Voting early and often. Too often.

There seems to be less interest in the New Jersey Senate race, than there is me pitching next weekend for the New York Yankees against the Twins. Now, the Twins are in second place in the Central Division, while the Yankees are dead last in the East. And I guess I couldn’t pitch any worse than them into last place.

Democrats have, of course, Andrews versus Lautenberg: You’d think that a race that had candidates with such pronounced differences--- a progressive versus a conservative, southern NJ versus northern NJ, age versus youth ----would get people interested. But not so.

Republicans: Three very different candidates. Pennacchio. Zimmer. Sabrin. It’s like the Id, Ego and Superego of politics. Unhappy with Jersey Joe, some Republicans have changed candidates more often than the price of gas changes on Route 1. With the conservative cry of “From Esterbrook to Unanue to Zimmer”---that sounds like the infield double play combination of the Somerset Patriots.

Call it election fatigue: We will have asked New Jersey voters to go to the polls [in some towns] five times since last fall:

• November 2007 [regular state elections]
• February 2008 [Presidential primary]
• April 2008 [school board elections]
• May 2008 [non-partisan towns]

...and now June 3rd. That’s a lot of democracy.

Combine that with the day in day out never ending Obama/Clinton race in the news constantly, I think voters are simply tired of the whole primary process. Even if Obama/Clinton ended this week, the Obama/McCain or Clinton/McCain race would begin immediately, with the conventions this summer.

According to Newsday, and Ingrid Reed of the Eagleton Institute, the prediction is that less than 15% of the electorate will decide the nominees.

Now, that's some democracy. Too few voters, voting too many times.

Seven for the 7th.

Rome was built on Seven Hills. And, [at least] for last night, Mountainside, NJ was built on the seven Republican candidates for Congress in the 7th District.

Seven for the 7th. And come June 3rd, only one of them will roll the lucky number seven and be the winner. But which?

And so, I attended the packed house last night for what will probably be the final mass debate between [amongst?] the Republican candidates for the 7th congressional district in central Jersey. Every candidate was in their respective chairs right at 7:30pm on the dot, except for Tom Roughneen, who arrived fashionably late at 7:444pm. So the former military man can’t tell time? Or is there too much traffic on Route 22? Maybe traffic in the district is an issue that should be dealt with. But Roughneen was in time for his first question, and came out battlin' right away.

WordPlay: The top seven most often said words/phrases from last night’s debate:

[1] Taxes, [2] Linda Stender, [3] conservative, [4] pro-life, [5] Iraq, [6] tax cuts, and [7] the ever present, “family values”.

And some new fangled phraseology:

From Mayor Marty Marks---'across-the-board' conservative, as opposed to just plain old 'conservative' or the now ancient 'compassionate conservative'.

From A.D. Amar, calling himself a 'shoestring' conservative, for running his campaign on a 'shoestring' budget.

Also, the least frequently said phrase was from Kelly Hatfield---“We live in a global world”. Duh. She also said that the most important issue in the race for her was that “North Plainfield needs their own zip code”. Most of the night Hatfield sounded like the Miss South Carolina teen that was asked why Americans had trouble reading maps. Not ready for prime time.

There were barbs thrown, occasionally.

Here is the barb scorecard:

By Mayor Marty Marks at Senator Leonard Lance and former first daughter Kate Whitman: Topic: For being “moderates”, and not being ‘conservative’.

By Tom Roughneen at Senator Leonard Lance. Topic: For being endorsed by the Sierra Club, and accused the Senator of wanting ten dollar a gallon gasoline.

[Only to neo-con Republicans would be being ‘moderate’ or endorsed by a leading environmental group be considered worthy of attack.]

By Kate Todd-Whitman-Annis [whew!]. Topic: At all the candidates for attacking her for being a “Whitman”.

[Former first mother Governor Christie Todd Whitman was ‘in da house’, cheering her first daughter on, flying in from a trip to Beijing. Now that's motherly love.]

[Once again, Whitman the younger was noticeably passionless, and filled with political clichés. She went on and on touting her “Six Point Plan” to set Congress right----points that sound as if they were taken point by point from the playbook of the other six candidates.]

By Kate Whitman, at all the candidates: Topic: For voting for tax increases, including Marks and Hatfield.

[Note to Katie: Dr. Amar, Tom Roughneen and Darren Young have never held office, and therefore have never voted for tax increases]

Mayor Marks, at Whitman and Roughneen. Topic: For not ever having been elected to anything, but criticizing himself and Hatfield for raising taxes in their respective towns.
“Walk a mile in my shoes, first”, chided the Mayor. “Or get elected to a local office first.” Point well made.

Libertarian and self-described Sabrin for Senate running mate, Darren Young. At, well, himself. Topic: He asserted that he was a direct descendent of President John Adams, and declared that he “…would have had the endorsement of Adams…I think.”

[You can never tell if you’re gonna get the support of family members---especially if they’re dead.]

Noticeably , Senator Lance noticeably kept above the fray. Being the probable leader in the group will compel one to do just that.

