This is the inspiring speech that was delivered on Tuesday night. (The first three minutes are missing due to YouTube time limits).
Garrett can only become weaker as more and more of his constituents discover what/who he truly is. I hope Shulman comes back strong in 2010 and completes the job he started this year.
Parsippany, October 29--Even though Frelinghuysen has raised far more money than Wyka in this election cycle, Wyka has by far the stronger presence on the video-hosting Web sites such as www.YouTube.com, largely because of videos produced by volunteers and by members of the public with no connection to his campaign.
Wyka says, "Frelinghuysen's campaign is money-powered, mine is people-powered. His supporters tend to be corporate interests who cut big checks. My supporters are middle-class people who make smaller donations but roll up their sleeves and work for the campaign. They've been making phone calls and knocking on doors. Some of them have made videos."
Some of the videos on YouTube were produced for the 2006 campaign but are still timely. Others were produced for this election. Still others are clips from public forums and debates.
An independent journalist with no connection to the Wyka campaign made a videorecording of the entire October 26 debate and made it available via the Internet (http://blip.tv/file/1400777). A videorecording of part of a debate from 2006 is also available via the Internet (http://blip.tv/file/9321).
In the videos, Wyka speaks about issues such as campaign finance reform, healthcare reform, support for U.S. troops and veterans, and support for the middle class. Other videos cover Frelinghuysen's record on veterans and the environment, among other issues.
Wyka says, "I have always believed in what Thomas Jefferson said, that an informed democracy will behave responsibly. So it's good that private citizens are videotaping public debates and making them available to everyone with Internet access. It's what the First Amendment is all about."
The debate runs about an hour with a few minutes at the beginning that promotes the college.
Here's my take on the debate....
Clearly Shulman won big on substance; I give Garrett "points" for being more glib and for being able to talk really fast.
Garrett is an "old pro", but his area of "professional" expertise is not in speaking truth. Garrett manifests the worst of the traits that make good honest decent people disgusted with many lawyers.
My sense was that Garrett felt that the faster he talked the less chance there was that anyone would actually have time to think about the nonsense he was spouting...that's an old used car salesman's trick.
Also, Garrett's patronizing and condescending tone/manner was an insulting affront to Rabbi Shulman.
Obviously, Dennis Shulman is blind on a physical level; but the moral and ethical and political blindness of Scott Garrett is a far greater handicap which does, indeed, disqualify him from serving in any public office, let alone the United States Congress.
This is amazing, and should be forwarded to all the wavering pro-choice Republicans out there.
John McCain mocks -- with air quotes and a sneer -- the idea that the health of the mother should be taken into consideration during emergencies involving pregnant women.
I won't lie: it's been a godawful two weeks for Republican veep nominee Sarah Palin. After listening to segment after segment of her interview with Katie Couric, I think my cringe reflexes are totally worn out. I'm sure many of you agre.
But for those of you who are already proclaiming a Biden victory in tonight's debate, I'd say not so fast.
The expectations game, as it's currently been set, favors Palin, in part because of those embarrassing interview spots with Couric. The congealing CW on this is that the bar is so low for Palin, that she can't help but exceed it unless she totally melts down onstage. So she's got that going for her, and we've got to do our best to try and reset that narrative, short though our time is.
The truth is, while Sarah Palin is certainly no intellectual heavyweight or even wonky in the slightest, she is an excellent debater. Check out this video of her past debate performances:
Clearly, she's a very skilled politician. So let's not start doing the McCain camp's job for them in lowering expectations for her.
I wasn't able to go to the NJ2 debate yesterday between Representative Frank LoBiondo and challenger Dave Kurkowski, but Kurkowski describes how Frank LoBiondo was questioned about his role in squandering over twenty billion dollars:
"I wasn't the only one last night asking LoBiondo to explain his role in this scandal," Kurkowski said. "He was supposed to be looking out for taxpayers and for the Coast Guard. As usual, LoBiondo refused to take responsibility for his actions, passing the buck to-and this is a new one-Bill Clinton. As far as I know, President Clinton wasn't the chairman of the Coast Guard subcommittee."
Deepwater, awarded in 2002 and modified in 2005,...
The first problems appeared in 2004, ...
Bill Clinton wasn't even President! But even if Bill Clinton personally programmed the computers that miscalculated the weight of the ships and made the radios that were not waterproof, LoBiondo still bears major responsibility. After all, we already knew he wasn't running the shipyard.
So far I've only seen one NJ response to the debate, and it's our candidate in NJ2:
"This was a strong showing by Sen. Obama," Kurkowski said, "and he touched on topics that are very relevant to the Congressional race here in South Jersey."
"As Obama stated early on, the question we must ask of ourselves is how did we get into this situation in the first place-both economically and internationally," Kurkowski said. "This is about accountability, and it is a question McCain dodged all evening long, just as my opponent is doing."
"Sen. Obama asked his opponent to take responsibility for rubber stamping the policies of the Bush administration for eight years, and he refused to do so," Kurkowski said. "McCain did not refute Obama's assertions about his role in getting us into Iraq and plunging us into this economic mess, just as my opponent has not and cannot refute my assertions about his record. McCain and LoBiondo can try to change the topic or hide behind empty rhetoric, but the voters aren't going to buy it. The times demand better. I know for a fact that Voters are demanding better."
Rate comments, so you can judge the quality of comments! -- huntsu
Evening, Blue Jersey. Can't sleep either? Well, please roll over, pass the remote, and watch the debate with me.
Some of my best memories on Blue Jersey are from liveblogging various important political events: Andrews vs. Lautenberg in the primary, Corzine's state of the union addresses, and so forth.
Anyone up for contributing to a liveblog of Obama and McSame this evening? I'll contribute some thoughts as I watch. You know the time: 9:00 p.m. on many t.v. channels, local and cable.
Combat-waiver decorated veteran Chris Myers will be debating John Adler at an event hosted by Veterans for Education (details here). Unfortunately, I will be working that night, but I'm sure Myers will not miss the opportunity to mislead the crowd about his daring-do while deployed aboard a ship in the Persian Gulf.
To be fair to Myers, he has a plan for veterans. Somehow, veterans only rate five points while energy rates thirteen, but whatever. I find his plan long on talk and short on specifics (basically, it is "we will do more, even if it costs money).
The first thing we need to do to help veterans is to have the national guard stand-down. They should have a universal healthcare card so they can walk into any medical office and get service with no questions asked. We should specifically target PTSD efforts. And the last thing we should worry about is whether or not veterans leave the service to actually use their benefits and we should roundly condemn, as unfit for office, any candidate that raises such an objection.
Cynics say no one will watch a debate on PBS Friday night. Prove them wrong -- Hopeful
The final debate between the three Democratic primary candidates is tonight, and it's on t.v. from 8-9 p.m. on NJN.
I'll liveblog some of it (and try not be a partisan hack) but would like some help doing so. Though you probably already know what channel NJN is, check your cable box for the exact channel (23 on Comcast in Camden County, for example). Let's hope for some substantive exchanges and some non-rehearsed answers.
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