We Have a King Of Ocean County?

On the heels of a very distorted gubernatorial election win, the NJ GOP seems intent on ignoring every lesson they could have possibly learned. Let us start with the lesson of how the citizens of New Jersey will not be told who to vote for, will no longer sit idly by while back room deals of party elite or party bosses foist candidates upon us. If last weeks election results tell us anything it is that the citizens are mad as hell! If the tea party movement tells us anything it is that the citizens are mad as hell!

Our Republic is set up so that anyone that wants to run for office has that opportunity. You need to collect the requisite number of signatures and then you are on a ballot. We have primary elections for Democrats and Republicans. Anyone that believes they can represent their community in the office they seek has the ability to collect signatures and appear on the ballot. They then campaign in the community for the office they seek. The election is held, and there is a winner and loser(s). The point is the citizens choose the individuals that will represent them.

Admittedly, while overly simplistic, the above paragraph is how we elect our government officials.

The equation does not include paying homage to a party boss, the party elite, or the party powerful. It does include telling the people you want to represent what you stand for, what you hope to accomplish, and the principles that will guide you.

With all of that being said, it is despicable that Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore appears less than enthusiastic about what appears to be the impending candidacy of Jon Runyan for the 3^rd Congressional District seat currently held by John Adler.

Gilmore appears upset that Runyan has not discussed (read: asked permission) a potential candidacy with him. Is he serious? Who the hell does he think he is, King George?

Who anointed him to tell the citizens of the 3^rd Congressional District who they should vote for? For that matter, who the hell anointed him to say who can be on the ballot? Who the hell anointed him to say who can run, who can compete for the votes in the 3^rd Congressional District?

I have met Jon Runyan over the past several years. I like him. I have never had a political discussion with him. The times I have been in his company I can say I believe he is fiscally conservative. That being said, it is not relevant to what King George Gilmore is trying to do. He appears to think that it is up to him who will represent you, the citizens of the 3^rd Congressional District, regardless of what your thoughts on the matter are.

Are you, in the 3^rd Congressional District, and specifically in Ocean County, going to allow this type of abhorrent behavior? Is this the type of leadership you want for your Republican Party in Ocean County.

Well, according to Max Friedman and PolitickerNJ.com (http://www.politickernj.com/matt-friedman/34939/gilmore-says-he-hasnt-heard-runyan) King George appears to feel slighted. It appears that he thinks he controls a fiefdom as a result of a 70,000 vote Christie victory in Ocean County last week.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the county chairman’s job to do every thing he can to turn out the vote for his party’s nominee, regardless of the office? Since when did doing a good job at turning out the vote make you the King that will dictate by fiat who runs to represent the 3^rd Congressional District?

Time for NJGOP to Lead!

With last weeks gubernatorial election quickly giving way to the realities of what lies ahead for our incoming Governor, it is imperative that the NJGOP, under the leadership of Chairman Jay Webber starts now to ensure that the lame duck session of the legislature does no harm to our state.

The most logical place to start is in leading a fight to prevent the legislature from ever holding a vote on changing the definition of marriage. Alex DeCroce, Tom Kean, Jr. and Jay Webber need to be in the forefront in demanding that any change in the definition of what marriage has been, and how it has been defined for the past 2,000+ years, should be left to the people of our state, not our elected representatives. Especially in a lame duck session. That is simply an act of cowardice by our legislators!

The people should have a vote, and if the citizens of NJ want to change the definition of marriage so be it. If they do not, then that needs to be respected by our elected representatives as well.

With the presumptive new Speaker of the Assembly earlier today saying she would like to see a vote on this during a lame duck session, it is imperative that the NJGOP stand up and lead!

Buoyed by the excitement of last weeks electoral victory, it is time for the leadership of the NJGOP to act like winners and stand up to demand that the citizens should decide this issue!

The Future of The Republican Party in New Jersey

The day of reckoning for the future of New Jersey has arrived. Tomorrow we vote and elect our next Governor. As Conservatives, with principles and beliefs about how our government should be run, we have abhorrent choices to make.

Jon Corzine simply has no redeeming qualities in which to vote for him. He has destroyed our state in ways to numerous to mention here.

