before the Vermont governor-s campaign imploded, Dean demonstrated that young voters -- often ignored by politicians due to their low turnout at the polls -- are a powerful weapon in campaigning, a message not lost on either party.
Howard Dean showed that the right candidate can gain young support, said Michael Kaplan, 18, of Baldwin, a member of the Young Republicans. Young people are the wave of the future.
Political youth groups reorganize
Though the Young Republicans and Young Democrats existed in Nassau County in the past, both groups had been stagnant until the past two years or so. But with a tight, and no doubt acrimonious, battle for president shaping up, both organizations are mobilizing for a fight.
Before Nina Petraro, a 21-year-old law student from East Rockaway, became president of the Young Republicans, she said the group had been defunct for more than a decade. But through organizing efforts on a local level and recruitment through the Internet, Petraro said the group-s list has swelled from 30 two years ago to 300 today.
While being both young and a Republican might seem antithetical to some (even Petraro said, I though I was the only one), some recent polls indicate that young people are becoming more conservative. In October 2003, a poll conducted by the Harvard University Institute of Politics found that 61 percent of college students supported George W. Bush.
At a recent meeting of the Young Republicans, about 20 people under age 35 turned out to discuss issues ranging from campaign finance reform to the upcoming presidential election. Several members of the Nassau County Young Republicans recently appeared on the Fox News show "Day Side," and a major topic at the meeting was using the media and the Internet to recruit young conservatives.
The best way to mobilize young people is to use new media, said the group-s vice president, Chris Bastardi, of Valley Stream, at the meeting. Go online to Web forums, discussion groups and blogs ... set up links.
Alex Vassalo, another member of the YR-s executive committee, added, This is where those nasty liberals go to bash Bush, so we should go on to set the record straight.
All politics are local
The Young Democrats organization in Nassau County had also been floundering up until about 10 months ago, when Cronin and vice president Gina Sillitti, 25, of Glen Cove took over leadership of the group. Young Dems organizations would pop up and then disappear after a while, they said.
But with Tom Suozzi as county executive and a Democratic majority in the county Legislature, Cronin said, It-s a little easier to be a Democrat in Nassau County.
In fact, many members of the Young Democrats got involved in the group after campaigning for candidates for local office -- such as members of the state Assembly and Senate and the county Legislature Ð or after getting jobs in county government.
Local elected officials affect our lives most directly, said Cronin.
Like the Young Republicans, the Young Democrats are building a membership list, getting involved in local meet-ups, and working on launching a Web site. They also see the organization as a social network for young people and try to organize events like softball games and picnics, but say they have learned a lesson from past Young Dem groups that getting young people involved in the party isn-t just about a party.
With the Democratic Party as a whole unusually unified this election year, Nassau County-s Young Democrats say they have a rare opportunity to build organizing momentum and keep it going even after the presidential race in November. One of our goals is to build a Ôfarm team- to set up future campaign candidates, said Sillitti.
The group points to the 2003 victory of 32-year-old Democrat Dave Mejias over a well-established Republican, Greg Carman, for county legislator in the 14th District as an example of a young, energetic Democrat in the county who is going places and relying on the support of young people to win elections.
While recent polls show Senator Kerry beating President Bush in New York state, the Young Republicans are hardly despairing. Bastardi told fellow YR-s at their recent meeting that every president goes through this at this time É it happens every year. One message they are trying to get across is that no one can afford to be apathetic.
Stephen Canzoneri, 23, of Malverne, comes from a political family: his father, Joseph, was a Malverne village trustee and the mayor of the village from 1995 to 1999. He remembers when a Malverne school budget passed by just two votes.
It-s going to be a big year, Canzoneri predicted of the 2004 presidential election. After the 2000 election, we learned that every single vote does count.
