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Well, I guess this means Michael Illions is taking himself out of the running for Middlesex GOP Chair. It's an interesting development, really, because I suspect Illions will leach off a lot of the life and vibrancy, however much there is, from the GOP, as well as some of its younger members who see him as a more interesting Pied Piper to follow than NJ GOP Chair Jay Webber. - promoted by Rosi
Forget about snowmageddon, earthquakes and underwear bombers. A political super-duper-uber-tsunami of biblical proportions hit the NJGOP suddenly this morning when it was officially announced that former professional wrestler, reactionary blogger and teabagger activist Michael "Conservatives With Attitude" (aka "Crackpots With Agita") Illions was leaving the Republican Party to become Executive Director of the fledging NJ Conservative Party.
Seriously, folks, this could have some interesting ramifications for the NJGOP down the road. For one thing if they can recruit somebody like teabagger activist and former congressional candidate Justin Murphy, who got 25% of the vote in the 2008 primary, to run on the conservative line in the 3rd district it could make a difference in that race.
Looking farther down the road, to the 2013 campaign, I'm sure Illions will recruit a gubernatorial candidate ala Murray Sabrin or, perhaps, Steve Lonegan who can raise enough money to qualify for matching funds and debate appearances. Unlike Chris Daggett, who arguably took votes away from both parties, a wingnut candidate will likely take more from the GOP than from Democrats.
NJGOP Chairman Jay Webber, Joe Kyrillos, Alex DeCroce and other GOP leaders are familiar enough with Illions and his history of disrupting the GOP to know what bhe is capable of doing. They also remember what the NJ Libertarian Party almost did to Whitman's re-election in 1997 when Sabrin took enough votes away from Whitman to make the race alot closer than it should have been.
Whatever we might think personally about Illions and his ilk, NJ politics just became a whole lot more interesting, and entertaining as well. Stay tuned.
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