ARE REPUBLICANS ROLLING OUT A RED CARPET OR WAVING A WHITE FLAG?

Recently, State Senator Sean Kean (R-Monmouth) and Assembly members Mary Pat Angelini (R-Ocean) and Dave Rible (R-Wall) endorsed Chris Christie for the Republican nomination for Governor.

State Senator Sean Kean

I normally find myself in agreement with those lawmakers, usually.

 

However in this case I do not approve of their premature endorsement of a candidate who not only hasn’t articulated his positions on the issues facing the state but is not even a declared candidate for the nomination.

Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini

New Jersey Republican leaders seem to be yearning for a savior. So much so that I believe they are willing to throw out the baby with the bath water.

In their intense desire to win an election they seem to be placing little importance on the principles that we need a Governor to bring to Trenton along with their victory.  On top of that thinking being wrong based upon its shallowness, it also ignores a basic truth.  It ignores the fact that our party should not be built around any one individual.  It should be built around our principles and the ideas that Republixcans bring to the table.  Rather than focus on one person to lead us to victory, Republican legislators should be providing Trenton with the ideas that could win the day for us.  Without those ideas, there is no need to win.  So I suggest that Republican elected officials focus on that job.  Focus on bringing change through the legislative solutions they propose.  I want them to do their job and let the candidates running for governor do their job.

Assemblyman David Rible

Once the candidates  have done so, or at the very, least begun to do so, then come out and endorse one of them.  Don’t just endorse someone for political expediency.  Have some sincerity in purpose.  Endorse someone for their ideas, their thinking, the direction they propose to take us.   Not for their name. 

 

I want to know these things before I approve or reject his candidacy. I want to know where he stands on issues before we say….”here take our nomination, take all that we believe and do as you wish with it to become Governor”.

With Republican elected officials simply endorsing Christie before he has stated a position on any issues or even become a candidate, they are not helping matters. They are simply saying, “we don’t know what you stand for but we need you”. That type of courtship does not help us build a strong ticket for Governor in November. In fact it could lead to trouble.

 Years ago when New York was my political arena, before becoming the Republican nominee in his second attempt to become Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani told me that losing against Dave Dinkins the first time around, taught him a lot.

You see, the first time he ran, Rudy expected Republicans allover the nation, to roll over and roll out the red carpet for his candidacy. At the time he felt that Republicans needed him more than he needed Republicans. That wasn’t exactly the case.

 

While waiting for Republicans throughout the city to come and kiss Rudy’s ring, another Republican courted them for their support. With money and conservative opinions, Ronald Lauder garnered enough support to wage a strong primary battle against Rudy. It was a battle that probably caused Rudy to lose the election by one percentage point

Potential Republican Nominee for Governor, Chris Christie

Instead of making his rounds and earning support from the party whose nomination he wanted, Rudy felt that it was incumbent upon them to come to him.

Not all of them did.

Many felt at home with the more conservative candidate who respected them enough to ask for their support, not expect their support.

Had Rudy maintained a little humility and earned the support of all Republicans, he may have avoided the bloody and expensive primary battle that he found himself in and by avoiding that battle he might have won the war and been elected mayor four years earlier than he was. In fact he probably would have been able to serve three terms instead of the two he was limited to by the term limits which voters adopted in the same election that finally saw Rudy win City Hall.

Four years after losing the 1989 mayoral race, Rudy admitted that the way he conducted himself, the first time, was inappropriate. He told me and a couple of county chairmen that he learned his lesson and that he knew he needed every Republican as much, if not more than they needed him.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani

With that lesson learned, Rudy went on to win the Republican nomination for Mayor with ease and ultimately became one of the greatest mayors New York has ever known.

Now, here we are in New Jersey and another famed prosecutor is on the verge of saving Republicans from defeat.

If Chris Christie believes like Rudy did in 1989, Christie could find himself in the same position as Rudy.

With some Republican elected officials simply endorsing Christie before he has stated a position on any issues or even become a candidate yet, they are not helping matters. They are actually saying, “we don’t know what you stand for but we need you”. That type of courtship does not help us build a strong ticket for Governor in November. It simply helps to create an arrogant  mentality in Christie that allows him to believe that we owe him the nomination and that the job of Governor is his merely because he may want it..

Truth is, we owe nothing to Chris Christie other than our thanks for his undeniably successful tenure as New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney for the past seven years.

So stop wooing Chris Christie. Let Chris Christie start wooing us, the voters. Let Chris Christie join the other official candidates and earn our support.

The most recent example of Republican leaders hastily rushing to endorse someone, long before the primary election for a Republican nomination took place, was at the end of last year, when hundreds of Republicans from county chairmen, mayors, freeholders, councilmembers and state legislators rushed to endorse Rudy Giuliani for President.

We all know how successful that was.

So stop trying to part the sea for Chris Christie. We need to let him articulate his positions on the issues and demonstrate why he would be a better Governor than Richard Merkt, Steve Lonegan, Brian Levine or any other potential nominee.

A good start for Christie would be to stop stalling. The longer he waits to make a decision, the more suspect people become. They begin to wonder, does he want the job bad enough? Is there some closeted skeleton that is making him apprehensive about running?

Whatever the answer, Christie needs to make it official, one way or the other.

Until then, I suggest that everyone stop hoping that Chris Christie can walk on water. Stop making him believe that he is the best thing since sliced bread merely because he is Chris Christie. Help us win back New Jersey so that we can turn things around. Help strengthen our ticket in November by making Chris Christie put his very best foot forward and earn the nomination that he may want.

