The RNC is sending robocalls from Rudy Giuliani and John McCain into the homes of NJ Voters. Here's the Rudy call:
Hi this is Rudy Giuliani. I'm calling because I care about what's going on in New Jersey. The Trenton Democrats broke their promises and raised billions of dollars in taxes. Business, jobs and families have been driven out of the state. Special interests dominate Trenton and corruption continues to fester at taxpayers expense. Business as usual can't be allowed any longer. We need your vote to get New Jersey back on the right track. On Tuesday, November 3, let's replace the Trenton tax machine for the real change NJ needs. Vote Republican
This is John McCain calling with an urgent message. Trenton Democrats broke their promises and raised millions of dollars in taxes. As a result, businesses, jobs and families have been driven away. These corrupt special interests will continue to dominate unless you take action. This is an extremely close election and your vote will make a difference. On Tuesday November 3, vote Republican for the real change NJ needs.
And the RNC isn't alone, Rosi got a robo-call from Cory Booker the other day. Let us know in the comments if you've gotten any robo-calls.
Oh, the conservatives aren't going to like this one very much; Chris Christie .... again! .... is bringing another GOP demi-star ahead of their poster girl, Sarah.
As potential presidential candidates stream in and out of the state to boost the Christie campaign and the GOP, let's remember first who is notcoming to New Jersey and why, particularly Sarah Palin. Christie:
"This is about New Jersey issues and New Jersey, and I don't think having Governor Palin here would do me, or frankly the state, a whole lot of good in the sense that we need to talk and focus on what the New Jersey issues are," Christie said during a radio interview on New Jersey 101.5 FM. "I hope MayorGiuliani will continue to be supportive and be here and work with me, but other than that, I think the people of New Jersey have to hear from me and that's the person they'll be electing."
Ah. So it's about New Jersey issues, unless he thinks someone from outside of New Jersey can help him, which obviously he doesn't think Palin can. But apparently, he does think the Governor from Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty's got game because Christie's got the welcome mat rolled out:
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty says he will head to New Jersey next week to campaign for that state's Republican candidate for governor.
[snip]
Pawlenty made his comment to reporters after his weekly radio show at the Minnesota State Fair. He didn't give any details.
Maybe Tim Pawlenty has a unique knowledge of New Jersey all the way from Minnesota. After all, Sarah Palin can see Russia from her house in Alaska, and Pawlenty can only see Wisconsin.
Our offer still stands for Blue Jersey to pick Sarah Palin up at the airport whenever Christie's super-duper right wing base can convince him to let her come. Now Newt, Pawlenty, Rudy, Santorum, and Romney will have all come to town for Christie, while Sarah Palin continues to have to talk to the hand, and not the NJ GOP. Maybe Palin needs Diane Allen and Kim Guadagno to fight for her to be allowed in the Garden State too.
Chris Christie appeared on CNBC Squawk Box this morning and he had a special guest host to help him through the interview. As Wally put it, next time on CNBC Joe Cryan will interview Jon Corzine:If Christie was still in court, they would call that leading the witness.
There has been a good deal of talk about Chris Christie and the NJ GOP not wanting Sarah Palin to help their efforts here in New Jersey. At the same time, Rudy Giuliani has been a welcome requested guest. Rob Tornoe gives us this visual today:
With New Jersey being one of only two states with off year elections, you can expect many of the big names to come through the state. While the Governor will have the President in on Thursday and the Christie campaign will have Michael Steele on Monday, Jay Webber has turned the party to a familiar name:
GOP State Committee Chairman Jay Webber confirmed Friday that Gingrich will headline a July 24 event at the home of Sal and Lisa LoBiondo, a Montville couple who are active in Republican politics.
Invitees to the private fundraiser will pay $1,000 each for a cocktail reception, $5,000 a plate for dinner.
It's not known how many people will attend.
Webber called Gingrich "an interesting figure who has a lot of insights on current events."
It's probably a smart move by the new chair because Newt is one of the few names with drawing power in their party. We should keep track of all the people who come to town while Sarah Palin is turned away. Romney has been here, Steele is coming, Rudy has been prominent and Newt will be helping the effort, while Palin is quarantined from the NJ GOP. Her treatment prompted this reaction from one conservative, pointed out by Fred Snowflack:
The message of the New Jersey GOP is loud and clear: not only is Sarah Palin is not welcome here, but neither are conservative Republicans. The GOP in in this state is a pathetic simulacrum of the party of Ronald Reagan - a political Potemkin Village populated by party hacks too busy shaking the plum tree to realize the ground beneath them is giving way.