Overall, it was a fun evening of political merriment. The format was a bit freaky---just one hour of “debate” for seven candidates and not a question allowed from the packed crowd. Two minutes per answer per candidate allowed for only a very brief glimpse in to the minds of each Republican. Maybe a run-off election should be statutory in such circumstances.

Shout out to Max Pizzaro of PolitickerNJ, whom I read everyday and got to meet for the very first time.

Enjoy the freedom to think, speak, blog, and chat this Memorial Day weekend, remembering all those who gave their lives so we can live free. Thanks, dad.

Rockem Sockem Republicans

This Thursday night there is a debate between the Republican candidates for the 7th Congressional District. While Linda Stender has been focused on organizing her base of support and filling her campaign war chest, the Republicans have been playing Rock’em Sock’em Robots with each other.

I will be there, hopefully live-blogging.

Former First Daughter Kate Whitman has been attacking the cr#p out of Senator Leonard Lance, her [former?] family friend, with 12 waves of mail pummeling his record. How they mend fences on their side after that kind of race may be a good lesson for Obama/Clinton. She’s got mucho bucks, and has been using them to add some mud to the race.

I have not been able to get my hands on any of the hate-mailers targeting Senator Lance ---not being a Republican; I am not on their prime mailing list. And my Republican friends in Flemington [the Senator’s home turf] have not kept the mailers long enough for me to get a copy. As a good Republican friend [unnamed, though] said to me, “When I get that crap, it goes right into the recycling bin.” Good thing she is recycling.

So, the others in the race are not getting much press, especially Iraq War veteran, Tom Roughneen. There is not one thing Roughneen and I agree on –he supports staying in Iraq until the “job is done”; he supports a constitutional amendment banning abortion, and supports extending the Bush tax cuts. However, he seems to be a bright and genuinely passionate candidate who is a good man. Not at all your average run of the mill neo-con Republican. He will not win, but will be back in a future, perhaps more local, race.

Now, I am going to go out on a limb here, and make a prediction on a winner: Mayor Marty Marks of Scotch Plains.

While the good money is on Senator Leonard Lance, Marks has received the endorsement of the active Right to Lifers in the district. A low turn out, combined with a seven candidate field, sprinkled with pro-life activists working election day for Marks, with just a touch of the two top candidates splitting party regulars----I think will make for a Marks victory. With seven in the field, someone who gets 25% of the vote could come out on top.

Pity the candidate who spent all their money, and came in second.

Rules are Rules...unless you're George Clooney?

“If we had same rules as the Republicans, I would be the nominee right now,” Senator Clinton declared to the press.

From today's New York Times:

“The states that I’ve won total 300 electoral votes,” she told about 300 people in a high school gymnasium in Maysville [Ky.], the birthplace of the actor George Clooney. “The question is who can win 270 electoral votes? My opponent has won states totaling 217 electoral votes.”

As she has in the past, she discounted Mr. Obama’s victories in caucus states and states likely to vote Republican in November, ticking off Alaska, Utah, Nebraska, Kansas and Idaho. “Many of his votes and delegates come from caucus state which have a relatively low turnout,” she said.

“Right now more people have voted for me than have voted for my opponent,” Mrs. Clinton said, without explaining how she reached that arithmetic certainty.

This, of course, comes from the same person who has not followed the DNC rules up till now, regarding Florida and Michigan. What makes her so sure that she would have followed a 'winner take all' rule, anyway?

But the real question is, why does the New York Times feel compelled to let us know that Mrs. Clinton gave her speech in a town famous for George Clooney.

Jersey Joe has trouble with brother in Brooklyn

Not since Ralph Kramden's last scheme with Ed Norton, has a guy got in to this much trouble in Brooklyn.

I was born and raised in Brooklyn with my brothers, and I will tell you it is one tough town for Republicans. Back in the day, the Brooklyn September primary was the election, and not a Republican could get elected. NY does their primary in the fall, rather than in June---a shorter campaign season, but a longer primary hall. Six of one, half dozen of the other, I guess.

So, it is not surprising that the “leader”in the Republican primary for the NJ Senate race---Joe Pennacchio--- has some problems with his Brooklyn boys. Funny, how each candidate---Zimmer [who could not get his own county’s endorsement] and Sabrin [who has ticked off a good majority of the county organizations] each call themselves the “leader”. The Republicans all have that hard ‘spin’ to the right.

It seems that according to a report by the Star Ledger, Pennacchio and his brother owned an old run down apartment building in Brooklyn in Coney Island. Yes, there are plenty of run down apartment buildings in Coney Island, but this one is special: Jersey Joe failed to report the building as an asset as required by law on his mandatory financial-disclosure report. Oops, watch that first drop on the Cyclone, Joe. It’s a doozy.

Pennacchio reportedly made $285,000 when he sold the property just a few months ago. That’s a lot of Nathan’s Famous Coney Island Hot Dogs. However, Joe did not list the dough in documents filed last week with the U.S. Senate. He did file an amendment to last week to correct the error.

According to the Star Ledger, Jersey Joe said “that he regrets ever getting involved with the Coney Island property because it has been nothing but trouble during the last 20 years.”

Ouch, sounds like he's really dissing the Lords of Flatbush.

