The new Monmouth University poll of 647 likely voters from October 22 to 25, 2010 shows an even closer race in NJ6:
Incumbent Democrat Frank Pallone holds a 7 point lead over Tea Party-backed Republican Anna Little, 52% to 45%, according to the Monmouth University Poll. A poll taken three weeks ago found the incumbent ahead by a 53% to 41% margin among likely voters in this district.
"Anna Little's gains have come from a tremendous grassroots effort in her home region of Monmouth County. Frank Pallone will need to bet on a strong turnout in more Democratic areas of this district to fend off this challenge," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.
Pallone has an identical 52-45 lead among the 7% who have already voted by mail. The President's job approval rating is 45-48 among the NJ6 likely voters.
As I understand the outcomes of polling, I can still safely predict Pallone will win since he is up by seven and above 50% with a week to go. But you'd be best off helping Pallone, Holt, Rothman, and our other Representatives than counting on probability. I think it's safe to say we'll get a close poll for Rush Holt later in the week. Sign up here to volunteer for Pallone.
Election Day is just around the corner, and I'm sure by now you've heard all about the challenge my friend Congressman Frank Pallone is facing in the 6th District from Anna Little - a Tea Party approved extremist.
At least according to Diane Gooch, who is doing an ad for Anna Little attacking Pallone for killing children with brain injuries.
OK, maybe I'm exaggerating, but just a bit. The bottom line is that an "independent" group is featuring Diane Gooch in an ad attacking Pallone for "blocking" a resolution to help kids with brain injuries.
Frank Pallone has a new 30 second ad out: Sides, highlighting his image of using government to protect against corporate abuses. What do you think, Blue Jersey?
...incumbent Democrat Frank Pallone holds a 12 point lead over Tea Party-backed Republican Anna Little. The Monmouth University Poll finds Pallone leading Little by a 53% to 41% margin among likely voters in this district.
Patrick Murray points out Pallone normally wins by thirty so that's not so impressive but it looks good enough. Pallone's favorable-unfavorable is 48-32, job approval is 46-36. Among other interesting numbers that show how hard this district is for Little is that the Republican Party gets 57% unfavorable and the Tea Party 51% unfavorable. FiveThirtyEight.com projected 59.3-37.3 before this poll was released, so again Pallone is doing worse than expected.
more below the fold
I thought I should explain the title with some history/details and I would hope you would contact Rep. Pallone directly and ask him to stop blocking H. Con. Res. 198 which is the most broad-based, bi-partisan health care initiative during this entire Congress with over 110 Members as co-sponsors (here are the facts):
Every year millions of American children and young adults up to 25 years of age acquire a new brain injury which makes it the #1 leading cause of death and disability by far (i.e., the total cumulative cases of autism in the entire country is between 565,000 - 1.2 million). Every time this happens to a family they are stuck having to reinvent the system of care for their child and family. The system of care is arbitrary from state to state, random from school district to school district and a complete crapshoot from one doctor's office to another.
The causes of Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury can be from trauma (such as motor-vehicle crashes, falls, sports-related concussions, child abuse/shaken baby syndrome, blast injury from war, etc...) as well as non-traumatic causes (such as strokes, meningitis, brain tumors, near-drownings, etc...).
The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation (SJBF) brought together more than 75 of the leading doctors, researchers and family advocates to New York City the first week of January 2009, to complete the first-ever National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury Plan (PABI Plan) which develops a seamless, standardized, evidence-based, system of care that is universally accessible for these PABI families.
In June 2009, SJBF announced the largest healthcare collaboration in U.S. history dealing with PABI by announcing one State Lead Center for every state plus D.C. and Puerto Rico to develop a Master PABI Plan for their respective state (since every state is different). While expanding the International Advisory Board to over 200 experts worldwide, SJBF also received letters of support about the PABI Plan from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine and the American Academy of Neurology.
Having established a national professional and family consensus around the PABI Plan, the next step was creating a national political consensus around the PABI Plan. SJBF had already begun receiving letters of support from US Senators (Cornyn, Kerry, McCain, Inhofe, Landrieu, Lieberman, etc...) and many US Representatives from across the country.
On October 13, 2009, H. Con. Res. 198 was introduced by Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC1) along with 47 original co-sponsors. H. Con. Res. 198 was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee and SJBF was instructed we needed to secure 100 co-sponsors (20 of them from E/C Committee) in order for the measure to move through the E/C Committee and be afforded and up-or-down vote in the full House.