Chris Daggett has ideas on which to return New Jersey to economic prosperity. Being a conservative, I reject his ideas in total, they are nothing less than more government, more spending, and more taxes. In the end, his plans will do nothing to help our state.

Chris Christie and our Republican party have spent months, no actually years, telling conservatives that we don’t matter, that we should sit down, shut up and do what we are told come election day. Chris Christie has put forth no plan to restore our state to prosperity. Chris Christie has put forth no plan on ANYTHING! His entire campaign has been based on “Vote for me, I’m not Corzine”. 

For most of the last week it has become apparent that the Republican party elite realize that while their chosen candidate is close to winning tomorrow, it also became apparent that their chosen candidate is very close to losing an election that a conservative would be winning by 20 points, even in New Jersey.

Over the past several days the RINO’s and Republican party elite’s have come knocking on Conservatives’ doors all over the state. They have trotted out Steve Lonegan, Mike Doherty, Michael Illions, etc. etc. etc. While there are many more, there is an even larger number of Conservatives in this state who are angered, dismayed, and beside themselves at respected conservatives doing the same thing they have done in past years – namely doing what they are told come election day.

While some will argue that our election tomorrow has national implications, I simply reject that! Our election tomorrow is about taking the Republican party in the right direction. Do you believe Chris Christie will do that? Do you believe Chris Christie is capable of that? Our election tomorrow is about principles and beliefs. Does Chris Christie have any? Our election tomorrow is about telling the RINO’s that we, as conservatives, will no longer sit back and let you dictate to us that we will vote for unprincipled candidates. Our election tomorrow is about those of us with principles telling you that we will have a seat at the table, that we will have our voices heard!

There has been a lot of talk about writing in Steve Lonegan. If you choose to do that, you will have voted, and your vote will show up in the “other” column on Wednesday morning.

There has been a lot of talk about voting for Jason Cullen, as that vote will clearly be a conservative vote and we will see the raw numbers on Wednesday morning. While they are sure to be far less than what Steve Lonegan pulled in June, it is a way to measure the conservative vote.

Those are our choices. It is vitally important that we vote tomorrow, it is not vitally important that we allow ourselves to be ignored.

We aren’t going to see an appreciable difference in the way any one of the three leading candidates will govern over the next four years. Our state is broke, our citizens are taxed too much, and our businesses operate in a climate of onerous regulation. Do you think Chris Christie will change any of that? Even Jon Corzine will have trouble raising taxes even higher during the next four years.

If There Was Ever Any Doubt?

In this year of voter angst, with our President and congress working to strip us of our freedoms and liberty, the purported Republican candidate for governor of our great state has released a 1:33 web ad that features Barack Obama and his platitudes. The ad intimates that Chris Christie agrees with all that Obama is saying as he blames all of our woes on the evil capitalists.

As usual, there is nothing in the ad that sheds any light on where Chris Christie stands on anything. He does make it quite clear that he stands with our President on what has become of our once great country.

Leading the NJ GOP to Slaughter

With all polls showing a statistical dead heat between Liberal Democrat Jon Corzine and purported Republican Chris Christie; and Independent Chris Daggett pulling in with anywhere from 12% to 20%, it is time to look at how the most winnable statewide race in years has been squandered by the NJ GOP.

Any discussion of what has happened needs to start with the man running the Christie Campaign, one Michael DuHaime.  By way of background let’s look at what he has done in the past 18 months or so.  He was the strategist that devised the plan to have Rudy Giuliani campaign in Florida, win Florida, and then use that win to propel him to the Republican nomination for President.  Rudy Giuliani finished fifth in the Florida primary, and was no longer a candidate within days.  He then went to work on the John McCain Campaign.  He oversaw a brilliant strategy of not allowing Sarah Palin to speak.  He oversaw a strategy that allowed the Democrats to portray her as a bumbling idiot and he did nothing to fight back.  He oversaw a strategy where John McCain essentially ran on one issue, “I was in the military therefore I’ll know what to do with Iraq and Afghanistan.”  There was little or no substantive talk on virtually anything else, and no effort made to portray Obama as an inexperienced, first term senator, with no qualifications at all to operate the largest employer in his state, much less be the leader of the free world.

