Alice’s Restaurant Blog has done a nice job of summarizing each candidate’s positions on the issues. While I am supporting Mayor Lonegan, and urge my fellow Republicans to do so as well, if you are still trying to decide then I would suggest taking some time and reading Alice’s posts.
Chris Christie appeared on NJ 101.5 to answer questions about John Inglesino. During the campaign, Mr. Christie has called for the end of pensions for part time state workers. However, Inglesino collects a state pension while working for State Senator Joe Pennacchio while also volunteering on the Christie camapaign.
The Lonegan campaign, also, has been quick to jump on this. Mayor Lonegan had this to say about the matter:
“The fact that one of Christie’s closest associates is double dipping from the same part time pension funds that Christie promises to end is not only alarming but also insulting to the taxpayers of New Jersey,” Lonegan said in a statement. “If he can’t prevent this type of disingenuous behavior within his own campaign, he cannot expect the voters of New Jersey to believe that he will follow through with his promise to end it in the state.
So, Christie called in to NJ 101.5’s Jersey Guys and defended his decision to keep Inglesino on as a volunteer on his campaign. The Jersey Guys would have none of it, though. Here is the audio of the interview:
As I mentioned over the weekend, I had a chance to catch up with Mayor Lonegan after his appearance at the Arena Diner in Hackensack. During my interview with Steve, we touched on a number of issues including his tax plan, school funding and eminent domain. Additionally, we talked about his position on Gitmo terrorists and his being snubbed by Sean Hannity. To the Mayor’s credit, no question was out of bounds and, as you’ll see, Steve is as always direct in his responses. With that I will let the interview speak for itself. And I would like to once again thank Steve for allowing me this time to speak with him.
Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude! and Red County!
Former Massachusetts Governor and Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is about to throw his support behind Chris Christie. Interestingly, Wally Edge at PolitickerNJ seemed to think this would help Romney in New Jersey should he run again for President – as expected – in 2012.
Mitt Romney’s decision to pick a horse in the New Jersey Republican gubernatorial primary likely accomplishes two things: it boosts former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie’s standing among conservatives, and it strengthens Romney’s chances of picking up organizational and fundraising support in New Jersey if he seeks the 2012 GOP nomination for President.
I disagree. In fact, I find this to be a calculated gamble by Romney that could easily backfire; a gamble probably not worth taking.
Mayor Lonegan has loyal grassroots support among conservatives in this primary. He is ahead of Christie by a wide margin among conservatives, many of whom are dubious of Christie’s conservative credentials.
In fact, Romney fought hard last year during his presidential bid to convince conservatives that he was one of us. Many conservatives, myself included, voted for him because he was the closest thing we could get to a true conservative last year.
So, for Romney to inject himself into this race and back Christie he is more likely to have turned off conservatives than inspired them to vote for him in the next presidential primary in this state. As a Lonegan supporter I sure as heck won’t forget that Mitt Romney did not back the true conservative in this race. It’s one vote he will lose if he follows through with his endorsement tomorrow.
Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude! and Red County.
The nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court presents Republicans with a huge opportunity. Sotomayor represents the typical, very left-wing jurist Republicans and conservatives have decried over the years. A nominee who has a record and philosophy of activism, with public statements to back it up (for more on Sotomayor’s record, you can check out Michelle Malkin’s write-up)
When Sotomayor comes before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republicans should approach the hearings with the intent to educate the American people on the proper constitutional role and function of a judge; that it is NOT their role to legislate from the bench. This is a debate that is long overdue and Republicans ought to embrace it.
Republicans need to, once and for all, put to bed the ideas put forth by the Left that one’s race, gender or economic circumstances in life have any bearing on one’s qualifications for the Court. They need to explain to the American people that the only role of a judge is to fairly apply the law. Justice, as the old adage goes, ought to be blind.
Republicans might not win the battle over Sotomayor’s appointment, but they should at least strive to win in the court of public opinion by convincing the American people of the destructiveness of the judicial activism and the need to return the the kind of constitutional jurisprudence our Founders desired.
Some may cringe at the thought of having a ‘litmus test’ when it comes to judges. However, there are two areas where Republicans ought to have one. First, any potential judge who has a record of activism (read: legislating from the bench) should automatically be disqualified. Likewise any potential judge who has a record of looking to foreign law in their rulings also should be disqualified.
Senate Republicans, particularly those on the Judiciary Committee, will be under considerable pressure to oppose this nominee and advocate for the positions I have outlined above. I can only hope that they will have the backbone to do so.
Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude!
Remember this infamous Obama/Air Force One photo-op flyover past the city and the Statue of Liberty? The flight scared the bejeezus out of New Yorkers and New Jerseyans who thought a 9/11 replay was taking place before their eyes.
Well, apparently NJ officials knew more about this than they officially let on. This, of course, begs the questions: what did Corzine know and when did he know it? Assemblywoman Angelini wants to know.
