At a Staten Island Pub, Young Republicans Weigh the Choices
By Jeremy W. Peters
Joyce’s Tavern, a homey Irish pub in the southeastern corner of Staten Island, draws a Giants crowd during football season, and a Mets crowd during the baseball season. But lately it’s been drawing a crowd that has a lot more trouble agreeing on a favorite: Young Republicans.
On nights when states have held their presidential nominating contests, the Staten Island chapter of the Young Republicans has gathered at Joyce’s to watch the results. Typically it does not take long for the debating to begin — complete with the gesticulation, volume and sarcastic quips you would expect to hear when Staten Islanders are disagreeing about politics.
And Tuesday night, as the vote totals rolled in from the Florida primary, it was no different.
“McCain wants to send us to Iraq for a hundred years,” griped Rich Hoffman, 25, a financial planner and an avid Ron Paul supporter. “We never should have been there.”
Ryan Osborn, 31, a New York City police officer who supports John McCain, the winner on Tuesday in Florida, turned to Mr. Hoffman and replied: “If we leave Iraq, it’s going to turn into a terror Disneyland. What do we do if we leave?”
In many ways, this disparate group of students and young professionals is like the Republican Party today: fractured over who it is going to support for the presidential nomination and wondering about their party’s future.
“We need change — at the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to,” said Marc Law, 23, who works for an independent wholesaler.
He quickly caught himself and laughed: “God. That sounds like Obama.”
Mr. Law is supporting Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. He trusts Mr. Romney’s business background and thinks he is the best candidate to help steer the troubled economy back on course.
With the poor showing on Tuesday of Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor, Mr. Law was hoping he could persuade a few Giuliani backers to switch their loyalties to Mr. Romney. He didn’t appear to have any luck.
Michael Coppotelli, 24, an aide to Assemblyman Louis R. Tobacco, a Staten Island Republican, was pulling for Mr. Giuliani. But at the end of the night, after he heard that the former mayor was reportedly planning to endorse Mr. McCain, Mr. Coppotelli said with an uncertain smile, “I guess McCain is my guy.”
To that, Mr. Law joked, “I’ll take him out back and take care of him later.”
Though their arguments can get heated, the Staten Island Young Republicans are generally a well-behaved group.
“They drink a lot of soda,” the bartender said.
Read more Primary Journal blog entries from the New York region.
