The Hugin campaign would have done better in a Democrat primary.

Bob Hugin is a great guy.  Really.  He’s a good and decent man.  It was unfortunate that he found himself in a Republican primary… this year.  The fact that he persevered with such confidence and grace makes him a heroic, somewhat tragic, figure.  

Bob Hugin could have run in the Democrat primary.  $35 million… against Bob Menendez?  Hugin had the issues right for a Democrat primary… and the media wouldn’t have pounced on a Democrat Bob Hugin the way they did a Republican Bob Hugin.  The media love rich members of the One Percent when they are Democrats (it is a capital sin when you are a Republican)… they love woke, right-on pharma folk of the proper political affiliation.  They would have forgiven him everything.

But Bob ran as a Republican, and he ran this year.  A year when the media he wanted to appeal to was working to nationalize the election – to make it about Trump.  That media ended up vouching for Bob Menendez, despite having formerly called for his resignation. That media still cuts it with the people who Bob Hugin wanted to convince:  Democrats and liberal-leaners.   

Rather than shutting down Menendez, Hugin’s attacks were used by the media as evidence that he – Bob Hugin – was a “bad” man.  Of course, this only works with those who are open to receiving a message from the likes of Tom Moran and MSNBC.  Unfortunately, they were precisely the voters that the Hugin campaign was aimed at. 

Can we put aside the myth that Republican voters will come out no matter what, and dutifully vote Republican?  That myth should have finally, once and for all, been discarded after the low turnout Assembly races in 2015, when Republicans AGAIN lost seats in the Legislature and were AGAIN provided with irrelevant excuses for having done so. 

Oh the excuses!  One year it is Christie’s fault, the next it is Trump’s, and in between, the dog ate it!  New Jersey Republicans should set up their own public relations firm specializing in excuse-making.  Excuses aside, New Jersey’s GOP establishment should understand that the days of Republicans “holding their noses” and voting are over.

Republican voters are like anyone else.  Ignore them, say you are embarrassed to be with them, that you are “different” from them… and they will reward you in kind.  As an experiment, try some of that language next time you are in public with your wife and her family (or your husband and his).  Invite them out to a restaurant, then tell the host:  “I’m a different kind of member of this family, I’m not really one of them… They are a little, umm… backward.”  And say it so they hear it.  Say it loud, like ten million dollars’ worth of loud, and see how they like it.  Go ahead, try it.  Get back to us on it.

And that’s what the whole Hugin campaign was based on, wasn’t it?

“I’m a different kind of Republican.”  They are a little backward, a little off, but I’m with it.  I am a cool Republican.  Except that there are no “cool” Republicans.  Not in the minds of the media.  They only thought John McCain was cool when he was pissing on Bush.  The moment it became about him and Obama, John McCain became a troglodyte in the minds of the media.  After the dust settled, he became cool again, especially when pissing on other Republicans… especially when pissing on Trump.  But when he needed them, the media screwed John McCain.  So why even bother with them?

President Ronald Reagan understood the media (and they were a lot more condensed, more centralized, and a lot stronger back then).  That’s why he talked past them – to the people.  He didn’t give a damn about their approval.  He fed them the diet he wanted them to eat and even when they shit it out it contained the kernels of his message.  Reagan wasn’t afraid to be a Republican and to explain what that meant.  He had a message that he tested and honed by human contact – by speaking to people, engaging them, listening for the examples that would be used in his speeches, turning them on to his way of thinking, building a movement of ideas and about issues that mattered to people.

How many Republicans today, in New Jersey, can explain why they are Republicans or what Republicanism is?  At the big Republican show put on by the NJGOP last spring in Atlantic City, two professional Republican organizers up from Washington, DC, posed the same questions to attendees.  Not only was there no apparent theme or connectivity between the responses, even the organizers couldn’t adequately provide reasons or an explanation as to why they were there in the first place.  It was kind of sad.

What that confab did showcase, however, is the top-down meddling that has become the hallmark of the establishment in New Jersey, with a congressional candidate in a contested primary receiving top billing as the event’s featured speaker.  Yes, there was resource-draining meddling in districts 2, 5, and 11 – in an effort to promote candidates who would fit seamlessly with the statewide message being promoted by the campaign of Bob Hugin.

