Dems use Graham to run Hayden, Orr, Atwoodski

Left/liberal Democrat Phil Murphy's plans to flip Sussex County from Trump red to Clinton/Obama blue got a major boost when Freeholder George Graham, a nominal member of the GOP, agreed to direct the campaign of Hayden, Orr, and Atwoodski.  The three are running in the GOP primary to "soften up" conservative Republicans Steve Oroho, Parker Space, and Hal Wirths.  It is the same method used last year to take down conservative Republican Congressman Scott Garrett.

Graham, a longtime political consultant to Hudson County Democrats, has an interesting pedigree to say the least.  Back when Graham was a local elected official in Stanhope, he switched from Republican to Democrat in order to vote in the 2008 Democrat presidential primary between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.  Graham had been a Democrat before switching to Republican but later switched back to Republican, his current party today.  Just so everyone is straight, Graham went from D to R to D to R.

Graham's political consulting business, York Strategies, worked to elect liberal Democrat legislators like Bayonne mayor Joe Doria.  A committed leftie, Doria is still on the campaign trail with fellow liberal Democrat Jim Florio, only now they campaign for gun control and against the NRA (National Rifle Association).  At a recent gathering the two called for new constraints on the Second Amendment, with Joe Doria calling the NRA "dirty".  Not to be outdone, Florio added that the manufacturers and sellers of guns were, in his words, "Merchants of Death." 

Recently, Dan Perez -- who advised and provided legal advice to both Freeholder Graham and Gail Phoebus -- announced that he had switched back to Democrat and is running on a far-left platform with fellow liberal Democrat Jennifer Hamilton and her two running mates for the state legislature.  Perez, who was appointed by Graham to a taxpayer-paid patronage position on the SCMUA board, is running for Freeholder in Sussex County. 

Word has it that if Perez is successful, Graham and one other nominal Republican intend to flip to Democrat to swing the board left and to the Democrats.  If this happens, the property tax increases Sussex County has suffered since George Graham came to the Freeholder Board will seem like nothing compared to what awaits taxpayers under a Democrat Graham-Perez dominated board.

Why would Perez leave the GOP and Graham consider making it D-R-D-R-D? 

The gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Phil Murphy is one reason.  Murphy is a Goldman Sachs rich guy, former DNC finance chairman, and Obama ambassador who has his heart set on becoming Jon Corzine # 2.  The Sussex County Democrat Committee and its candidates will be funded like never before.  And Murphy is the favorite to win the Governor's race in November.  Which would mean access to jobs and appointments for loyal Democrats in the new administration.  If you are an opportunist who never gave a damn about the GOP platform, the time is right.

Graham's first move has been to pressure the subsidized media -- the print media that gets infusions of money from property taxpayers through mandatory government advertisements -- into serving as a message delivery system until the full weight of the Murphy money arrives.  How this works will shortly be made apparent, but one must always remember the pressure that today's print media is under to stay afloat and keep the presses running.  Graham knows this and knows that one of the first things the Freeholders do at every re-organization is to hand out the subsidy to selected print media -- not every newspaper gets it.  His control of three of the five members of the current board ensures that he will have his way.

This story is developing. . .

What do Democrat women think of Tea Party sex talk?

We all remember the outrage last October when the Clinton campaign released a tape recording of a conversation between Donald Trump and media celebrity Billy Bush.   The tape had been made years before and without Trump's knowledge, but he was attacked over and over again for merely saying the words that he had never intended the public to hear.

Of course, there are those juvenile elements among our citizenry who -- when they hear trash talk -- can't help themselves and make it their own.  New Jersey Department of Transportation employee Bill Hayden, a CWA public employee union member and the Vice President of the Skylands Tea Party group, heard the phrase Trump used and couldn't stop himself from saying it and posting it and celebrating it.  He went nuts! 

