Will Robert Hugin meet conservatives half way?

It's "the-past-as-future" for the neo-Whitmanites who want to make the New Jersey Republican Party their private, personal playground.  Yep, just like the good-old-days of "pass the cigars" and "let the interns beware."  And that was just what the ladies got up to! 

The current mantra coming from some GOP establishment types in New Jersey is that only a "moderate" can win statewide.  This is, of course, simply an opinion and an opinion that ignores the fact that the only Republican who has won statewide in the last twenty years has been Pro-Life, Pro-Second Amendment, and opposed to Same-Sex Marriage.  

Besides, in these very partisan times, merely having an "R" next to your name -- leave out supporting Donald Trump or Chris Christie -- is enough to preclude any significant support from voters who self-identify as Pro-Choice on Abortion, Pro-Gun Control, and Pro-LGBT.  If these are your first tier issues, what floats your boat, you are not voting Republican.  Period.

Despite this, there is a full court press to mint Republican candidates at all levels who intentionally suppress key parts of the GOP base.  And the trend has got worse, with the suppression of actual conservative candidates by key players in the neo-Whitman, "My-Party-Too" crowd.  Like true greedy crony capitalists, it's not in them to share.  But in elections that increasingly depend on identifying and turning out anyone who will even consider voting Republican, this is a disastrous trend. 

Of course, squishy candidates are real popular with the dregs of the GOP's Whitman-era glitterati --  cocktail-party liberals and crony capitalists who still want to show that they run the NJGOP -- and who are increasingly uncomfortable in the knowledge that they make up just a thimbleful of actual Republican voters.  Unfortunately for them, most voters are not looking to transfer more wealth and power to the one-percent, while infantilizing various "groups" deemed worthy of protection. 

Working class Republican voters and working class Democrat voters are really not that different.  They care about being able to have the means to life.  They want jobs, the opportunity to start a small business; to be free from the worry of foreclosure; an education system that balances costs with results; a safety net that hasn't all been spent before they need it, and a justice system that looks on them a free citizens and that keeps safe the places where they live, work, and shop. 

The  needs of working people are pretty straight forward.  If it were an ice cream shop it would be plain vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.  Of course, the oligarchs of the Democrat Party can't provide that -- so they advertise a dozen flavors other than vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry -- while the "My-Party-Too" Whitman Republicans have placed out a sign that says, "Closed for business, we've run out of ideas."

Why this is so was the subject of a study conducted by Princeton University.  Take the time to listen to this video.  This is an issue that unites both Left and Right:

Which brings us to Mr. Robert Hugin of the Celgene corporation.  He is the promising candidate for the United States Senate that has the whole GOP establishment buzzing.  They say this erstwhile Marine is the man to beat Bob Menendez.  And a big reason they are so excited about Hugin is his ability to fund his own campaign.

Hugin earns over $20 million a year -- making him one of the best paid bosses in the pharmaceutical industry.  Before joining Celgene, he worked for Wall Street's J.P. Morgan & Company.  Hugin is a longtime member of Chris Christie's fundraising inner-circle, whose allegiance was transferred to Donald Trump after Christie dropped out of the 2016 presidential contest.  Hugin even served as a Trump delegate.  This biography strongly defines the man, making it hard to see how the average Bernie or Hillary voter could ever mark a ballot for him. 

But sure enough, it has emerged that Hugin is conveying to people the idea that he is "a different kind of Republican" and not one of "them" -- as in Pro-Life, et al.

Hey, you donated six figures to Chris Christie and served as a Trump delegate... so do you think you're going to fool a committed Democrat with that Pro-Choice on Abortion line?  You will only drive away thousands upon thousands of voters who want to vote for you, but for whom you will make it so that they can't, in good conscience.

Could Hugin run as the kind of populist who doesn't need cultural conservatives?  Sure, as a Democrat.  Those chocolate and vanilla "kitchen table" issues are grafted onto a cultural worldview that makes you a Trump populist or a Bernie populist.  Neither could have attracted so many voters had they adopted the other's cultural positions. 

In trying to have it all their own way, the "My-Party-Too" crowd might end up destroying the Republican Party in New Jersey.  Ideas matter to most voters and it is ideas that draw people to identify with a political party in the first place.  But in New Jersey, ideas are merely advertising gimmicks for the lobbyists, vendors, and consultants who increasingly run the GOP.  It is something almost unknown to most Republican voters... but too, too easy to demonstrate.  So few don't have Democrat money in their DNA. 

Many GOP leaders make money off Democrats -- or with Democrats.  Lots of money.  While most Republicans just get taxed by Democrats.  That's the great divide.  So where do you stand?  And would you like to know?

Already, conservative libertarian Dr. Murray Sabrin is thinking about another third party run -- like the one in which he almost sunk Christie Whitman.  Perhaps an even stronger candidate will emerge.  Surrendering cultural issues conservative voters to these candidates would not be a good strategy for Mr. Hugin. 

If cultural conservatives, reform conservatives, good-government conservatives, non-insider/crony capitalist conservatives, were to figure out that the fix was in, and that no matter how hard they worked with the GOP establishment they would never get a break, then who knows  -- in these troubled times of Trumpian rebellion and Bernite reaction -- how this could flower?  Would we see its fruit in the low, low turnout 2019 elections?  Would a third-party, seeking that elusive 10 percent, find its way? 

