I find it extremely odd how many GOP establishments continue to support and endorse “Republicans” who act like their socialist counterparts. I recently came across a blogpost on the Brooklyn GOP website titled, “Congratulations, U.S. Senator Brown”. If the Brooklyn GOP knows anything about politics or conservatism, it would understand that Senator Brown is a quasi-socialist who campaigned on promises such as extending public education and increasing foreign aid to Israel while increasing sanctions on Iran (so much for peace and small government). Immediately after his election, Senator Brown voted for a Democrat jobs bill, increasing the role government plays in your wallet and how much it wants to take away from it. Perhaps congratulating him isn’t the most conservative thing to do either.

Considering that the Brooklyn GOP consists of old, right-wing neoconservatives such as District Leader Clorinda Annarummo, it is really difficult to classify many elites in the Brooklyn GOP as “conservative” to begin with. Clorinda, on record, has donated $250 to Rudy Giuliani’s Presidential campaign, the same candidate who vouched for a “National ID Card” and other ways of taking away your civil and constitutional liberties. Again, perhaps not the most conservative thing to do, especially when you’re the District Leader of a political party that’s supposed to limit government federally, not expand it.

All politics is local, and seeing that Brooklyn’s Republican Party hasn’t and still isn’t acting conservative, it’s hard for true conservatives living in Brooklyn to support an establishment that functions similar to its Democratic opponents. Both parties seem to be headed in the same direction; the only difference is the way they’re getting there. This is bad news for Brooklyn GOP Chairman, Craig Eaton, whose neoconservative views and leadership have actually taken the party absolutely nowhere. Brooklyn has not a single Republican seat in City Council and Mr. Eaton’s efforts to stifle true conservatives such as Jonathan Judge in local races only promulgates the wrong message of true conservatism.

If young Brooklynites want to see real change in the coming months, they need to see beyond the standard, George Bush-induced politics that has lagged the Brooklyn GOP for the past decade. Joining other organizations such as the Young Americans for Liberty, and even the Brooklyn Young Republicans Club can introduce a new horizon of conservatism that is deeply rooted in philosophy, principle, and common sense. There’s nothing wrong with a little Ron Paul in our lives, even on a local scale.