Despite running against a liberal, inexperienced candidate, and just like in Florida months earlier, Michael DuHaime managed to get trounced last November.  Michael DuHaime is the brilliance behind the Christie campaign.

Don’t talk about issues -  that is the common denominator with all three of these campaigns.  When a politician doesn’t talk about the issues people tend to not vote for them!  When a politician doesn’t stand for anything people tend to not vote for them! 

When Giuliani ran for and won the NYC mayors race in 1993, he ran all over the city talking about the issues, from the violence on the streets, to quality of life issues, to the police department, to city government inefficiency, and on and on and on.  When John McCain ran for his Arizona senate seat, while I don’t know what the issues in Arizona were at the time, I can be sure that he ran around the state talking about them.

Chris Christie is running for governor.  Even after all of these months, there is no plan to fix anything that ails our state.  No plan to address the onerous business regulations, no plan to reduce our debt, no plan to reign in out of control spending, and the big one, no plan to correct our school funding fiasco and provide property tax relief.  It would be easy to continue to list everything plaguing our state right now, the fact is Chris Christie has no plan to deal with any of it.

Is that because he doesn’t stand for anything?

Michael DuHaime and his brilliant strategy is leading the NJ GOP to a slaughter on November 3^rd.  It is hard to watch, and while he certainly isn’t alone on the bridge of this sinking ship, his fingerprints are all over it.

When a politician doesn’t talk about the issues people tend to not vote for them!  When a politician doesn’t stand for anything people tend to not vote for them!

Republican Leadership AWOL at Statehouse Today!

Earlier today 40 candidates for the assembly, almost all Republicans, gathered on the Statehouse steps. Their purpose was to announce “Citizens for Assembly”. Most of the 40 candidates are ordinary and hard working, tax paying, New Jersey citizens. The large majority of them have never run for elected office before.

Many of them are angry. Angry about the lack of accountability in Trenton, angry about the tax and spend mentality that permeates the halls of our state government. They chose to get involved. They chose to take action. They chose to try and do something about the shenanigans of the political elite and the utter destruction of our economy at their hands.

As mentioned in yesterday’s blog entry, earlier this year the legislature was very winnable for the Republicans. A wildly unpopular governor, an economy in shambles, unemployment skyrocketing. NJ being the most unfriendly state in the country to businesses and a tax burden on it’s citizens that also ranks as the highest in the nation. All of this accomplished while the Democrats controlled both the legislature and the senate, and had one of their own sitting in the Governor’s chair. 

Yes, the legislature was very winnable this year for the Republicans.

The pompous attitude of the Republican party leadership got in the way. Apparently, they enjoy their status as a minority party just a bit too much. They chose and backed their selected candidates during the primary; before you, the citizens had a chance to tell them, our supposed leaders, who you wanted to represent you in Trenton. That was their first pompous action during this year of the very winnable legislature.

Their second act of “leadership” was to publicly and privately chastise several of the candidates that were successful and won their primary races. Many of their selected candidates lost when you, the citizens of NJ voted in the primary. They made the decision that there were only a couple of seats they could pick up and would support only those candidates. Everyone else be damned. This pompous action was not their last in the year of the very winnable legislature. No, their contempt for you and the height of their own arrogance was yet to come.

Barry Funt, a Republican that is running to unseat two incumbent Democrats in the 27^th legislative district reached out to Republican and Independent challenging candidates across the state. They met over several weeks and came up with a “Common Sense Pledge” (printed below) and decided they would focus their campaigns on the 10 points laid out in the pledge.

Of course they met with the “leadership” of the Republican party, and the minority “leadership” in the legislature. In this year of the very winnable legislature, this “leadership” provided a stunning rebuke to the candidates’ efforts. While there are various accounts of what happened, suffice it to say that they were greeted with arrogance and met with political stupidity.

The “leadership” wanted nothing to do with the “Common Sense Pledge” or with most, if not all, of the Republican candidates that drafted it. This, in the year of the very winnable legislature.

It is easy to ask the simple questions of why wouldn’t they support the pledge? Why wouldn’t they support the Republican candidates? Why wouldn’t they want to win as many seats as possible, in this the year of the very winnable legislature?

Why not support the RNC Platform?

