Congratulations. The republicans have finally taken control of the New York State Senate after the evil democrats’ long tyrannical reign over New York State. The new republicans promise a bipartisan effort to move forward and eliminate the old corrupt ways of democrats doing business behind closed doors and keeping certain people out of the process. After a long and terrifying period of the democrats’ old stagnation politics and back-door deals, we are free at last, free at last.

If this doesn’t sound familiar, then maybe you haven’t been living in New York any time in the last 70 years. Republicans finally get a taste of their own medicine and suddenly they are the party of reform and bipartisanship. I’m not buying it, and neither should any liberal. Democrats gain control for a few months, and immediately the republicans are up in arms as if they haven’t been playing the same games for decades.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to any democrat; we are just as much to blame for the coup as they are. What have democrats really accomplished in their short time? I’ve heard a lot of bickering, not a lot of transparency, and very little progress on important civil rights issues or health care. I am talking to you Mr. Brian Foley. We didn’t elect you to put up with this nonsense. What happened to change and progress? You let them distract you, just like we always do. Democrats never fail to fall apart when it counts, and this late attempt to stop the coup is just the epitome of their attitude towards getting things done.

But, maybe giving the minority party more power will be a good thing in the long run. I think it was certainly a good thing to give the long-standing republicans a scare. Now they know New York is liberal enough to beat them and they may have changed their attitude as a result. The current rhetoric is nonsense, but I hope democrats can learn something from this. Keep the bickering behind closed doors, and make unified decisions in a transparent manner. Republicans will continue to do whatever they can to hold on to power. Appreciate it as part of the democratic process and never stop pushing back.

I’m leaving on a bus to Washington DC during a state of emergency just to see George take off in a helicopter. It has been a long eight years, and I am willing to do just about anything to witness this occasion. I’ll be on the lawn with some friends (around 2-4 million) to watch Barack Obama ride off to the helicopter with George to wish him farewell and good riddance.

This will be an historic event indeed, with record turnout on the National Mall. CNN estimates that if 5 million people show up, we will have one square foot of space each. I’m hoping it is more like 2 million, but it should be a fun time.

I will arrive for the inauguration at 11:30pm on Monday night, and we will do our best to stake out a spot on the lawn. I will be going with the College Democrats of New York, and a few close friends. We worked together for this victory on a national and local level. We made two trips out to Pennsylvania, and several tours around Long Island to canvass for the local, state and national elections.

We had a massive campaign effort on campus by raiding the dorms each week to register voters. Stony Brook University registered the most voters in New York State. We were also very proud to send a massive group of people to paid canvassing for Brian Foley during the last weekend. His opponent Caesar Trunzo attributed his loss to the help that Brian had from the local Universities (Stony Brook).

There couldn’t be a more fitting conclusion to our efforts and George’s reign than this pilgrimage to Washington. Of course it isn’t over yet, because we now have to fill Brian Foley’s vacant seat on the town board with a new and rising democrat; Mark Lesko. I can’t wait to vote again on March 31!