Now Hayden is running in the Republican primary to "soften up" conservative Republican Senator Steve Oroho so that liberal Democrat Senate candidate Jennifer Hamilton has a better chance of winning the election in November.  It is the same tag team approach employed by Hayden-supporter and Tea Party member Peter Vallorosi when he beat up conservative Republican Congressman Scott Garrett on behalf of liberal Democrat Josh Gottheimer.  It worked in 2016 so maybe it will work again.

Tonight, Bill Hayden and the Skylands Tea Party will be promoting the candidacy of Democrat Jennifer Hamilton.  The liberal has been invited to address the Tea Party group and Hayden, who trashed conservative Republican Assemblyman Parker Space at the Tea Party's February meeting, will be on hand as the group's Vice President.

The one question we have for Jennifer Hamilton and her two Democrat Assembly running mates is this:  How did you feel or do you feel about Donald Trump's comments to Billy Bush?  And how do you feel about Bill Hayden's use of them?

Here are just a few examples:

Tea Party boss promotes liberal Democrat candidate

Next year, the leadership of the Skylands Tea Party group will travel down to Washington, DC, to attend CPAC -- the Conservative Political Action Committee conference -- where they will listen to an address by Senator Elizabeth Warren.  Only they won't.  Because unlike the Skylands Tea Party, CPAC is a conservative organization and conservative groups worthy of the name do not promote liberal Democrats.

We thought of this and had a good laugh when a missive was posted by Skylands Tea Party President Douglas Amedeo.  Of course, it was immediately "liked" by New Jersey Department of Transportation employee Bill Hayden (Skylands' Vice President and a candidate for State Senate).  We wonder what public employee Hayden does all day for his taxpayer-funded salary, pension, and generous benefits -- does he follow Facebook or work?

Amedeo's missive claimed that it was "conservative" to invite lawyer Jennifer Hamilton, a liberal Democrat running for State Senate against Republican Steve Oroho, to speak before the Skylands Tea Party group.  This was a follow up to the day before, when Amedeo sent out an enormous advertisement for Democrat Hamilton, urging Skylands' members and the public to come hear her speak.

Hamilton, who describes herself as a "progressive Democrat" was praised by the Tea Party's Amedeo as a "fiscal conservative" and as someone who is "more conservative" than Republican Steve Oroho.  Really, no kidding, the idiot actually said that.

Amedeo assures us that it is no big deal that Hamilton is pro-abortion, anti-gun, and pro-transgendered agenda.  Hamilton would spend millions funding Planned Parenthood and vote for the imposition of draconian gun confiscation laws, but these things shouldn't matter in defining this liberal Democrat as a "conservative" (the same view held by the libertarian group AFP, by the way).

Where have we heard this before?  Oh yes, last year's race for Congress between Republican Scott Garret and Democrat Josh Gottheimer. 

Don't worry, they said, Gottheimer is really a conservative Democrat (even while he called himself a "progressive").  So fools like Doug Amedeo helped screw Republican Scott Garrett (with a 99% American Conservative Union voting record) and replaced him with Democrat Josh Gottheimer (on target to get an 8% ACU record). 

Amedeo and the Tea Party want to follow up last year's brilliant exercise by replacing Republican Steve Oroho (with a 93% American Conservative Union voting record) with Jennifer Hamilton who might manage a 5% if she works real hard at it.  This is "progress" in the eyes of the Tea Party leadership.

"Progressive" is the word liberals use when they don't want to be called "liberals," but let's look at what the Democrats themselves had to say about their legislative team:

Trish and Matteson complete a Democratic ticket that includes Jennifer Hamilton as a hopeful to replace Steve Oroho as state senator.

Sussex County Democrats, long thought a largely invisible minority, are seeing a resurgence of energy and commitment in the wake of the disastrous Christie administration, the more disastrous presidential election and a realization that its entrenched GOP representation has steadily supported pro-corporate agendas—as well as those antagonist to women’s rights, education, environmental protections and other progressive no-brainers—to the detriment of the population.

“It's clear that our current local leadership is just right in alignment with this right-wing, pro-corporate agenda,” Trish said Thursday evening at the Irish Cottage Inn in Franklin. “All the local leadership is voting just like Scott Garrett did.

