What happened to Stender?

The worst part is... (1.00 / 1)

That Mikey Doherty, mouthbreather extrordinaire', now sees an opening for his bottomless ambitions.

Man, lemme tell you, the guy redefines the word "feckless". Just a stumbling, bumbling moron.

I sure hope the Dems have a plan in the works for the possibility of him running.

The nom de plume has a long and distinguished history.

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by: Tandalayo Scheisskopf @ Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 19:31:56 PM UTC

Turnout in the 3rd was over 300k (0.00 / 0)

Most other races were 250k-280k

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/20...

Check out my 3 paragraph primer on Polywell Fusion.

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by: FogerRox @ Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 19:38:46 PM UTC

CNN numbers (0.00 / 0)

Lance: 142K
Stender: 116K

So - 258K?  roughly.

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by: Thurman Hart @ Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 19:56:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

A Primary in the future? (0.00 / 0)

You say Lance is the entire moderate wing of the House GOP. Well, if Lance truly establishes such a moderate record, would that invite a 1-on-1 primary that he could lose?

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by: Dvd Avins @ Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 20:05:26 PM UTC

obviously there is a turnout question (3.00 / 1)

But, further analysis of that will have to wait for municipal results that can compare 2004 to 2008.

The biggest problem with the Stender campaign probably was the loss of rationale when Ferguson retired and Lance was nominated.

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by: Creed Pogue @ Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 20:12:48 PM UTC

If you don't think Stender the Spender was (3.00 / 1)

effective, you weren't paying attention.  It got burned into people's minds and plays into the narrative of NJ politicians being careless with taxpayer money.

The DCCC ads were simply awful -- TV and mailers.  I received 4 mailers from the DCCC and there was no substance at all.  I think they did more harm than good by annoying people.

I agree that the attempts to tie Lance to Bush were lame.  All in all, it was a weak campaign, but I thought the same thing in 2004.    

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by: bubbaokie @ Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 21:26:00 PM UTC

What I said (3.00 / 1)

was that it debutted two years ago.  It was a known factor for which there should have been a plan to respond.  It's weak to pin this year's loss on an attack that was launched two years ago.

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by: Thurman Hart @ Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 22:05:52 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

any thoughts about 2010? (0.00 / 0)

Do we expect Linda Stender to run again?  Are there others waiting in line?  

Any truth to the rumors that she is going to get pushed out of her Assembly seat next year and be offered a job in the Corzine administration (for as long as it lasts)?  I hope not as she is my Assemblywoman and I like her a lot.

I agree that the ad campaign was dreadful, but at the same time, "Stender is a Spender" was downright childish.  Sadly, there were enough voters in the 7th who were dumb enough to buy that load of crap.

Is it possible that the 5th and the 7th are fool's gold for Democrats in the same way that PA is for Republicans?  

Is anybody willing to start talking about and organizing around redistricting or are progressives going to continue to let the Democratic establishment in this state do what they want?

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 23:35:19 PM UTC

I like Linda too... (4.00 / 2)

... but I agree this campaign was not well run.

Further, I think Stender did little in the two years since her last campaign to shore up her base and make herself a serious contender. The fact that the NJEA wouldn't support her is evidence that she couldn't line up the supporters she needed to energize her race.

According to the Star-Ledger today, Obama got about 300 more votes in Fanwood - her hometown! - than she did. She did little to ride his coattails, even with the lower turnout.

So I think that's it for Linda Stender as a congressional candidate. The question is, who, if anyone, can put up a credible race of this district? And if not, should Dems push to redraw the district more to their liking?

http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com

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by: Jersey Jazzman @ Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 23:41:58 PM UTC

I Nominate Rosi! (4.00 / 1)

....if she lives in the District.  (or someone just as progressive and strong if she doesn't)

It'll take a profoundly progressive, tough and gutsy candidate to beat Lance in 2010.   He will be doing his "best" to hide his Republican colors, so we'll need a contrast.

Linda is a likeable wonderful Lady; but she's had her shots at this.   If the DCCC had just given the money with no strings....and the grass roots people had used that money intelligently Linda would have won.

I won't repeat what I've written elsewhere on this site on this, but you can find it here...  http://www.bluejersey.com/show...

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by: Nick Lento @ Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 00:55:46 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Can you post the link? (0.00 / 0)

I've been trying to get the results for how Westfield voted in the Presidential race, but I can't seem to find it anywhere.  If anybody has seen town-by-town voting results and can post the link, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

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by: Bardy @ Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 13:30:06 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Heres a great column (4.00 / 1)

http://www.politickernj.com/ju...

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by: vingopal @ Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 00:53:40 AM UTC

whoa (0.00 / 0)

Did this site just put more effort in throwing hatchets at Stender right now than it did at Lance all year long?

Seriously, did Stender kill puppies or something? The GOP just got lucky in nominating a much better candidate than Fergie, and we got screwed by the economy becoming the major issue, and having the candidate with the pre-existing negative knee jerk reaction. That's all there is to it.