At best, her presence here would have boosted the morale of the conservative faction of the Party - if only temporarily. I?m actually relieved that the Christie campaign made its intentions known, as this will serve as a warning to Mrs. Palin to avoid this particular pit of vipers
We'll see if Newt is able to tamp down that sentiment, because if conservatives stay home, Christie's got problems. An interesting note, the party website has the "Evening with Newt Gingrich" listed, which is basically a private house party with a former elected official, but not the Christie/Steele tour du Jersey which involves their party standard bearer and National Chairman. Make of that what you will.
And now he is taking the endorsement of a crooked politician? Don't believe me?
As New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons, according to previously undisclosed government records.
The documents, obtained by Politico under New York's Freedom of Information Law, show that the mayoral costs had nothing to do with the functions of the little-known city offices that defrayed his tabs, including agencies responsible for regulating loft apartments, aiding the disabled and providing lawyers for indigent defendants.
Giuliani took public money, tax dollars, intended to help the disabled and the poor and used it to cheat on his wife. That's supposed to be the kind of politician Christie hates so much it makes his head spin. That's supposed to be the guy Christie puts in jail.
With Christie palling around with people who are so eager to use public funds for their own private escapades, tell me again why he wouldn't approve of this behavior when it is for his own benefit?
Chris Christie was on the Sean Hannity show last night on fox, but he didn't go alone as he went with his buddy Rudy for moral support. Christie managed to repeat his talking points again when actually tossed a question and then Rudy didn't go 30 seconds before mentioning terrorism. He said Chris Christie is an example of how a political party comes back.
Christie for his part once again said how much he loves those Governors that are turning away stimulus dollars. Christie supporters probably weren't too excited with Rudy taking over so much of the interview while Hannity seemed more concerned with New York. Christie kept trying to bring it back to Jersey, but Rudy and Sean made sure to shift things back to NYC and the national Republican party. At times, you wondered whether Rudy or Christie were the candidate running for office:
If you're not a reliable Republican primary voter (as Jeff Gardner is a Lonegan conservative), you may have missed the robocalls that are going out for Chris Christie from Mr. 9/11 himself Rudy Giuliani and Bret Schundler. Vincent wrote yesterday about the fight over who the real conservative is and as Christie continues to try defining himself as the man, they're trying to help:What do you think of robocalls? They always annoyed me as a staffer. Somehow I would always manage to call after they got a robo call and most voters would complain about them. It would take more than a recorded message from Rudy or Schundler to get me to vote for Christie, that I know. But then again, I'm probably not their target.
Promoted by Jason Springer: Good to see you huntsu
I just couldn't take the sanctimonious, outwardly pious, do-Gooder Corruption Fighter Chris Christie taking the endorsement of Rudy Giuliani today. I had to comment, though it does not signal a return to form.
If you followed our pieces on Christie over the past few years it makes perfect sense. Giuliani was a US Attorney who used his office as a political stepping stone. Christie was a US Attorney who is hoping to use his office as a political stepping stone.
Giuliani did a lot of good as a public servant, but also misused his office for personal and political gain. Christie did a lot of good as a public servant, but also misused his office for personal and political gain.
But Christie's entire mythology is based on his anti-public corruption record, his stance that a cop taking an apple without paying was unacceptable. This is a guy who demands that the public hold elected officials accountable for their actions, and preened for the cameras and the editors each time his office took down another crooked politician.
And now he is taking the endorsement of a crooked politician? Don't believe me?
As New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons, according to previously undisclosed government records.
The documents, obtained by Politico under New York's Freedom of Information Law, show that the mayoral costs had nothing to do with the functions of the little-known city offices that defrayed his tabs, including agencies responsible for regulating loft apartments, aiding the disabled and providing lawyers for indigent defendants.
Giuliani took public money, tax dollars, intended to help the disabled and the poor and used it to cheat on his wife. That's supposed to be the kind of politician Christie hates so much it makes his head spin. That's supposed to be the guy Christie puts in jail.
But the myth is simply untrue. Christie used his office to do good things taking down corrupt politicians, but he also used it to promote his own political career and feather the nests of his supporters. He is at best a tarnished knight, and at worst just another weak politician out for personal gain.
Which makes the Giuliani endorsement perfectly logical: birds of a feather.
But the question remains: how could the media ignore this patently obvious contradiction?