Are there any beliefs or principles that the so called “leadership” of the Republican party in NJ believes in?

When “Citizens for Assembly” climbed the stairs of the statehouse today, where was the “leadership” of the Republican party? Where was the “leadership” of the Legislative minority?

NJ Republicans will you ever demand accountability from Chairman Webber and the State Committee? Will you ever demand accountability from your legislative “leaders”?

COMMON SENSE PLEDGE

Fellow citizens of New Jersey, we hear your call and we ask you to join with us. As Republican and Independent citizen candidates seeking to join State Assembly, we are determined to restore the public's trust in their government. Together with our colleagues, we will enact meaningful reforms to reduce the size and power of government in New Jersey to eliminate the culture of corruption and make our state affordable once again.  We are free from conflicts of interest. Together with you, we can change New Jersey's course. When elected to the State Assembly, we pledge to implement the following reforms:

1. True property tax reform: End unfunded state mandates and reform the system that causes excessive reliance on property taxes.
2. Cut taxes and red tape: Promote private sector job growth by changing the climate that has forced citizens and businesses to flee our state.
3. Eliminate undue influence: Expand and enforce pay-to-play rules and conflicts of interest law to include special interest groups that take taxpayer dollars.
4. Zero tolerance for abuse of power:  End the culture of corruption by stiffening penalties for violators of the public trust.
5. Free choice for affordable healthcare:  Reduce state mandates and promote individual choice and competition.
6. Pension reform: New Jersey's public pension system has been abused and is broken. Make the system simple and fair for workers and taxpayers alike.
7. Citizen Checks and Balances: Require voter approval for future state and agency debt issuances.  
8. Election competition:  Restore competitive elections by ending campaign laundering ("wheeling") to encourage regular citizens to run for office.
9. Choice in education: Improve quality and reduce costs by introducing competition.
10. Stop the violence: Government's primary responsibility is to protect the public. We pledge to devote the necessary resources to end violence in our communities.

Respecting the judgment of our fellow citizens as we pledge a return to a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Participating candidates:

Andy Bloschak (District 28)
Anthony Mazzola (District 17)
Aracelis Sanabria-Tejada (District 29)
Barry Bellin (District 37)
Barry Funt (District 27)
Beth Hamburger (District 33)
Bill Harvey (District 14)
Bo Vastine (District 22)
Brian Greenberg (District 6)
Brian Kluchnick (District 5)
Carmen Pio Costa (District 36)
Clenard Childress (District 34)
David Taylor (District 34)
Domenick DiCicco (District 4)
Don Diorio (District 36)
Erik Peterson (District 23)
Eugene Lawrence (District 4)
Fernando Linhares (District 29)
Herb Glenn (District 28)
Irene Kim Asbury (District 31)
Joe Sinagra (District 18)
John McCann (District 1)
Judith Fisher (District 38)
Marie Day (District 31)
Mark Meyerowitz (District 27)
Marty Marks (District 22)
Mike Donahue (District 1)
Nicholas Lonzisero (District 38)
Peter Kothari (District 19)
Richard Piatowski (District 19)
Rob Calabro (District 14)
Robert Jones (District 18)
Robert Schroeder (District 39)
Robert Villare (District 3)
Salim Nathoo (District 17)
Scot DeCristofaro (District 6)
Stepfanie Velez-Gentry (District 5)
Tony Bucco (District 25)
Werner Graf (District 15)
Wojciech Siemaszkiewicz (District 37)

Metaphor’s Abound between Atlantic City Sightseeing Boat and the NJ GOP!

When a vessel loses it’s bow, it will sway first to one side, then the other, without any warning, without any plan, without any logic. It loses it’s ability to have any direction, any focus, any leadership. The NJ Republican party has lost it’s bow!  The New Jersey Republican party has no direction, no focus, no plan, no logic, and no leadership.

 With NJ GOP Chairman Jay Webber refusing to allow a vote by the State Committee to adopt and support the RNC platform the NJ Republican Party has no bow. The New Jersey Republican Party has no focus, no direction, and certainly no leadership.

New Jersey, for well over a decade, is the only state in the country whose Republican organization refuses to support or adopt the RNC platform. They have no direction! They are incapable of getting where they want to.