We are not helping ourselves by rolling out a red carpet for Chris Christie while waving a white flag of surrender for what ,we as Republicans, stand for.

We need to let Christie articulate his positions on the issues and demonstrate why he would be a better Governor than Richard Merkt, Steve Lonegan, Brian Levine or any other potential nominee. We need to make sure that Chris Christie represents the Republican ideology and approach to government that we stand for.

So before Republicans officials hand over our mantle to someone, let them prove themselves to be worthy of holding it. Let the candidates campaign for the nomination so that the right ideas may help win day rather than just some empty suit with a well known name.

 

Q. How many Libertarians does it take to change a light bulb?

A. None, the market will take care of it.

Q. Why did the Libertarian cross the road?

A. To start his own country.

CROWLEY NOT RUNNING AND THE RACE FOR NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR JUST GOT LESS COMPETETIVE

Bio Tech Entrepreneur John Crowley Won't Run For Governor

The potential race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination just became a little less competitive.

For the second time this year, biotech entrepreneur John Crowley has declined a bid for statewide office in New Jersey.

According to a spokesman, Crowley has decided not seek office at this time.

Most recently, many had hoped that John Crowley would have sought the senate seat which Democrat Frank Lautenberg won a fifth term to. At the time Crowley citied his responsibilities to his biotech business in Cranbury as the reason for not running. Crowley’s biotech company, was originally started by him in an attempt to develop treatment for a fatal disease that has newborn twins were born with. After a merger, the company has since become one of the world’s largest biotech organizations under the name Amicus Therapeutics.

The combination of independent wealth, inspirational personal history, innovation, intelligence and political ideology made Crowley candidate for pinning Republican hopes of electoral victories in New Jersey on. John McCain even called John to request that he run against Lautenberg. As was the case with other state officials, the request was rejected.

Although he continues decline running for office, politics is still an arena that Crowley will participate in.

Earlier this year he created “Building The New Majority“, a political action committee aimed at taking back control of the state legislature. Aides to Crowley claim that through Building The New Majority, Crowley will be quite busy in the coming months. In fact they say that the committee will soon be launching a campaign to address the sour business atmosphere in New Jersey and how we can turn it around.

The absence of John Crowley from the Republican primary for Governor doesn‘t harm our chances to win in November but it does reduce the amount of competitiveness that we will see in it..

His ability to finance a campaign that could match the deep pockets of John Corzine who purchased his last three statewide campaigns, would have helped to heat things up a bit. He would have forced a real fight the nomination. One that would have produced a nominee that truly earned it and proved their ability to raise the funds needed to compete with Corzine in November..

Right now, many establishment Republicans are simply waiting for Chris Christie to declare his candidacy. The only official candidates so far are Steve Lonegan and Assembly Richard Merkt. They have yet to prove themselves and catch fire with the establishment or any other Republican voters on a statewide level. If they fail to raise the funds necessary to compete with the anticipated recognition of Chris Christie, it looks like the primary may become more of a coronation for Christie than an election.

That would be a shame.

It hasn’t happened yet and it may not. Christie could prove himself to be vulnerable on the campaign trail. Merkt and Lonegan have the chance to make significant inroads. However, a Crowley candidacy would have insured Christie’s need to work hard for the nomination.

Anything could change though. For all we know Chris Christie, who has seen fit to delay an announcement of his own candidacy, may surprise us and join John Crowley in rejecting picking up the mantle for New Jersey Republicans. If that happens, there are some other very good individuals who, in the absence of Christie from the field, may jump in. People like Morris County Freeholder John Murphy or maybe even someone like State Senator Bill Baroni .

A recent POLITICS 24/7 poll taken on our sister site, “Jennifer Beck for Lieutenant Governor”, showed Baroni with a surprisingly strong showing. The results of that poll were as follows:

 

 

Former US Attorney Chris Christie	42%
State Senator Jennifer Beck	17%
State Senator Bill Baroni	12%
Bio Tech Entrepreneur John Crowley	7%
Fmr. Bogota, NJ Mayor Steve Lonegan	6%
Morris County Freeholder John Murphy	4%
Former Majority Leader Paul DeGaetano	3%
Perennial Candidate Murray Sabrin	3%
Frm. Rep. Mike Fergusson	2%
Assemblyman Joe Pennachio	2%
Assemblyman Richard Merkt	0%
State Senator Joe Kyrillos	0%
Other	3%

In any event, Crowley’s absence fro the race makes it easier for Christie to consolidate support among those Republicans who want him to win the nomination simply because he has high name identification. That is not a good thing. That type of thinking could produce an out of touch, arrogant candidacy that could cost us more than it was worth come November.

Hopefully, we, the voters, will give all of the official candidates a fair hearing. That includes any one else runs like Mayor Brian Levine as well as Chris Christie, if he ever finally decides to run.

 

 

A guy walks into a bar and asks the bartender, “Isn’t that Obama and Defense Secretary Gates sitting over there?”

The bartender says, “Yep, that’s them.”

So the guy walks over and says, “Wow, this is a real honor. What are you guys doing in here?”

Obama says, “We’re planning WW III.”

And the guy says, “Really? What’s going to happen?”

Obama says, “Well, we’re going to kill a few thousand Somalis this time and one blonde with big tits.

The guy exclaimed, “A blonde with big tits? Why kill a blonde with big tits?

Obama turns to gates, punches him on the shoulder and says, “See, smart ass?! I told you no one would worry about the Somalis!”