Instead of trying to stand-out and apart from the "usual" Republican through the tired and ultimately unconvincing trope of "a different kind of Republican" when it comes to issues like abortion and LGBT rights, Robert Hugin could act boldly to unify Republicans -- the establishment thimbleful and the conservative majority -- by finding a way to meet both half way. 

Yesterday, Senate Democrats blocked an effort to bring the United States into line with most of the nations on earth in preventing abortions after 20 -weeks, the point at which science has shown that an unborn child is sensitive to the pain of being... killed.  Every other country on earth recognizes this fact except North Korea, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Canada, and the Netherlands.  Isn't it time we bring our laws into line with science and the rest of the civilized world?

The Senate's vote was on whether to stop the Democrats’ filibuster of the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.  This legislation highlights how unborn children feel intense pain when they are killed in abortions. Fifty-one senators (forty-eight Republicans and three Democrats) voted to take the bill up for debate, but 60 votes were required.  Because Republicans don’t have 60 votes in the chamber to overcome the filibuster, Democrats successfully stopped the bill, which came after President Donald Trump indicated he would sign the bill into law.

Hey, you can still support Roe v. Wade and acknowledge the scientific fact that after 20-weeks, a child should not suffer the kind of death that the U.S. Supreme Court wouldn't apply to serial killers, mass-murder terrorists, and rapists who murder children in the commission of a sexual assault.  That, the Court would argue, is "cruel and unusual" for the worse criminals... but for unborn children... are we supposed to look the other way?

So be "Pro-Choice" on abortion.  But support the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act too.  Give conservatives something.

Did Sussex Republicans go for Gay Marriage?

Besides being achieved at the expense of the District 24 legislators, U.S. Senate candidate Rich Pezzullo’s 44 percent showing in Sussex County was a shocker for another reason:  Alone among the four Republicans running for their party’s nomination for U.S. Senate, Pezzullo supported gay marriage.

That’s right.  Steve Lonegan protégé Rick Shaftan’s candidate for United States Senate supported gay marriage and opposed the death penalty in all circumstances – even for terrorists, serial killers, and criminals who murder innocent children.   He said so at the very start of his campaign and it was reported in the Star-Ledger on March 3, 2014:

On social issues, Pezzullo is not easily classified. He opposes abortion and says he is pro-gun rights. But he also favors permitting same-sex marriage and opposes the death penalty.

“My Second Amendment friends love me, but they have a problem with me because I don’t support the death penalty," he said. "My pro-life friends love me because I’m 100% pro-life, but they have problems with me because I support marriage equality. Everybody has a reason not to vote for me, and yet when they allow me to explain all the thought that went into my positions they see I don’t shoot from the hip.”

Of course, knowing this wouldn’t have presented a problem for Shaftan, a consultant for Hudson County Democrat State Senator (and Mayor and School Superintendent) Nick Sacco.  Sacco is on record as voting for gay marriage in the State Senate.  

One Sussex County elected official who supported Rich Pezzullo was Freeholder George Graham, as did some of those associated with Graham’s Sussex County League of Municipalities. Were they aware of Pezzullo’s position on gay marriage and the death penalty?

Pezzullo also enjoyed support from the Tea Party movement in Sussex County.  Team New Jersey and Tpath sent out endorsements for Pezzullo that claimed to have researched his positions on the issues.

Does this mean that Tea Partiers like Roseann Salanitri and Bader Qarmout now support gay marriage?

We can’t be sure, but here is what Team New Jersey/Tpath wrote in their endorsement:

May 31, 2014 ~TPATH~ This release is a collaboration between the founder of TeamNJ, Mr. Nicholas Purpura and TPATH.  First we would like to apologize to our readers and TeamNJ members for not getting this release out earlier.  We have spent much time evaluating and vetting each of the four candidates vying for the Republican Primary for United States Senate.

Richard J. Pezzullo is a good solid conservative.  He has fire in his belly.  He is as in tune with the pulse of the people and understands the fury in all of us.  He too has that fury.  He is unashamed of his conservative values and never fails to espouse them.  TeamNJ and TPATH are convinced the Mr. Pezzullo will be a force in the United States Senate and will align with great Senators like Mike Lee and Ted Cruz.

TEAM NEW JERSEY and TPATH - 

Strongly support Mr. Richard J. Pezzullo for the US Senate

TPATH Note:
Several of our readers have requested information on which candidate we were supporting.  At the time Murray Sabrin appeared to be the best candidate and we indicated that to a few people.  Since then however our research has been completed and we are now in complete agreement with TeamNJ that Richard Pezzullo is the best candidate.  But as we said, Murray Sabrin is a good man.

Note to the vetting committee at Team New Jersey and Tpath:  Senators Mike Lee and Ted Cruz do not support gay marriage.  Also, saying you don’t like Jeff Bell because he once worked for Richard Nixon is something you would not apply to Pat Buchanan or Robert Bork, so why say it?

 You have to wonder what level of research was done that these people didn’t figure out that Pezzullo was for gay marriage and against the death penalty.  The Star-Ledger story appeared on March 3, 2014, right after Pezzullo won his first convention.  It is one of the first things that come up when you Google his name. 

Sussex County Republicans probably had no idea what they were voting for on June 3^rd but instead relied on the recommendations of local people who call themselves “conservative” or members of the “Tea Party”.  On the other hand, the people who promoted Rich Pezzullo in Sussex County should have known his position on these issues and if they did, it shows an interesting evolution on the part of the Tea Party, here in Sussex County and across New Jersey.