H. Con. Res. 198 states the following, "Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That Congress -
1. Recognizes that Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury (PABI) is the leading cause of death and disability in the United States for children and young adults up to 25 years of age;
2. Endorses the National Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury Plan as the method to prevent future PABIs and treat all children and young adults suffering from a PABI while supporting their families; and
3. Encourages all Federal, State and local governments to implement the PABI Plan.
As of March 4, 2010, H. Con. Res. 198 has over 100 bi-partisan co-sponsors from 40 different states (20 from the E/C Committee). Since then, Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ6) and his staff member on the E/C Committee, Camille Sealy have been holding the measure up demanding that the wording be changed to completely gut the original intent of the measure: create a national political consensus around the PABI Plan! Patrick Donohue has spoken with Rep. Pallone on three separate occasions since May 2010 about H. Con. Res. 198.
For greater details on H. Con. Res. 198, please visit www.TheBrainProject.org/lettertopallone.php
All the Tea Party Ladies - Sarah Palin of Alaska formerly of Alaska, who stumped for O'Donnell. O'Donnell from Delaware. Anna Little from New Jersey. And Sharron Angle from Nevada, riding into Jersey tomorrow to campaign for Little. 'Tea Party-Approved' Anna Little is the Highlands Mayor who won a primary against better-funded establishment candidate Diane Gooch. And that makes her the GOP nominee opposing long-time NJ-6 Congressman Frank Pallone, charging at him from the far-rightiest right.
And tomorrow - perfect Tea Party Lady timing - Little has one of the biggest names in the Tea Party universe coming to campaign with her: Sharron Angle. You have to think Little and Angle are both going to have a contact high from O'Donnell's Tea Party win thisclose to NJ-6. And Little, way less famous than Harry Reid's GOP challenger, will get her chance to stand next to the woman Rachel Maddow calls crazy lady Sharron Angle, the Nevada curiosity who famously runs from reporters at her own press conference.
Christie v. Palin - Also interesting, the stakes - now the losing stakes - for our own Gov. Chris Christie, who trucked his GOP wattage down to Delaware a few days ago in an early lending of his popularity to another state's candidate (a rehearsal for Iowa). He chose the loser; the more moderate Rep. Mike Castle, who was seeking to move up to more rarified congressional air.
In fact, our friend Darryl R. Isherwood wisely pegged the Castle-O'Donnell matchup as really a contest of bigger names: Christie v. Palin. Tonight: good night for Palin. Christie, not so much. Weird day tomorrow in NJ-6.
Tomorrow: Little and Angle are both hot for more off-shore oil drilling (yes, really). They oppose a woman's right to choose and want a full repeal of national health care. So, don't be surprised if you're driving by the Copper Canyon Restaurant in Atlantic Highlands, where Little & Angle will be tomorrow around 12:45pm and you see labor folks, environmentalists, health care folks, women's rights advocates. You could stop your car and join them, actually.
Our Quote of the Day today is from Rep. Bill Pascrell. The occasion was a field hearing before the House Energy & Commerce health subcommittee, chaired by Frank Pallone, to discuss the Concussion Treatment and Care Tools Act. Pascrell:
We don't want wussies on the field, but we need to protect our kids.
Okay, so the quote's a little cringe-worthy. But the legislation, for which Pascrell is prime sponsor, looks very sensible. The ConTACT Act - that's Concussion Treatment and Care Tools Act (HR 1347) - was created to prevent concussion and brain injury in young athletes. It would set federal standards for when an athlete could return to play following a head injury and provide federal grants to middle and high schools to implement neurocognitive baseline testing. And that would help temper the enthusiasm to jump back into play that young athletes who feel invincible have, even when they're vulnerable. To say nothing of coaches pushing for a win.
At yesterday's hearing, at the Prudential Center, a former NFL offensive tackle, two doctors, a high-school athletic trainer and an educator testified.
But one speaker was particularly eloquent, Niki Popyer, 17, who used to play on Marlboro High School's basketball team. She had 7 concussions, and several ambulance trips with loss of consciousness. And she was continually allowed to return to play, completely unaware that concussion is cumulative and that her "constant headaches, sensitivity to bright lights and loud noises, tingling hands, and difficulty concentrating" was brain injury that might become permanent.