“There's one more thing they have in common with Scott Garrett,” she continued, “and that is that their time in our district is limited.”

(Sussex County Democrat Committee, March 31, 2017)

*    *  

We all get that law firms play both sides of the aisle, but it is rare to find one that exclusively contributes to just one party.  Enter the law firm of Duffy Amedeo.

Now it may be true that in love, "opposites attract," but in everything else "birds of a feather flock together."  Duffy Amedeo is a two lawyer firm in New York City.  One of those partners in Douglas Amedeo, the President of the Skylands Tea Party group.  His partner is described by Amedeo as "a liberal Democrat."  

Here's the question Mr. Amedeo needs to answer:  So of all the lawyers in the world, you left another law firm to make your career with someone you call a "liberal Democrat."  The two of you make money together and every political contribution that comes from your law firm goes to liberal Democrats -- thousands upon thousands of dollars in contributions, according to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC).

For most Republicans, hearing a potential business partner tell you that he contributed to Barack Obama might make them think twice.  But not Doug Amedeo -- so what you voted for Barack, our minds will still be in tune on the way we practice law, our outlook on the world, and on our perceptions about how government should interface with the private world of individuals and business. 

The Republican Party obviously does not matter much to Mr. Amedeo.  Expanding his law practice does, and since the beginning of our Republic, lawyers have been using politics to expand their law practices.  That's why they contribute thousands to politicians and political campaigns.

Amedeo reminds us of another lawyer -- Dan Perez.  He was a New York City lawyer too.  When he came to Sussex County he got busy.  A Democrat -- a very liberal Democrat -- he soon adopted the language to "pass" as a Republican.

He went after Republican control of Vernon Township, the county's largest municipality, and sued the GOP leaders there under the RICO law.  It was ridiculous, and the suit was dropped, but he did stir up enough trouble to drop the town's partisan elections -- and with it, Republican dominance.

Then he targeted some longtime Republicans on the Sussex County Community College board.  He was appointed to a vacancy.  His law practices contacts in the county were growing.

Perez became the political advisor and attorney for Freeholders Gail Phoebus and George Graham.  After Phoebus was elected to the Assembly and Graham took control of the Sussex County Freeholder Board, Dan Perez was appointed a commissioner at the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority (SCMUA) and the New York City law firm he had recommended got a $500,000 contract to "investigate" the solar deal.

Last week, Perez came out as a Democrat again.  He is running for Sussex County Freeholder on the Democrat ticket with another lawyer, Jennifer Hamilton.  And his law practice is doing just great!

Lawyers!  Lawyers are people who charge for one hour what a heavy equipment operator earns in a day, a clerk in a week, and a farmer in a month.  And they don't break a sweat doing it -- or produce anything besides paper and red tape.

*   *   *

It is clear that the current Tea Party group in Sussex County -- which was formed after a lawsuit and trial that split an earlier group in two -- is not there to help the Republican Party.  The Skylands Tea Party group refuses to endorse Republicans and did nothing in the way of political action for Congressman Scott Garrett when conservatives needed the Tea Party's help.  They invited him to speak at their meeting -- the same they do for liberal Democrats.

Anyone who was present or who has heard the recording of their February meeting knows how Skylands treats conservative Republicans -- they trash them and try to humiliate them and their families, in public.  Under its current leadership, the Skylands Tea Party group is at best a third party in Sussex County, suppressing the Republican vote, and at worse a Fifth Column, actively working with the Democrats to turn Sussex County liberal blue.

Until there is another party strong enough to represent conservative interests and win elections, the Republican Party is pretty much it.  Sussex County needs to have its own Republican Tea Party.  One that supports the party and understands its platform.  A Tea Party that endorses Republicans, not one that promotes Democrats.

Why is a Tea Party group promoting liberal Democrats?