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by: Torgo @ Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 02:52:38 AM UTC

no (3.00 / 1)

Linda Stender's a great assemblywoman and I hope she continues to be. I donated $500 to her and i have no regrets in doing that because i really wanted the Democrats to pick up that seat.

I think people on this site are just giving their opinions on why they think she lost, thats all. I don't think most people here are doing it in a negative way.

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by: vingopal @ Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 03:56:18 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well (2.00 / 1)

how many diaries did you write about Lance?  Zero?  Then don't bitch.

Second, Stender should have run that race.  You got screwed by the economy becoming a major issue?  When every other Democrat was making major inroads on the economy, how does Stender NOT pick it up?

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by: Thurman Hart @ Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 07:10:40 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

because we've already been over this already (0.00 / 0)

Stender is a spender is a really, really powerful attack line that gets in voter's heads easily, especially when people's minds change focus from Iraq to the economy. Simple as that. And what exactly does "run that race" mean anyway?

But what do I know? I'm only a person who's lived in Hunterdon for the last 14 years who got exposed to plenty of this race due to location and being a Stender volunteer.

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by: Torgo @ Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 07:41:28 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Linda Stender Is A Fine And Wonderful Woman (0.00 / 0)

No one here that has commented on/critiqued her loss has thrown any "hatchets" at Linda.  Anyone who's met her and listened to her has to come away liking her.

Thurman's observations (forget about what I've had to say) carry objective clout.  She allowed her campaign to be taken over by the money people who had their own MO and their own agendas.

There is no profit in blame and/or recrimination....and I don't see any of that here.   It's just a matter of learning from our mistakes by having an honest discussion of what went wrong.

As for the "Stender is a Spender" slogan, I agree with you that on a certain mnemonic/associative level it was effective; that's why within a week of it's being introduced two years ago I proposed (right here on this site) countering it with "Stender is a Mender"/Stender the MENDER.

The idea being that Linda Stender has what it takes to Mend/fix/repair the damage caused by 6/8 years of Bush Republican damage to our economy, environment etc etc.    But no one took that counter slogan seriously, and we'll never know if it would have made a difference.

As for "spender" it was Bush that pissed away trillions of dollars in 8 years and spent our blood and treasure in totally wasteful and downright destructive ways....has Lance ever uttered a serious condemnatory  peep about that?

Also, I have to wonder if and when Lance has ever disassociated himself with the Bush policies in the last 8 years?   And if he did, was he vociferous, or mild?  It seems to me (in 20 20 hindsight) that the contrasts/distinctions were not properly drawn and that the attacks on Lance were not, therefor, effective.

Lance now needs to be watched like a hawk.  Simply being a pleasant fellow isn't the same as actually taking votes.   Let's see what he does...and hold him accountable next time out.

If Lance votes as a Democrat and supports Obama's initiatives; then that's great....where he doesn't; then that becomes an issue for 2010.    Further, if the Republican's in Congress present an obstructionist aganda then Lance must be challenged to publicly condemn and to disassociate....if he fails to do that; then there's more issues.

The bottom line is that the Stender campaign was, evidently, still running the 2006 campaign in 2008 and it failed.  We all need to face that fact.

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by: Nick Lento @ Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 15:45:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

What do you know? (4.00 / 1)

Good question.  Do you know how she allowed a known attack to go completely unanswered?  Seriously, did no one think that "Stender the Spender" would make a return?

She had momentum from two years ago.  She should have built on it, planned to counter the known attacks, and moved onto the fertile ground of this year's issues.  Instead, her campaign was run for her by outside consultants.

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by: Thurman Hart @ Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 16:56:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Maybe this race was lost before it was run? (0.00 / 0)

She didn't do so great in her Assembly re-election bid. Perhaps the first House campaign so badly damaged her that it didn't matter how her campaign was run? It's good to take stock and figure out what went wrong. On the other hand, finger-pointing does not seem terribly productive.

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by: JRB @ Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 16:47:17 PM UTC

I'm not sure (4.00 / 2)

But sometimes taking stock of what went wrong (good) gets labeled as finger-pointing (bad), and then no one learns the lessons they should.

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by: Jeff Gardner @ Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 20:36:39 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Lost and well deserved (0.00 / 0)

I don't think people should be shy about pointing fingers or throwing hatchets...there are plenty of targets, including the candidate herself.  I've met her and listened to her talk several times, and I (for one, apparently) was thoroughly unimpressed.  She didn't work hard enough to control the DCCC and PACs and their ads.  I know rules prohibit her and her staff from seeing messages from external funding, but that doesn't preclude general statements that she could have made to tone down the attacks - which did nothing but hurt her.  Attack ads, against a moderate, non-incumbent?  Really?  Anyone that observed the Coordinated Campaign ground operations and GOTV knows they were an absolute disaster.  Ground ops had a poor strategy, poor tactics, and poor execution...that's on the State Committee.  And the message (I'm a grandmother?) was terrible...that's on her and her campaign staff.  Call a duck a duck.  Lots of lessons to learn from this dibacle...so lets not beat around the bush.  Get everything out in the open and do better next time.

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by: Rszuch @ Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 04:33:55 AM UTC