She's not allowed to drive, by doctor's orders. She can't go in the ocean because waves could knock her down. She's had 5 more concussions since quitting basketball, and one was from an enthusiastic hug. Now, consider that children's brains - including teens - heal more slowly than adult brains do.
The crowd obsessed with government "interference" in schools is going to howl at this. But this is good legislation.
This includes a basic paper trail and a manner in which the votes can be audited and verified, among other basic things. But the reality of this all is that in many many states, voters are still facing the same issues with respect to potentially stealing elections. Just because there was a big win in 2008 doesn't mean that the same vote theft and shenanigans that went on in 2000, 2002 and 2004 are gone. In fact, many other countries still use the same paper in a locked box as their means of voting - and they have the winner declared pretty damn quickly as well.
But I guess when the companies that make and run the voting machines for the overwhelming majority of the votes are major contributors to one of the political parties, that is integrity enough. We should just trust them, right? It's only one of the most basic rights and it's not like elections have consequences, right?
Anna Little is now following your tweets on Twitter. A little information about Anna Little: 2380 following. 2306 followers.
Now, while that doesn't seem to me like a really great number of Twitter "followers" for someone running for Congress. However, I really shouldn't talk. I have a mere 277 followers, and I follow 522 people. I don't know what it says about you if you are following twice as many people as are following you--I do feel kind of like a very unpopular high school geek. But, I digress.
Waaaaaay back at the beginning of the summer in June, on New Jersey Primary Day, Anna Little was outspent, out-gunned and out-media-ed by her billionaire primary opponent, Diane Gooch for the right to run against Frank Pallone for Congress in NJ-6. Gooch spent $200,574 on her campaign, more than ten times as much as Little spent, after raising $432,902. Little won the nomination on a literal shoestring budget of $19,503. So it goes.
Little, under her Twitter feed, lists the following bio:
I am a Constitutional Conservative running for Congress to beat Frank Pallone in #NJ6 and resist the progressive agenda. It's time to take our Country back!
Notice that she capitalizes the words 'constitutional' and 'conservative', and "country"---like she owns them. Like they are hers. Like she has had them trademarked and no one else can use them. I'm surprised she doesn't have a little "TM" in a circle next to each word.
However, she fails to capitalize The Words "progressive" or "agenda". Oh, she does properly capitalize the words "Frank" and "Pallone".
Before the primary way back in June, I asked AFP president Steve LonInegan for a prediction--and he correctly predicted that Little would beat Gooch. So, I offered him the following bet--which he took: if Little wins, then I write a check to AFP for $100. However, if Frank Pallone wins, then Steve writes a check for $100 to the ACLU-NJ.
And so, now I will begin to follow Anna Little on Twitter because they tell me that it's only courteous that if someone follows you, you should follow them right back.
My prediction: the ACLU of New Jersey will be $100 richer in November.
O.K. So I already told you all about our meeting with the Governor, and we're still waiting to hear back from him. I followed up by sending him a letter from the Federally Qualified Health Centers in which they say they're getting close to the "edge" on funding. It is quite obvious that in addition to those folks who were thrown off Family Care Insurance by the Christie budget, the FQHCs are not going to be able to provide for an influx of new patients from the Family Planning Centers.
Today we are having a Senate Health, Human Services & Senior Services Committe hearing. We'll start with Congressman Frank Pallone who will give us information on how a state plan amendment will be allowed under the new health care reform law. The Committee will also question the HHSS Comissioner, Dr. Alaigh, about the status of these centers. We've invited the Treasurer to share with us his difference of opinion with the Office of Legislative Services on the funding mechanism. We were turned down by Jennifer Velez to testify on the medicaid waiver and apparently she could not send a representative from the Human Services Department. Mmmm??? Should be an enlightening meeting. I'm sure the Governor has the message loud and clear that we are not going away on this important issue.
Budget Committee is meeting to begin discussion on some of Governor Christie's so called "tool kit". I predict that these ideas will be a lot more problematic in the legislature. As you can see, this is and will continue to be a busy summer for us. The "heat" outside is probably matching what I expect will be the "heat" within our Trenton caucuses.