Presumably day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, the NJ GOP does not want to drift aimlessly into the good night. Yet for a decade and a half, that is exactly what they are doing. 

How do we know there is no bow on the NJ GOP ship?

Their gubernatorial candidate, who should be up by at least 20 points against a wildy unpopular incumbent, is barely ahead, and if some polls are to be believed, may be losing. A big reason for the closeness of the race is a New Jersey Republican Party that has no leadership. The candidate himself refuses to run as a Republican. http://www.politickernj.com/humorme/32724/worst-gubernatorial-campaign-nj-history

The State Legislature was more than winnable for the NJ GOP earlier this year. Again, with no leadership, no focus, no bow if you will, the chance to retake the legislature is all but gone at this point. The Party’s refusal to help with funding and logistics to several viable candidates around the state has left the party once again with no direction, no focus, and is indicative of woefully inadequate leadership. 

This is what happens when you have no bow. What will it take to repair it and allow the NJ GOP to move forward?

 Preserving Traditional Marriage

Because our children’s future is best preserved within the traditional understanding of marriage, we call for a constitutional amendment that fully protects marriage as a union of a man and a woman, so that judges cannot make other arrangements equivalent to it. In the absence of a national amendment, we support the right of the people of the various states to affirm traditional marriage through state initiatives.

Republicans recognize the importance of having in the home a father and a mother who are married. The two-parent family still provides the best environment of stability, discipline, responsibility, and character. Children in homes without fathers are more likely to commit a crime, drop out of school, become violent, become teen parents, use illegal drugs, become mired in poverty, or have emotional or behavioral problems. We support the courageous efforts of single-parent families to provide a stable home for their children. Children are our nation’s most precious resource. We also salute and support the efforts of foster and adoptive families.

Republicans have been at the forefront of protecting traditional marriage laws, both in the states and in Congress. A Republican Congress enacted the Defense of Marriage Act, affirming the right of states not to recognize same-sex “marriages” licensed in other states. Unbelievably, the Democratic Party has now pledged to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which would subject every state to the redefinition of marriage by a judge without ever allowing the people to vote on the matter. We also urge Congress to use its Article III, Section 2 power to prevent activist federal judges from imposing upon the rest of the nation the judicial activism in Massachusetts and California. We also encourage states to review their marriage and divorce laws in order to strengthen marriage.

As the family is our basic unit of society, we oppose initiatives to erode parental rights. 

Mr. Jay Webber, Chairman, Republican State Committee

 

Mr. Bill Fey, Chairman, Gloucester County GOP

Mr. Joe Oxley, Chairman, Monmouth County GOP

 Dear Jay, Bill, and Joe;

 There were two town hall meetings held in New Jersey tonight, both by democrats.  One was held by Pallone, the other by Andrews.  Needless to say both were very well attended.  Both were overwhelmingly against the socialized takeover of 1/6 of our economy.  Both were overwhelmingly against allowing the government to take away more of our freedoms, our liberties, and to confiscate more of the fruits of our labor.

 Both meetings had strong support for Governor Corzine’s re-election bid.  Both meetings had a democratic presence that was visible and vocal.  I, and many other attendees at both meetings left asking where is the Republican Party?  Why are they not here?  Joe, at least issued a statement on Pallone’s meeting, there has been nothing from Gloucester County.  There has been nothing from the State party (Committee).  Why not?  Why is the Republican party apparently ceding our freedom to socialists that want to control everything we do from our cradle to our grave?  Why is the Republican party in the state of New Jersey effectively absent from two very large, well attended town hall meetings that were filled with voters looking for leadership?

 Rob Andrews actually compared H.R. 3200 to when the government mandated airbags in our cars.  Can you imagine saying with a straight face that the government taking over 1/6 of our economy, and telling us when and how to die, is akin to when airbags were mandated?  Why as a party did we not have any semblance of a presence at either of these two events tonight?  Did you not think that we could effectively have a message for the angry, fed up voters who turned out tonight?

 I ask each of you if there is an explanation as to why we chose to not have a presence tonight when our representatives came out to defend taking our freedom and liberty from us?

 Thanks,

 Rob

What Flavor of Kool-Aid is the New Jersey GOP Drinking?