Last Thursday evening, the Sussex County Democrats endorsed a solidly liberal ticket for the Legislature -- a Senate candidate and two Assembly candidates.  One of the Assembly candidates took the microphone to express their ideology and purpose in no uncertain terms:

(Assembly candidate Gina) Trish received a huge applause prior to the vote when she told the gathered crowd of roughly 100 Democrats that the current 24th District legislators had something in common with former Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett, who lost his reelection bid in November to U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist.

"It's clear that our current local leadership is just right in alignment with this right-wing, pro-corporate agenda," she said. "All the local leadership is voting just like Scott Garrett did. There's one more thing they have in common with Scott Garrett and that is that their time in our district is limited."

The Democrat followed that up with this interesting observation:

"...we actually have more than just the Democratic party behind us. We have unaffiliated voters, we have Republicans who have pledged their support for us as well."

And sure enough, within 48 hours, those "anti-right wing" Democrat candidates had an invitation to speak before the Skylands Tea Party group.  Yep.  No kidding.

Douglas Amedeo is a New York City lawyer and the President of the Skylands Tea Party group.  The political contributions that come out of Amedeo's two-attorney law firm all go to Left/Liberal Democrats, beginning with Barack Obama.  Here is the list from the Federal Elections Commission website:

So it should come as no surprise that Douglas Amedeo is inviting liberal Democrats to speak somewhere -- but at a Tea Party meeting?  And how did this joker get to be President?

After they took over the Tea Party in Sussex County, Amedeo and a character named Bill Hayden were the administrators of something called the "Draft Gail Phoebus for NJ Senate" committee:

According to sources, the funds to set-up this group, create a website to attack the Sussex County GOP and its candidates, and to infiltrate and takeover the Skylands Tea Party largely came from Democrat candidate Phil Murphy, a Goldman Sachs multi-millionaire and former Democrat National Committee (DNC) finance chairman, who got an ambassador appointment from President Barack Obama.  This follows the pattern that Murphy has used to get involved in GOP internal politics in Passaic ad Bergen counties.

Pheobus' political attorney and sometime consultant, Dan Perez, announced that he had switched back to Democrat and he joined the ticket with Senate candidate Jennifer Hamilton that same day -- last Thursday -- as the Democrat candidate for Sussex County Freeholder.  The same day.

What!!!  We know what you are thinking -- is this the same Dan Perez who Freeholder George Graham appointed to the SCMUA board?  The same guy who professed his Republican bonafides when seeking appointment after appointment from the Sussex County GOP?  Yep.  That's him.  The mask is off because the Democrats  -- fueled by Phil Murphy's money -- think they have an opportunity to flip the GOP out of power in Northwest New Jersey.    

They know that it won't be easy, but last year they defeated the Republican Congressman who represented Northwest New Jersey -- Scott Garrett -- and how they did so is instructive.  This is what the Democrats are basing their hopes on.

In 2010 and 2012 and 2014, the Democrats were able to find a disgruntled "conservative" to run against Scott Garrett.  Despite Garrett's 99.38% lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union, these challengers would scream about how Garrett wasn't conservative enough.  Sometimes, the challenger, as in the case of Mark D. Quick, would go so far as to endorse a Democrat in the race just to damage Garrett.

The point was to make Garrett defend himself with Republicans and spend valuable resources that he needed for the campaign against the liberal Democrat.  To soften Garrett up for his 2016 takedown, they found two Tea Party candidates (both with connections to Amedeo's group) to damage Garrett in the primary and suppress his base vote in the General Election.  They claimed that Garrett wasn't conservative enough and look at the result.  Look at the votes those Tea Partiers cost conservative Scott Garrett:

They turned-off nearly one-in-five Republican primary voters.  Garrett lost to a Clinton Democrat last November on a swing of a few thousand votes. 

Curiously, the same people who told us that Scott Garrett wasn't conservative enough have been silent or have even defended Garrett's replacement, liberal Clinton Democrat Josh Gottheimer.  During his career, Scott Garrett had a lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union of 99.38%.  The next highest Republican in New Jersey has a rating of 69% and the lowest Republican 46%.  The best New Jersey Democrat was 10.42% and the worst has 0%.  Now there is a liberal Clinton Democrat were once there was Scott Garrett.  Way to go Tea Party!  Way to go!