Before the new budget really unfolds and folks feel the full brunt of it, the Governor started with a new distraction - School Superintendent Salaries. A worthier target than classroom teachers and easier to spin as "greedy guys". Just take a cursory look at this budget. It is clear that the Governor did not re-invent the way Trenton operates. In fact he gave us more of what he's blaming for our current economic problems. Oh yes, he made big cuts in aid to schools and municipalities. Whereas Massachusetts increased municipal aid when their cap was instituted. He is skipping this year's State payment to the pension fund, and will still complain that the fund going broke! Remember, employees continue to make their payments. And lo and behold, he's going out to borrow money to shore up the Transportation Trust Fund - a fund going broke because most of the payments are going to pay debt! Can you imagine what the Republicans would be saying if this had been a Corzine-Democratic budget? I think we will hear the noise level when folks open their property tax bills this Fall.
Yes, I know -- He has the bully pulpit! But we need to do a better job translating to the public what the Christie budget priorities mean to New Jersey residents who I know think their schools are important, and who rely on their police and fire personnel to keep them safe. They want to drive on decent roads and not pay increased costs to ride public transportation. They want uninsured women to have access to health care and to birth control. And yes, they did not want the "more than millionaires" to get a tax break, while the rest of us pay much more. Yes, it's going to be a busy and overheated time!
Since the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, companies like British Petroleum (BP) who cause oil spills are required to work with the US Coast Guard & other agencies not only on cleanup but on public communications. But now, BP's also spending on a separate, aggressive PR campaign. BP looks downright altruistic, according to BP. And Frank Pallone's not liking this.
As The Politico points out, the website's got paid reporters chattering about stuff like dolphins swimming in "ballet" through sparkling waters.
Sparkling waters, my ass.
Frank Pallone, who co-sponsored the Oil Pollution Act after the Exxon Valdez, says the Obama administration shouldn't allow BP to spend resources on PR when what's needed is real-time info. It reads as subtle rebuke of the president. Pallone:
Were I president, I would have gone out and hired the best experts in the world and put together a consultative panel to advise the president and his Cabinet secretaries, and peer review or second-guess everything BP said they would do throughout this entire time.
Want a different view of what's going on down there? Deepwater Horizon Response is the government's task force for the disaster. Or try this short video.
The training's in Ocean County. It's not too late to decide to come. And you don't have to be DFA, or running for office. It's the first time we've ever done something this big in this red a place. And we chose Ocean County because that's where Chris Christie picked up his largest margin of victory (oh hell, second largest - my county of Hunterdon was a shade worse).
The training's an intense 2-day boot camp, covering everything from message development, how to ask for money, social media strategy, how to run a canvass and how to get a job in politics. Full schedule.
Here are some of the extras that will make this so much fun.
Special Guests: Congressmen Frank Pallone and Rush Holt. Newark Councilman Ron Rice. NJDSC Chair Asm John Wisniewski. DFA national Chair Jim Dean.
Candidates Roundtable: A special session, for candidates only. Campaign mentors Rep. Frank Pallone, Councilman Ron Rice, DFA Chair Jim Dean and several DFA-trained electeds now helping to run their towns, like Ed Zipprich and Chris Leitner, who are both councilmen and municipal chairs in their hometowns of Red Bank and Point Pleasant Borough, respectively.
PARTY Saturday Night: Whether you can come to the Training or not, we'll wind up at the waterfront bar The Lobster Shanty in Point Pleasant around 7. Bar's to the left - of course - when you walk in.
Bloggers Breakfast: 8:30am Sunday morning. Hosted by Blue Jersey. Just a casual meet & greet for training attendees who blog, or lurk here at Blue Jersey or anywhere else in the interwebs. Jeff Gardner & I will be there, Deciminyan, tabbycat31, Jersey Shore John, and whoever else rolls in the door at that ungodly hour.
Looking forward to seeing everybody tomorrow. #DFAtrainingNJ
I had a call last night from Congressman Frank Pallone to talk about the concession by GOP NJ-6 candidate Diane Gooch to "Tea Party-approved" Highlands Mayor Anna Little. I had a few questions for him, and he had a few answers (emphasis is mine):
Question:Are you now running against the candidate you wanted to run against all along? Frank Pallone: Doesn't matter to me. Either way, the I have to run on my record and they'll make me the issue. The main thing is that it's going to be a clear divide on the issues. She's certainly a right-winger and it will be the biggest divide. She (Anna Little) ran as the Tea Party candidate, with the Tea Party's positions, on women's right to choose, on guns. But it's also about the role of the federal government.
Question:How do you see Little on the federal government? Frank Pallone: Well, I want to talk a little about activist government vs. limited government. Government should not do everything. But when we're in a recession - in tough times - that's not when the government should sit back and do less. We need to help out.