Instead of building a grassroots coalition of Republicans and reformers – of the kind Ralph Nader wrote about in his book, Unstoppable – the Hugin campaign  actually determined that their best chance lay in targeting “soft” Democrats and culturally “left-leaning” independents.  But these are the very same voters open to arguments from left-leaning media like CNN, MSNBC, NJ.com, and the Bergen Record.  So when the Hugin campaign pushed a relentlessly negative message about Menendez, those “independent arbiters” pushed back and were listened to. 

This allowed the Menendez campaign to focus on making the link between Hugin and Trump – which the media backed up.  The more the media pressed, the more Hugin denied Trump, the more he suppressed his own base.  Meanwhile, the Hugin campaign went right on churning out GOTV communications and efforts to turn out those “soft” Democrats and culturally “left-leaning” independents who had by now been convinced by the media that Hugin was a “bad” man who was lying about Menendez.  Gagged and gagged again.

In the days and weeks ahead we will be taking a proper, in depth, examination of the Republican operation in the Garden State.  It will be a necessary, warts and all, detailed review.  So stay tuned.

For now, we will leave you with this: 

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”  - Winston Churchill

Democrats oppose reform to prevent future solar scams

At last night's NJ Herald debate, Democrat candidate for Freeholder Patrick Curreri came out squarely against the reform that would have prevented the solar program that ended in a $26 million debt for Sussex County Taxpayers.  Four Freeholder candidates held the debate in Newton this evening, Democrat Howard Zatkowsky was absent.

Democrat Curreri opposed the steps taken by neighboring Warren County which has established the requirement of voter approval for discretionary county bonding for projects such as the one that became the solar debacle in Sussex County.  The reform has been so successful in Warren County that the county has been able to cut property taxes there.  In contrast, Sussex County has had to raise its property taxes year after year.

Warren County passed the reform in a 2013 ordinance which requires voter approval for bonding that exceeds 2 percent of the annual appropriations of the county.  As Freeholder Herb Yardley said:  "This ordinance would provide a check on spending.  It would slow down the process of acquiring debt and it would force it out into the open to be debated publicly and then voted up or down."

The reform being proposed is one that is already used by local towns.  In 2017, Newton voters shot down a school bonding referendum.  The voters of Newton had the opportunity to take on $18 million at a cost to them and their families of $337 per household for the next 20 years.  They weighed the benefits with the costs and said NO.  This reform places county government under the same discipline.  It is a reform that expands transparency and democracy.

At the close of the debate, Curreri had the opportunity to correct his position on reform, but when asked by Herald reporter Bruce Scruton directly, he reiterated his opposition to no borrowing without the approval of the voters.  Curreri said he OPPOSED the reform on live video and to the crowd in Newton.

RON PAUL ENDORSES MURRAY SABRIN FOR SENATE

Former Texas U.S. Congressman and three-time presidential candidate issued the following statement regarding Murray Sabrin’s U.S. Senate candidacy:    

“I am pleased to endorse my good friend of 35 years Murray Sabrin for United States Senate. Murray's dedication to, and knowledge of, the principles of liberty will make him an effective advocate for freeing the people of New Jersey---and the Nation--from excessive taxes, debt, and inflation, as well as ending the ongoing violations of our right to free speech, property, and privacy.  Murray will also be an outspoken Senator for peaceful relations with other nations, and work to ensure that our immigration policies adhere to common sense solutions like his proposal to have immigrants obtain sponsors so they can assimilate and become financially independent.”

Murray was Ron Paul’s 2008 New Jersey spokesman during the 2008 Republican presidential primary campaign, said, “I am honored to receive Dr. Paul’s endorsement.  For more than four decades Dr. Paul was America’s leading advocate of limited government at home and a noninterventionist foreign policy. He also was a critic of the Federal Reserve’s destabilizing policies, which have been responsible for the economy’s booms and busts.”   In addition, Dr. Sabrin pointed out, if he is elected to the U.S. Senate this year, he will continue to be a voice like Dr. Paul who always spoke Truth to Power in the House of Representatives and in his presidential campaigns.