And here is the latest.

Leftist Phil Murphy-backed Jennifer Hamilton and her running mates are seeking to defeat conservatives Steve Oroho, Parker Space, and Hal Wirths.  At the same time they were inviting Hamilton to their Tea Party meeting, the Skylands Tea Party found someone to run in the primary to "soften up" Oroho (they already recruited candidates to go after Space and Wirths) for November. 

Bill Hayden is the Vice President of the Skylands Tea Party group, who got involved with Dan Perez and others.  He is a state worker and part of the CWA public employees union.  In a revealing moment, Hayden "liked' the Tea Party inviting Democrat Hamilton to speak, despite the fact that it makes as much sense as inviting Hillary Clinton to address a Pro-Life meeting.

Or it should. 

Why are some Tea Party groups climbing into bed with the far left?  Why are they facilitating the campaigns of Democrats over those of Republicans?

Part of it is need.  The Left/Liberal Democrats are smart when they target and recruit Tea Party candidates to disrupt the GOP.  A quick search on PACER, the federal court database, reveals a pattern of financial issues and bankruptcy.  Some of these candidates are so hard up that we can imagine they will take a helping hand wherever they can find it. 

The other part of it is the politics of personality. 

Once upon a time, the Tea Party supported conservative Republicans.  Just like AFP did.  Everybody knew that.

Now AFP and other groups funded by the Koch brothers are fighting the agenda of President Trump at every turn.  You've read the stories in the newspapers -- the Kochs stopped the reform of ObamaCare so now we are left with. . . ObamaCare for the foreseeable future.  Now AFP and other Koch groups are fighting Trump on illegal immigration and the border wall. 

America has a Republican President, Senate, and House of Representatives -- so why isn't anything getting done?

What we are watching is the great morphing of groups that were once "conservative" into groups that serve a particular "personality."  Traditionally, these groups looked without for their inspiration -- to the American constitution, a party platform, a political ideology.  Now they are looking within -- to the private worldview of the personalities who fund or lead them. 

We should have seen this coming.

Just yesterday -- or the day before yesterday -- we lived in a world of men and women/ boys and girls.  Then suddenly, we are in a world where Facebook offers 71 gender "options". 

It's the same in politics.  The binary world of conservative and liberal is over.  Of course, it doesn't have to be.  Just as it is pretty darn plain 99 percent of the time who is a she and who is a he, we have a rich body of work by which to distinguish a conservative from a liberal.  We have our party platforms, we have the actions of conservative leaders, and their writings -- as well as the academic work of our ideological brethren. 

But people like Bill Hayden and those many, many like him -- they don't read.  What they do is feel.  And if they "feel" like a girl.  Then that makes them a girl.

So we have all these people bloviating on Facebook about how much they hate this one or that one and how this is "conservative" and that isn't. . . and they don't know a damned thing about it.  Because they don't read.  They feel.

And that is why some Tea Party folks have now gone to the Democrats.  They "feel" so it must be so.  It makes for easy infiltration by the Left/Liberal Democrats.    

We could sure use a real Tea Party.  A conservative Tea Party.  Maybe someone will start one?  Soon?  Do Sussex County first and then branch out.

The Far-Left makes its move on Sussex County

Just five months ago, money from the DCCC and other Left/Liberal interest groups flowed into Sussex County.  It did its job and took out the most conservative Republican congressman in New Jersey -- Scott Garrett.

Anyone who knows history knows that the Left isn't a straightforward opponent, but one that comes at you from within and without.  One of the big coups of the Garrett-Gottheimer race was when the Left/Liberals got the Republican mayor of Sussex County's largest municipality to jump ship and endorse Democrat Gottheimer over Republican Garrett. 

