News Round-up and Open Thread for Tuesday, June 5, 2007

i voted (0.00 / 0)

in the cherry hill dem primary.  for john adler in the senate and myself and my partner for assembly.

i guess you might say i like us a whole lot more than i like lou greenwald and pam lampitt.

activist for hire.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 13:03:43 PM UTC

I'll be voting later today (4.00 / 1)

And, like Jay, for myself. I'm running for a Democratic Committee position in Union County, and being the only candidate who's on the ballot for that slot, I'm cautiously optimistic. ;)

It's rather weird, though, seeing your name on an official ballot. It's as if you're just another person, another name for people to select (if they even vote at all today) on a long list of names. I'd guess that 90% of the people who vote for me today have never even met me. How do they know what I will and will not do? They don't know what I'm proposing to do, or what I stand for, or my background. Would they write-in someone if they knew, or skip my name, or vote for me happily? Who knows?

I can only hope that I will do my job to the best of my ability, and throw my own small pebble into the rock pile of votes today. Of course, it won't be a very big pile. :(


"We are the leaders we've been waiting for." - Paul Wellstone

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by: Stephen Yellin @ Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 13:37:09 PM UTC

we are trusting you (0.00 / 0)

Voting for someone we don't know is an act of trust. 

Good luck, and I'm sure you won't disappoint us!  :)


Frank LoBiondo Record and Jon Runyan Watch

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by: Hopeful @ Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 14:12:11 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks (4.00 / 1)

And I know I can be trusted to do my job well. I hereby promise never to hide $90,000 in my freezer, nor to go hunting with a shotgun without proper training. :)

In all seriousness, this is a great opportunity for me, and I won't let it waste.

"We are the leaders we've been waiting for." - Paul Wellstone

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by: Stephen Yellin @ Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 15:05:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

What you are about to do (0.00 / 0)

today is one of the most important ways you can help shape politics for the better.  The County Committee is exactly where the important decisions are made as to who will be on the ballot for all the races from governor down to councilman on the Democratic ticket.

Getting involved is actually a lot easier than it appears.  Sometimes, it only takes one vote to win.  Best of luck!

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 14:23:01 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks Carol (0.00 / 0)

I've read your work here at Blue Jersey, and I commend you for everything that you are doing. I don't know if I could be as courageous as you have been if the same situation happened to me, but I admire you nonetheless for it.

Thanks again for your kind words.

"We are the leaders we've been waiting for." - Paul Wellstone

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by: Stephen Yellin @ Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 15:03:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You're already courageous (0.00 / 0)

I didn't have the confidence to do what you are doing today, even when I was 30 years old.  I just cannot express how much your story warms my progressive heart :) I think it is really important for new folks entering the process like you are to let others know how you did it, what your thoughts are, and how you progress.  It is information that is so rare to come across and will inspire many others in turn.  Please keep us updated! 

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 16:35:27 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

no decision if convention bypassed (0.00 / 0)

Carolh makes a meaningful statement, which unfortunately, she and the Real Bergen Dems have done their best to contradict in the past few months.  The County Committe is where the important decisions are made as to who will be on the ballot.  Unfortunately, the will of the elected county committee is thwarted when individuals like Loretta Weinberg, Valerie Huttle, Gordon Johnson, and the RBG county candidates, whom I doubt anyone can even name, bypass the county committee convention, and run campaigns in opposition to the candidates chosen by the county committee.

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by: Bergendem @ Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 20:54:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

How dare they! (0.00 / 0)

Actually take part in a Democratic Primary.

How dare they actually let Michael Wildes and Ken Zisa actually withdraw. They shoulda sued those guys to make them run - no matter what!

How dare they - as incumbents who won over 70% in the General Election have the unmitigated, nerve, chutzpah, GALL to take places on the ballot that should have originally gone to .... to.... to.... them.

You are funny, I'll hand you that!

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 21:48:38 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

a ham sandwich... (0.00 / 0)

Well maybe not a ham sandwich, but a pastrami on rye could have won over 70% in the 37th over a republican candidate.  The seats could be won by any Democrat in November.  If such were not the case, people wouldn't pay so much attention to the primary.

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by: Bergendem @ Wed Jun 06, 2007 at 03:38:52 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Are you calling (2.00 / 1)

your State Senator a ham sandwich?  Now really.  That's just silly talk........

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Wed Jun 06, 2007 at 05:21:45 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Stupid (0.00 / 0)

Here's a quote from the Times article about Campbell's threatening to leave Camden if the old Sears building isn't torn down.

?This structure is completely inconsistent with what one would expect in a 21st-century office park.?

Is that a joke?  There are a lot of beautiful old buildings in this state that are "completely inconsistent with what one would expect in a 21st-century office park."

Other companies hang on to these old treasures, rehabilitate them, and turn them into part of their facilities.  But wholesome, All-American Campbell's Soup wants to implode it to build another monument to steel and glass?  Stupid.

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by: Somewhere In The Swamps @ Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 17:29:19 PM UTC