McCann has $6k to Gottheimer’s $4.5 MILLION

NorthJersey.com/The Record has reported that Republican John McCann has a little over $6,000 in his congressional campaign  account to the more than $4,500,000 amassed by Democrat incumbent Josh Gottheimer.  According to NorthJersey.com/The Record, Gottheimer has broken the record for money raised in a quarter:

“Freshman Rep. Josh Gottheimer's campaign said Thursday that he raised more than $1.5 million from April to June, a total that sets a record for a New Jersey House candidate and exceeds what some U.S. Senate candidates are raising.

Gottheimer, D-Wyckoff, had $4.5 million left in his account on June 30, his campaign said. That compares with less than $6,500 in cash on hand reported Thursday by his opponent, attorney John McCann of Oakland, who also had $55,000 in debts to consultants and vendors.

The previous New Jersey House record appears to be the $1.1 million set in the first quarter of this year by Democrat Mikie Sherrill of Montclair, who is battling Assemblyman Jay Webber for the open seat in North Jersey's 11th District, where Republican Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen is retiring. Sherrill has not yet disclosed her second-quarter receipts, which have to be filed at the Federal Election Commission by Sunday night.”

NorthJersey.com/The Record continues:

“Since the 2016 election, Gottheimer has raised nearly $5.3 million. 

McCann beat former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan by about 6 percentage points in the June 5 primary, but he appears to have done little fundraising since then. A disclosure he filed Thursday shows just seven contributions after the primary, totaling $5,468. He put $204,000 of his own money in the campaign on May 22, bringing his total personal loans to almost $329,000.”

Now this next sentence should strike terror into the hearts of every Republican in New Jersey.  This is what every Republican should be worried about – congressional challengers, incumbent members of Congress, county and local candidates, and Assembly candidates next year…

“If Gottheimer does not spend what he raises for his re-election this year, he can roll it over for future campaigns or contribute it to other candidates.” 

You can read the full article here…

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2018/07/12/josh-gottheimers-1-5-million-haul-breaks-nj-house-fundraising-record/778641002/

McCann: After victory… radio silence?

The primary over, most winning campaigns are asking supporters and potential supporters for money – to retire their debts from the primary as well as looking forward to the General Election in November.  But not John McCann.

His campaign has been silent.  Despite the fact that the McCann campaign is deeply in debt. 

According to the Federal Election Commission, as of May 16th, the McCann campaign had managed to raise just $61,155 in campaign contributions.  The rest of the campaign’s cash came from the candidate – who was convinced by his consultants to dump even more of his personal resources into the effort in the weeks and days leading up to the primary election.

So where is the effort to reach out to GOP donors who sat out this contentious primary?  And where is the effort to reach out to opponent Steve Lonegan and his donors?  After all, Lonegan was able to raise $429,803 in campaign contributions.  Even Jason Sarnoski – a Freeholder from Warren County who dropped out of the race – raised $75,998 before getting ending his campaign.

But rumors persist that many of McCann’s consultants and/or operatives were paid by sources outside his campaign.  This was a method used by former Essex County GOP boss Jim Treffinger in his abortive 2002 U.S. Senate race.  Treffinger’s race came to an end with his arrest and conviction on charges of political corruption.

That’s not the case with the Lonegan campaign.  Steve Lonegan’s General Consultants – former Ted Cruz political director Mark Campbell and Larry Weitzner (Jamestown Associates) – are clearly listed, as are a host of junior consultants, vendors, and operatives.  We are told that the law was followed in great detail.

One curious McCann connection that popped-up was with DC lobbyist Rosemary Becchi.  Becchi, who now resides in New Jersey, briefly considered challenging incumbent GOP Congressman Leonard Lance (NJ07).

Meanwhile, Democrat incumbent Congressman Josh Gottheimer had raised $4,444,660 by May 16th.  None of it loans from the candidate. 

With Democrat Gottheimer at +$4.4 million and McCann at -$260,000 is it any wonder that everyone who is anyone is downgrading this race, moving it off the board, and into the “safe Democrat” column.  Oh well… maybe next time?