While people may not remember the road traveled come September, the traveling circus known as the GOP U.S. Senate Primary campaign has seen many twists and turns.
In less than one year, the NJ GOP has gone through or proposed 15 candidates, experienced many false starts, had calls for resignation of the State chair and for candidates to drop out all while giving us tons of fun to watch. Here's a recap, in case you haven't been following along...
4/26/07- Assemblyman Mike Doherty became the first candidate to join the show.
5/2/07- A blog aimed at encouraging former baseball player Al Leiter to seek the nomination was started.
7/11/07- Anne Estabrook dipped her toes in the water forming an exploratory committee.
8/9/07- Assemblyman"Jersey Joe" Pennacchio said he was mulling a Senate bid.
8/10/07- Assemblyman Doherty ended his short lived Senate bid leaving only Estabrook and Penachio as candidates expressing interest.
9/10/07- Pennacchio tapped Morris GOP chair to oversee his then exploratory bid.
10/22/07- Anne Estabrook let people know she would run for the Senate seat.
11/13/07- Al Leiter crushed the hopes of conservative bloggers by saying he had his eye on a Senate seat just not Lautenberg's in '08.
This is only the beginning of the ridiculousness. There is MUCH more below the fold...
A Rasmussen Reports telephone poll of 866 likely Democratic voters shows Hillary Clinton leading Barack Obama by 45%-27%. John Edwards gets 11% of the vote.
On the Republican side, their poll shows John McCain edging out Rudy 9ui11iani by 29%-27%, the second poll showing McCain with a slight lead over the authoritarian crazy man.
A new Monmouth University poll of likely NJ primary voters conducted January 9-13 (MoE +/-4.5%) shows Barack Obama closing the gap between himself and frontrunner Hillary Clinton. On the Republican side, the poll shows John McCain now narrowly leading Rudy 9iu11iani 29%-25%, a huge shift from October when the New York mayor led 44%-12%.
Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll (Jan 9-13, Likely voters, MoE +/-4.5%) (trend: Oct 07, Apr 07 in parenthesis)
Among likely Democratic primary voters in New Jersey, Hillary Clinton currently claims support from 42% of voters, compared to 30% for Barack Obama, 9% for John Edwards, and 2% for Dennis Kucinich. Another 17% remain undecided. Support levels for Clinton, Edwards and Kucinich are nearly identical to what they registered in the October 2007 poll. However, Obama's support has increased by 7 percentage points on the heels of his strong showing in Iowa and New Hampshire.
"Senator Obama's early win in Iowa has swung some previously undecided New Jersey voters into his camp, but Senator Clinton's support among rank and file Democrats here remains strong," commented Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.
Clinton leads 45%-26% among Democrats, 46%-23% among whites, 44%-30% among those 35-54 and 47%-23% among those 55 and up. Obama attracts more independents by a margin of 44%-27%, leads among blacks and Hispanics 48%-26%, and leads 46%-30% among 18-34 year-olds. Based on poll internals, Obama's support appears considerably weaker than Clinton's.
"I had only been mayor of Hoboken for a couple months when Sept. 11 occurred, and I went over to New York City with some other officials. Fifty-seven Hoboken residents, people who lived in the 07030 zip code, died on Sept. 11. My mom, a very conservative Republican, loves Rudy Giuliani, and when he was speaking down the block from where we have our summer home, I purchased a ticket and I went and I listened. And honestly, there are people within my world who are supporting Rudy Giuliani, but I am not doing that. I am a Democratic mayor in Hudson County, standing alongside Sen. Menendez, Gov. Corzine, Rep. Sires and Maurice Fitzgibbons in backing Hillary Clinton, and I will be helping her every way I can."
I wish all the people who didn't support Blue Jersey would send us large checks, too.
In what may be the first post-Iowa/New Hampshire presidential primary poll conducted in New Jersey, Clinton and Giuliani still hold leads in New Jersey over their rivals. Before Iowa's caucus, the most recent Quinnipiac poll (Dec 13) had Clinton leading Obama 51%-17% and Giuliani ahead of McCain 38%-12%.