The Democrats were smart too in stirring up trouble for Garrett in his primary, making Garrett defend himself with Republicans and spend valuable resources that he needed for the campaign against the Clinton Democrats.  To this end, the Left/Liberals worked through groups like the Tea Party (in most cases, without the group's knowledge) to make the claim that Congressman Garrett wasn't conservative enough.  Look at the result.  Look at the votes those Tea Partiers cost conservative Scott Garrett:

Then they recruited a third-party candidate to finish the job: 

Working from within the Republican Party, the Left/Liberals got 9,136 Republican base voters to reject Scott Garrett -- nearly 20 percent of his base vote.  Then they split another 7,424 away in the General Election.  That's 16,560 lost votes for Garrett, who ended up losing to Gottheimer by 14,897.

And what did those Tea Partiers accomplish?  They swapped a Sussex County conservative  for a Clintonista liberal Democrat.  Brilliant!

During his career, Scott Garrett had a lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union of 99.38%.  The next highest Republican in New Jersey has a rating of 69% and the lowest Republican 46%.  The best New Jersey Democrat was 10.42% and the worst has 0%.  Now there is a liberal Clinton Democrat were once there was Scott Garrett.  Way to go Mark Quick, Michael Cino, Peter Vallorosi, Bill Hayden!  Way to go!

Last year, Sussex County was a bright spot for the Clinton Democrats.  Last year the Left/Liberals got their way in Sussex County, so why not try for this year?  And that is what's happening.

No sooner did Assemblywoman Gail Phoebus call-off her primary challenge to Republican Senator Steve Oroho -- than the mask came off!  GOP-imposter Dan Perez -- Phoebus' political attorney and sometime consultant, the same guy who Freeholder George Graham appointed to the SCMUA board -- declared that he was again a Democrat and that he would be running for the Sussex County Freeholder Board. 

Money poured into the pockets of Sussex County Democrats from that Democrat candidate for Governor Phil Murphy, the former DNC finance chairman and Goldman Sachs rich guy who bought an ambassadorship and now (Jon Corzine NUMBER TWO?) wants to buy the Governor's office.  The Democrats have a full-slate of legislative candidates for the first time in years and they are going to try to do to Steve Oroho, Parker Space, and Hal Wirths this year, what they did to Scott Garrett last year.

That's the without part.  But the Left/Liberals wouldn't be the Left/Liberals without the within part -- the Fifth Column. 

Before tearing off his GOP mask and revealing himself as the true Democrat he is, Dan Perez, George Graham, Bill Hayden, and others were all involved in the same effort trying to promote Gail Phoebus' candidacy.  That was the cover.  The real mission was to recruit "Tea Party" candidates to run in the Republican primary to "soften up" Oroho, Space, and Wirths for a Clinton Democrat take-down this November.

They talked two candidates into running for the Assembly -- and when no one else would do it, one of their organizers (Bill Hayden) jumped into the Senate race on the same day that Perez announced that he was again a Democrat!

So the stage is set.

The Democrats have their anchor for the 2017 Sussex County elections in the form of Dan Perez (SCMUA commissioner, courtesy of 3 GOP freeholders), their three legislative candidates, and their three GOP shills to do damage in the Republican primary.

How can you tell someone is a shill?  Many have never even voted before being recruited as a shill and then suddenly they show up, have a big mouth, and are assuming a "leadership role" in a group unknowingly being used to promote the shill (in this case, the Tea Party).  Doubt us?  Take a look at Bill Hayden's voting record.  He hasn't bothered to vote since 2010.

Another sign is a disdain for traditional conservative organizations like the National Rifle Association (NRA).  Bill Hayden attacks the NRA on Facebook and craps on the group's leadership.  Shills always do that because they aren't really conservative but they do have big egos.  That is how the Left/Liberals recruit them, they play to their egos.  A guy like Perez whispers into Hayden's ear that "you too can be a big man" but the reality is that Hayden is there simply to damage a conservative Republican enough in the primary so that Perez and company can elect a liberal Democrat in November.

So groups like the Tea Party and their followers have a decision to make.  Do they want to be active participants in making Phil Murphy's dream come true of total Democrat hegemony in heretofore Republican northwest New Jersey?  Or do they want to defend traditional conservative Republican values? 

Your choice.