This is a year of political discontent throughout our country.   New Jersey is one of only two states with an opportunity to stand up and make the case that President Obama and the Democrats are taking our country in the wrong direction. 

It isn’t often that New Jersey Republicans have such potential influence over the direction of the country and our party nationally. Instead of acting in a positive way by taking a stand on issues that matter, the state GOP seems to be squandering its chance to be relevant, not just in New Jersey, but in helping to develop the winning arguments that the Republican Party will need during next year’s Congressional elections.

The scenario I am about to lay out for you is not fictional, is not made up, and is not the way to be either relevant or significant, in New Jersey, much less nationally. The scenario I am about to describe is true and inexplicably playing out right now in the Republican party of the Garden State.

On the afternoon of June 17^th 2009 Governor Jon Corzine delivered his budget full of confiscatory taxes and woefully inadequate spending cuts to the legislature. It was scheduled to be voted on the following day. That night, the newly elected 42 member Republican State Committee met for the first time. Assemblyman Jay Webber was unanimously elected as the new Chairman of the NJ Republican State Committee. Other officers were elected and the meeting was very much business as usual according to both press reports and first hand accounts.

Then it appears that they passed out the Kool-Aid, and Chairman Webber, along with the members of the State Committee started to drink it. The first of two motions were made from the floor. It was, quite simply, to adopt and support the Republican Party platform that had been debated and adopted at the RNC convention the previous September. Yes, the John McCain endorsed platform. A very middle of the road non-confrontational platform. 

Chairman Webber wasn’t sure what the correct procedural move was, so he asked for the committee counsel to come to the podium. The committee counsel stood up and told the committee that they were unable to vote on this motion because of some procedural snafu. A roomful of stunned committee members weren’t up to the task of challenging the counsel and no one did that night. 

This was all carried out in front of surprised journalists. According to multiple sources, and a widely respected NJ election attorney, it appears on the surface that the committee counsel may have run afoul of both Title XV and Title XIX of New Jersey law. If so, according to the election attorney, the counsel could be looking at an ethics inquiry.

I mentioned earlier about Governor Corzine’s budget that was to be voted on the very next day. A second motion was made from the floor to condemn it in its entirety. For the same reason, the committee counsel again denied the committee the ability to act on the motion.

This is the New Jersey Republican State Committee, the entity charged with running the Republican Party in the state. In one night, they refused to say that they support the platform of the Republican Party or to condemn the bloated tax-laden budget that was to be voted on the next morning!

While checking the veracity of this story, I learned that New Jersey is either one of two states, or the only state in the country,  that has failed to support the Republican Party platform, and has failed to do so for almost two decades. Is it a coincidence then that New Jersey is the only state in the country to fail to elect a Republican to statewide office since 1997?

This is inexplicable and indefensible! With the eyes of the country on New Jersey, in a year when a Republican should walk into office over the wildly unpopular Corzine, the NJ GOP is drinking the Kool-Aid as quickly as it can be mixed. To fail to promote and teach our positive Republican values is nothing less than party suicide!

When a Republican wins statewide in New Jersey, and it isn’t often, they win by an average of just about 25,000 votes. The NJ GOP can’t afford to lose any of its base, or disillusion any of them. In this year of political discontent, running against the outrageously unpopular Corzine, when the NJ GOP could help set the tone for next year’s Congressional elections, Chairman Webber appears to want nothing more than to know where the next cup of Kool-Aid is coming from. 

For two months the media has been covering Chairman Webber’s steadfast refusal to call a meeting of the state committee to adopt or support the platform, even though he must call three more meetings before the end of the year. If this continues to drag into the weeks before the election in November, possibly with their counsel embroiled in an ethics investigation, the NJ GOP is going to have an awful lot of explaining to do to their counterparts across the country as to how this could be happening.

For New Jersey Republicans, as long as you allow your leaders to keep drinking the Kool-Aid you will lose the opportunity to be relevant.

For Republicans nationally, and the RNC in particular, if you allow this farce to continue in NJ, you too must be enjoying the cup of Kool-Aid Chairman Webber offered you.

For your ease in expressing concern at the behavior of Chairman Webber, his name and all of the names and e-mail addresses of the members of the state committee are listed below.