ANGELINI: CORZINE NEEDS TO CLEAR THE AIR ON
INAPPROPRIATE HANDLING OF AIR FORCE ONE PHOTO OP
E-MAILS REFUTE CORZINE’S CLAIM THAT NEW JERSEY OFFICIALS WEREN’T NOTIFIED
BEFORE NEW YORK CITY FLYOVER THAT CAUSED PANIC
Gov. Jon S. Corzine must explain why he didn’t tell the public that his administration knew that a low-flying passenger jet and F-16 in New York City was merely a photo op, Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini said today.
After the April 27 incident, which set off panic among New Jerseyans and New Yorkers scarred by 9/11, the governor disputed accounts from the Federal Aviation Administration that New York and New Jersey officials were notified and pledged to “push forward all the way to the White House” for answers.
But the Newark Star-Ledger reported this weekend that a review of e-mails including, those from Corzine’s Homeland Security director Richard Canas and Scott Kisch – Canas’ chief-of-staff and a close friend of Corzine’s – show New Jersey officials were notified three days before the flyby.
“That is unacceptable leadership,” Angelini, R-Monmouth, said. “I understand that the notification may have contained a wrong-headed order from federal officials to keep information confidential, but that order should have been disregarded before the incident caused panic among those who feared the horrible events of 9/11 were repeating.”
Angelini also questioned whether Corzine himself was notified since his initial claims that no officials were informed have been proven false.
“The governor needs to come clean,” Angelini said. “He let New Jerseyans believe for an entire month a politically-convenient story that New Jersey officials were not notified, passing all blame for this terrible incident on Washington . The federal government does deserve most of the blame, but the public deserves a truthful account from its governor instead of an e-mail with a tangentially-related news story.”
Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude! and Red County.
Recently, I came across a blog site for Assemblyman Jerry Green of the 22nd District. As with all blogs, his allows comments to his posts. So, when I came across the Assemblyman’s site I reacted to a post he had touting his ‘accomplishments.’
Well, apparently Mr. Green didn’t take too well of my criticism of his accomplishments merely being an ability to spend other people’s money too well! My comment never saw the light of day. Nor did my follow-up comment calling him out for not posting my original comment.
If you check out his blog post, there is only one positive comment from an Anonymous poster.
So, Assemblyman Green apparently is quite thin-skinned and doesn’t want his constituents to see him actually have to defend himself.
Hey, Assemblyman…you know what? If you can’t take a little heat from little old me then you have no business being a legislator.
Colin Powell appeared on Face the Nation today and, among other things, reacted to comments made last week by Dick Cheney while, typically, calling for expanding the party’s base. Here is the interview in full.
Let’s make no mistake. Colin Powell is an American hero and success story. His accomplishments serving his country are beyond admirable. Unfortunately, his credibility as a Republican is little. He has never run for office and compiled a record of legislative or executive accomplishments. He has not done anything to help the party win elections as far as I can recall. When he was Secretary of State under ‘W’ he was known more for being a voice of opposition in the administration. But now somehow we should listen to him when it comes to rebuilding our party?
For argument’s sake, let’s accept Powell’s premise. RINOs like Powell like to use rhetoric about expanding the party’s base and being a big tent. Shouldn’t they then be asked to provide us with a plan on how to do so? However, they NEVER say what they mean by that. They never lay out a road map for it.
Shouldn’t RINOs also then be asked to provide evidence that moderating the party’s stances will actually be effective and also be able to point to the successes of moderates in the party? This, too, never occurs.
Powell points to his previous votes for Republican candidates over the years. That may be well and good. But as in the world of sports, one has to ask “what have you done for me lately?” Last time I checked, Colin Powell was endorsing and voting for a Democrat for President. Can someone please tell me how this helps build the Republican Party? Couple this with Powell’s unfounded criticism of the party moving too far right and, in my mind, he has undermined any credibility he has as a Republican.
John McCain represented the EXACT kind of candidate Powell suggests the party needs and he publicly shunned him in favor of the most left-wing candidate in the nation’s history. Party building indeed.
According to Lonegan campaign volunteers, there is a planned protest tomorrow against none other than Sean Hannity. Lonegan supporters are upset – and rightfully so – that Hannity had Chris Christie on his TV show last week and has not extended an invitation to Mayor Lonegan. As I posted last week, Hannity has claimed neutrality with regards to state primaries in the past — yet in this case he has hypocritically given Mr. Christie free air time on national TV while shutting out his closest rival.
So, in what I am sure will be an unprecedented event tomorrow – CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS will be in New York City, at Fox headquarters, protesting Sean Hannity. If you want to join this protest here is the information:
Tuesday, May 26, located at 1211 Avenue of the Americas (a/k/a 6th Ave.), between 47th & 48th Streets, beginning at 7:00 p.m.
Note: I am still awaiting for the Lonegan campaign to post the video of my interview with Steve. Hopefully, they will do so shortly.
Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude! and Red County.
I had a chance to catch up with Mayor Lonegan this morning after his appearance at the Arena Diner in Hackensack. Steve was gracious enough to spare 10 minutes and answer some questions about the campaign. Look for video of my interview with Steve by tomorrow!
