Heckuva job, Bloomie!

With Mr. 28% at lower than a 28% approval rating in New Jersey, Republican voters are leaving their party by the score. And this is especially true in the Big Apple, where Repubs are now taking smaller bites.

Across the river and through the tunnel, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that he, too, is leaving the party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Reagan to become an ‘independent’. Hell, if Lincoln and Teddy were around today, I am sure that would say good-bye to the GOP, too. If Reagan were around, I am not sure he would ever really know what was going on anyway.

Now, an argument can be made that Bloomberg was a lifelong Democrat, and never embraced the neo-con values of today's Repubs, anyway. However, he did stand shoulder to shoulder with Bush and other Republicans while in office and embraced their support and as well as their good will.

And that makes him the beneficiary of the Repubs in my book.
I guess when you have a couple of billion dollars, you can play fast and loose with your core values.

What does this mean for New Jersey? That Republican days are numbered here and they may very well become 'the third party' they were back in 1856.

Repub core values will be in the back of voters’ minds on Election Day, not helping Repubs in close races. While no doubt property taxes, auto insurance, sprawl, school funding, open space, etc. --- will always be the issues at the heart of every New Jersey voter ----Repub stands on national issues that reflect the core values of the Bush/Cheney regime in DC will be in the back of voters’ minds at the polls in November.

Voters will be lots smarter this year: The Repubs' stand on such issues as abortion, marriage equality, the war in Iraq, torture, spying on Americans, the suspension of habeas corpus, Alberto Gonzalez… [The list is endless!] will help the Democrats pick up seats in the NJ State Legislature.

This is at a time when the Party in power usually loses seats, during the mid-term election.

Two races to watch closely:

Senator Ellen Karcher vs. Assemblywoman Jen Beck in the 12th and Senator Tom Kean, Jr vs. Gina Genovese in the 21st. Both races will be very expensive and provide opportunities for the Democrats to solidify even more strength in the Senate.

Prediction:

Karcher, in a close race, will retain her seat.

Right now, an even money coin toss for Jr. He’s probably focusing too much on his Minority Senate Leadership race against Senator Leonard Lance, and not enough on his race in the 21st. I have met Gina and she is a contender.

Governor's Gala raises a couple of mil

I arrived at the Governor's Gala at NJPAC last night pretty late. Most of the big names were already out the door, but they tell me the fund raising was a couple of million. That's very strong funding for Democrats this fall --who oppose this president, this war, support a pro-choice platform, and value the working families of New Jersey. Very impressive. Tip O'Neil said that money is the mother's milk of politics. And, until someone thinks of a better system---publicly funded elections, maybe ----it's what we have to get out our Democratic message in a democratic society.

On the other side of the aisle, the Repubs raised just 600K last week when Bush came in to Edison. Top Repubs, not wanting a picture with a guy who has a 28% approval rating in NJ, stayed away in big numbers.

Our guy President Clinton raised 2 million. Their 28% guy raised 600K. That's the fact, jack.

The Thrill is Gone

The Thrill is Gone

The thrill is gone for New Jersey Republicans. The fight is gone, the passion is gone. They're whipped. Their President came to NJ and top Republicans stayed away in droves.

Right after 9/11, as the president stood above the rubble of the World Trade Center, his approval rating was at an all time high of over 90%. "I'm on top of world, ma!" Even the French whose taste compels them to love Jerry Lewis, loved President Bush back then. "We are all Americans!" the French shouted. But now? The French don't like him. America does not like him. The folks in NJ don't like him ---as his approval ratings hover at 28%.

There was an event in Edison yesterday. A fund-raiser for the Republican Party's fall campaign war chest-------where you'd think all the important Repubs would be. Not so.

Many Republicans paid $5000 a piece to have their pictures taken with George W. Bush, while others stayed away from the event to avoid having their pictures taken, since they have elections this fall.

You can bet that the Repubs that were not so cautious will see the President next to them all fall in campaign material when the campaign season begins in full throttle.

Democrats fold to Mr. 28%: Not SMART

I cannot express how disappointed I am that the Democrats, in spite of their ascendancy to control of Congress in January, have folded their tent, and capitulated to “Mr. 28%”, ----voting for Iraq war funding without a set of specific, measurable, attainable, responsible, and time-tabled benchmarks for bringing the Iraqi people in control of their own nation, and bringing our troops home.

"Specific, measurable, attainable, responsible, and time-tabled". If you use the first letters of each of those words it spells SMART. The Democrats were not SMART here at all.

The Democrats, once again, have shown how completely without a backbone they can be. I do not think they could have achieved less had the Republicans remained in control of Congress.

On a positive note, I can say that that I am proud of the fact that most of the Democratic members of New Jersey Congressional delegation voted NO. Rep. Rob Andrews was the sole Democratic supporter of the President’s failed policies in Iraq from New Jersey.

I wish that the Democratic Party had the conscience and courage of their convictions, and put this issue to the President in the simplest way possible by declaring:

"Mr. President -- This is the funding bill for the troops in Iraq. It has all the funding you have asked for. The bill supports the troops, giving them what they need.

If you veto it, you are the only one responsible for not supporting the troops. The rest is up to you, and it is the way the Congress wishes to fund this war effort, with an understanding of specific, attainable, measurable, responsible, and time-tabled benchmarks for bringing the Iraqi people in control of their own nation, and bringing our troops home."

It is sad to see Democrats not supporting the point of view held by the vast majority of the American people----that which gave them the majority in Congress.