One good thing out of all of this: Jersey Joe will most certainly be able to save the ten buck toll on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge—because he won’t be going back to Brooklyn very soon.

Aha! Then I remembered, I am a comedian.

My favorite folk singer is the late great Phil Ochs, who departed this earth in 1976. He was the quintessential folk singer, always ranting more than raving. While others fawned over Bob Dylan, I was moved by the words, music and voice of Phil Ochs. If you’re unfamiliar with him you can check out live concerts recorded in the 1960s through the miracle of YouTube.

Ochs offered snappy patter between his songs. When confronted with a particularly onerous political issue that confronted his sense of justice, he would ponder out loud to his audience, “But, what can I do about this? Aha! And then I remembered! I am a folk singer!”

And he would sing his well-crafted song to provoke, evoke and inspire his audience to ‘think’ and ‘do’.

So, I take inspiration from Ochs: There are many candidates, many issues confronting New Jersey. Prey tell, what can I do, just a humble citizen? Aha! But then, I remembered, I am a comedian. I can write comedy material attacking those amongst us who are conservative Republicans; those who support this war and wish to expand it; those who oppose national healthcare, clean air, clean water, etc, etc. etc.

And finally, I can offer my stand-up comedy and keynote speaker services to any and all Democratic candidates free of charge for political fundraisers through the fall. Yup, call me up and we’ll raise some money for your local Democratic Party or progressive candidate with a gosh darn funny comedy show. And, sometimes, I can even bring with me some good funny comedian friends who are also progressive Democrats. Many of these folks have appeared on HBO, Comedy Central, the Tonight Show and the Late Show.

In the past, we have done this kind of comedy show to support the campaigns of Jon Corzine, Senator Bob Smith, Senator Bob Menendez, and even the fine folks at the ACLU of New Jersey. And it would be my pleasure to see if we can help your group of Democratic candidates raise some bucks, too.

Call it my way of spreading punch lines for progressive politics in NJ.

Leonard Lance opposes Paid Family Leave

At a recent Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce breakfast Republican candidate for Congress, Senator Leonard Lance, declared that he was "saddened" by the passage of the Paid Family Leave legislation. He not only asserted that the legislation would be bad for the New Jersey economy, but he was personally "saddened" by it.

An odd word to use, I thought. But specifically chosen. If Senator Lance is anything, he is a critically thinking word-smith. By using such a word, the Senator separates himself from the other Republicans who opposed Paid Family Leave merely on an economic basis. Indeed, he shows us his 'compassionate human' side, too. He is the Republican who genuinely cares.

Now, I have known the Senator for many years, and he has been a good friend and personal acquaintance. I had the pleasure of having known his father, Wesley Lance, the late Senator and former Acting Governor. Both men are gifted politicians and very bright policy wonks ----a rare combination. However, Mr. Lance has come down on the wrong side of this issue.

Mr. Lance is by and large a good thinker, and is a moderate on most social issues. But he is in a political party that presently abhors social liberals. Most liberal Republicans will use an open hand and call themselves "social moderates", but pound their fists and shake their fingers, and call themselves "fiscal conservatives" ----all to avoid using the dreaded "L" word. And Lance is no different.

New Jersey's Paid Family Leave Act kicks in January 1st 2009, when

"New Jersey workers taking family leave can get two-thirds of their wages up to $524 a week for as much as six weeks a year. The Legislature estimates the plan will cost workers $33 a year and be used by about 38,000 employees, or 1 percent of the state’s workforce.

The fear from the business community is that New Jersey will become less competitive by this "imposition" on the small business community, that businesses will be driven elsewhere. The California experience with Paid Family Leave has proven differently.

The business community---New Jersey Chambers of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Businesses----argue that the impact will hurt small businesses. Of course, they never seem to make the argument that by making New Jersey more friendly to working families, that might actually attract more of a productive labor force.

To his credit, Lance did mention [albeit very briefly] that perhaps such legislation should be considered by the Federal government, so that states that have Paid Family Leave would not be at a disadvantage to those who do not. Was that Lance's 'liberal' side speaking? Does that portend to the possibility that if he were elected to Congress, and if a Federal Paid Family Leave bill was before Congress, he would join the Democratic majority in supporting such legislation? Maybe so.

But there are many political hurdles between now and then. Either way, Lance must first get the nomination, and there are too many rank and file Republicans who oppose Paid Family Leave for Senator Lance to allow his 'liberal'/'moderate' side to show. At least until the fall.

Duh, part deux.

Here is what John McCain has to offer the American people, according to today's New York Times:

McCain Says Troops May Be Home by 2013

"Senator John McCain’s projection in a speech on Thursday is a striking departure from his refusal so far to set a date for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq."

Double Duh.

2013? Five more years? That's at least another half a trillion dollars, and who knows how many more troops returning in body bags to Dover, DE.

John McCain's perspective on the war is emminently clear, and it does not jive with the American people. There needs to be a renewed effort on educating people on the local cost of this war to the towns in New Jersey, town by town.

DUH

This just in from the New York Times:

May 15, 2008:

"After three losses in special Congressional races, some senior Republicans urged their party’s candidates to distance themselves from President Bush."