This is Franklin Roosevelt versus Herbert Hoover. When you've got recession, it's not the time for the federal government to say, Let's let everything go. The Recovery Act, the stimulus, efforts to create jobs, creating safety nets for people; federal government can make a difference for people, but she's against that. And people are going to know who they're choosing based on those issues.
Question:Diane Gooch was the candidate the GOP establishment wanted, but she wasn't the candidate who had support on the ground. How does this fact speak to you about the power of grassroots organizing? Frank Pallone: You know, the right wing thinks they'll get the the people out and do well. They think that they're the ones who have the grassroots support. I think it's important for progressives to to understand that it's important right now to get involved - knock on doors, volunteer, talk to friends.
The Right is of the opinion that they're organized. And they think that we're not.
That's a cautionary last statement, isn't it? I want to add here that Rep. Pallone will be a Speaker & Mentor at the Democracy for America national Campaign Training next Saturday June 26. We put that Training in Ocean County because that is where Chris Christie slammed Jon Corzine, whose Campaign Chair was Rep. Pallone.(Full disclosure: Jeff Gardner & I are both organizers of that Training.)
A 12-year exhaustive inquiry into the shooting of 26 unarmed people at a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association March, during what were called the Troubles in Northern Ireland, has been released and is being read all over the world today. The incident was called Bloody Sunday, and its significance rests on the fact that it was army soldiers in uniform who attacked civilian protesters. On that Sunday in January 1972, about 10,000 protesters gathered in opposition to the practice of detention without trial. Without direct threat members of the British Parachute Regiment opened fire on protestors causing the death of 14 people, 7 of whom were teenagers. Five of those wounded were shot in the back, two were run down by tanks. The Bloody Sunday Report- more on that here in UK's The Guardian - was produced by a tribunal led by Lord Mark Saville, a Justice of the Supreme Court of the UK, and has clearly called the killings "unjustified."
Rep. Frank Pallone is a member of the Friends of Ireland Caucus in the US House. The following is his statement upon reading the Bloody Sunday Report:
I would like to commend Prime Minister Cameron on releasing the Saville Report so early in his term and setting a precedent of honesty and integrity within his administration. Today the families of those killed and wounded 38 years ago in Derry, Northern Ireland, on the infamous day known as "Bloody Sunday", will gain closure. Today, the world finally knows the truth- and the 14 protestors killed in Derry on January 30th, 1972 were innocent. The brutal military action taken against them was unjustified and unprovoked by these blameless civilian citizens.
The Saville Report has exonerated those killed and wounded on Bloody Sunday and has brought vindication to their families. With the British government's recognition of the facts within the report, the world can now be certain of the actions that occurred that day. I hope the families affected by this tragedy 38 years ago may now be able to move on and find solace in the light this report has shed on the actual events of Bloody Sunday.
The Bloody Sunday shootings contribued to 38 years of contention in Northern Ireland, bringing direct British rule of the Parliament in Belfast until the Good Friday power-sharing agreement in 1998.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. Diane Gooch - rich, connected, and blond - was supposed to stroll easily to the GOP nomination for the chance to run against Frank Pallone in NJ-6. But Highlands Mayor Anna Little, "Tea Party-approved", had other plans and her campaign had more life, more visible signage, and way more ferocity.
And now they might have their win. politickernj is reporting that Diane Gooch - after a provisional ballot count shows her 84 votes behind - is prepared to concede.
"A recount is the only legal mechanism we have to secure confidence in the result, ensuring that no errors in the tabulation of votes have taken place," said Gooch Campaign Manager Tony Sayegh. "There are also some specific concerns we have about the treatment of Vote By Mail ballot requests, the security and custody of election materials, and electronic data cartridges arriving with error messages that must be investigated further. This will be done as expeditiously as possible; we look forward to determining a winner in the near future."
Anna Little currently holds a 6,804 to 6,720 lead over Diane Gooch with all the provisional ballots counted. The Little campaign is confident they'll maintain their lead:
Little, a tea party-backed candidate who raised one-twentieth the amount of campaign funds Gooch did, doubted Gooch could overcome the 84 vote deficit when most were recorded on electronic machines.
"She has the right to do that," she said. "I don't believe it's going to change anything."