In a poll conducted by The Record on Wednesday and Thursday, Clinton held a 25 point lead over Obama:
The Record poll (by Research 2000, Jan 9-10, MoE +/-5%)
Democrats Clinton: 48%
Obama: 23%
Edwards: 11%
Undecided: 13%
Since their methodology may be different, it's not fair to compare data between different polls, but based on just the raw numbers, the leads of the front-runners in both parties have narrowed by about 9-10 points each. Despite not having a prior data point to compare against, the poll itself had some evidence suggesting the gap may have closed a bit:
Overall, The Record's poll found 73 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of Republicans said they were not likely to change their minds before the primary. More Obama voters than Clinton voters said they could change, but the poll also found that in recent weeks more voters had switched from Clinton than from Obama.
"My take is Democrats want to vote for him but they want to be absolutely sure he can win," said pollster Del Ali of Rockville, Md.-based Research 2000, who conducted The Record Poll.
Talk about bad timing. With just two weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses and three weeks to New Hampshire, Rudy Giuliani is laid up in a hospital bed with what may be the flu and is sending surrogates out to raise his money and make his case.
For NJ that probably doesn't impact his likely win on Feb. 5, but it will impact his fundraising since people want to see him and not some surrogate.
Rudy Giuliani checked into Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis with flu-like symptoms.
Giuliani is resting comfortably, a hospital spokeswoman told NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger, and will be released today.
Time for his release has not yet been specified. Possible presser, but no guarantee, Berger reports. His scheduled NJ fundraising events will feature campaign manager Mike DuHaimee (sic) instead.
DuHaime is a well-respected New Jersey Republican operative, but compared to the candidate as the primaries approach he is just not a draw.
A Rutgers-Eaglton poll (Oct 18-23, MoE +/- 3.1%) has good news for Hillary Clinton. Among New Jersey Democrats, Clinton's leads over Barack Obama grew to 52% - 21% from 45% - 21% in August. John Edwards support dropped from 16% in August to just 8% in October. Among Republicans, Rudy 9/11 leads John McCain by 54% - 12%, a slight drop from his 61% - 10% lead in October.
In a matchup against the two frontrunners, Clinton leads Giuliani by 49% - 39%, an improvement from a narrower 44% - 41% lead in August.
Clinton's support has also solidified. While in August, 51% of Clinton supporters said they were very sure of their vote, that number grew to 68% in October.
President Bush's approval among registered voters fell from 24% in August to a staggering 19% in October - an all-time low for Bush in the Rutgers-Eaglton poll. Among independent voters, Bush's approval rating is 12% with 81% disapproving, while Republicans are split 47% - 47%.
Hoboken Mayor David Roberts has an interesting set of alliances. During this last primary election he supported Hudson County Democratic Organization candidates like Sal Vega for State Senate. On August 6 of this year, Roberts made a $450 contribution to Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. And on September 25 he gave $500 to Congressman Albio Sires, who backs HCDO's rival organization, Democrats for Hudson County.
New Jersey Republicans may end up regretting their almost universal support of social liberal and former Democrat Rudy Giuliani. Sure, he's popular here because most New Jerseyans aren't batshit crazy on social issues, but a new Rasmussen poll indicates that many religious conservatives in the Republican party would rather vote for a third party candidate than Giuliani (h/t TPM):
If Rudy Giuliani wins the Republican nomination and a third party campaign is backed by Christian conservative leaders, 27% of Republican voters say they'd vote for the third party option rather than Giuliani. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that a three-way race with Hillary Clinton would end up with the former First Lady getting 46% of the vote, Giuliani with 30% and the third-party option picking up 14%.
It's unlikely a third party candidate would get 14% of the vote, but even a few points would be more than enough to swing the election. Indeed, in an op-ed in the New York Times today, intolerant crazy extremist James Dobson confirms that the religious right is promising to back a third candidate if neither party nominates a "pro-life" alternative:
Reports have surfaced in the press about a meeting that occurred last Saturday in Salt Lake City involving more than 50 pro-family leaders. The purpose of the gathering was to discuss our response if both the Democratic and Republican Parties nominate standard-bearers who are supportive of abortion. [...]
After two hours of deliberation, we voted on a resolution that can be summarized as follows: If neither of the two major political parties nominates an individual who pledges himself or herself to the sanctity of human life, we will join others in voting for a minor-party candidate. Those agreeing with the proposition were invited to stand. The result was almost unanimous.
There's some wiggle room there, because I suppose it's possible Giuliani could "pledge himself to the sanctity of human life." But that's a problem for the Republican party to figure out. For too long, the GOP has allowed itself to be hijacked by extremist religious fundamentalists. This time for a change, it's the Republican party itself that may suffer from their marginalizing intolerance and hate. Karma is a bitch.