It's a lesson I frankly forgot during the GOP primary in NJ-6: Sometimes organization plus engaged and motivated voters trumps the power of cash, and the institutional inertia of party infrastructure. I didn't see this coming:
Anna Little, the darling of Tea Parties, is declaring victory over Diane Gooch in the GOP Primary in NJ-6, and the right to oppose Rep. Frank Pallone from the right. This, despite a monster difference in their fundraising and spending - the last FEC filing pegs Gooch at about $433,000, Little at just under $22,000. And almost 50% of that came from the deep pockets of Gooch herself, the publisher of Two River Times, married to the CEO of a Wall Street brokerage firm, whose wealth runs to the hundreds of millions of dollars. Gooch, though Little was elected mayor of Highlands, also manages to be the establishment candidate, as the Monmouth County GOP Vice-Chair and universal favorite of the inertia set.
It's going to be a close call, and I assume that it's going to be a recount. I'm sure it's going to be a recount, because we need to count everyone's votes in the 6th District.
Yeah, the race is very close; less than one percent of the vote separates them - 105 votes out of 13,387 cast - and Gooch is talking recount. If I were Gooch, I'd be stammering recount too.
There's something refreshing about watching this play out. There's delight in watching the farther-right Republican best the party favorite - that can only be good for Pallone. But there's something organic and refreshing about watching civic engagement win out on the other side, like it sometimes wins out on ours. No matter who eventually wins the GOP primary, that kind of cleaning out the cobwebs feels right as rain today.
As I was watching the primary results come in on NJN, I was absolutely disgusted by my assemblywoman's interview tonight. So I was going to send her an email but I decided to publish it here today. I'm a strong supporter of Frank Pallone and when she argues he's out of touch, that really gets to me.
Dear Assemblywoman Angelini
I once semi-supported you since you do agree with me on the issue of marriage equality. I once thought you were a moderate Republican, but I was wrong.
Since Christie took office, you have decided to go hard right and take a stand. You are one of the lone legislators to suggest that the Christie administration sue the federal government over President Obama's health care plan (thus spending money New Jersey does not have suing the federal government over a bill that already saved New Jersey money).
When you were at Diane Gooch's party tonight, you were talking about how out of touch Congressman Frank Pallone is. I guess you fail to realize that Congressman Pallone is in the district whenever the House is not in session. Yes your districts do overlap, but you must realize that Wall Township is not in Frank Pallone's district. Unlike your claim, he DOES listen to his constituents.
Hey Mary Pat-- I got a newsflash for you-- not all of your constituents wear teabags from hats. Not all of them oppose President Obama's agenda. You are conveniently leaving out cities like Asbury Park and Frank Pallone's hometown of Long Branch. I do realize that you were in campaign mode, but most of the time state legislators and federal legislators whose districts are similar (like yours and Frank Pallone's) will work together. Obviously you are instead taking the obstructionist position that the Republicans in Washington are taking. Off hand I can't name one specific accomplishment you made for the people of the 11th district.
Going far to the right and praising Chris Christie the way that you do just might cost you your seat next November. I'll be the first one in line to work on your opponent's campaign.
Signed
An angry constituent willing to work overtime to see you defeated.
I knew Gooch didn't live in the District she's running in. Bateman lives in the 12th, too? Interesting ... - Promoted by Rosi
In New Jersey, apparently you do not need to live in a Congressional district in order to run for Congress to represent that district. Now that it is primary election season, I have been seeing a bunch of signs on the roads for challengers to incumbents (the only signs I've seen for incumbents have been in my lawn and a friend's lawn).
So in my neck of the woods I'm seeing a lot of signs for Anna Little (tea party Republican or as I like to call her Michele Bachmann 2.0) and Diane Gooch (Mrs. Hedge Fund). As I was driving down into the 4th district I saw signs for yet another tea party Republican Alan Bateman who wishes to challenge (according to his website) "RINO" (Republican In Name Only) Chris Smith.
One thing that both Diane Gooch (running in the 6th district) and Alan Bateman (running in the 4th district) have in common is that they both live in the 12th district. I've only lived in New Jersey a few years and I understand that the law is different elsewhere, but it makes sense to me that you should live in the district that you want to represent. To be fair Alan Bateman did run for Congress in his own district (unsuccessfully) but why not stick to the district you live in?
I do realize that New Jersey is very gerrymandered (especially Monmouth County), but wouldn't the best way to be in touch with a congressional district you wish to represent. Perhaps it's time to update our election laws and require a candidate to live in the district.
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