Yes, folks, it's ON! It's the Knockdown in North Branch! The Rumble in Raritan Valley! Stender the Defender vs. Flim-Flam Fergie in a no-holds barred verbal showdown!
OK, maybe that's over the top - still...
What is it going to take for Linda to cut Mike down to size? What's the strategy? Where does she strike first?
I propose a little debate prep here as Linda Stender tunes up for the main event: Sunday, October 29, 2006, 2:00 PM, Raritan Valley Community College.
My suggestions below the jump - add your own, and watch Mike get CRUSHED!
Trust me, Mike - losing a debate is not fun...
Here are my main points for the debate - add your own below:
Stem-Cells:
An absolute winner: shows Mike is aligned with Bush, shows he's radically right-wing, shows he doesn't care about the future of the pharmaceuticals industry, shows he's mean. Linda needs to tread carefully here, but she should bring up Lindsey Rosenthal and Carl Riccio.
Choice:
Linda should ask Mike what punishment he proposes for women and their doctors if they perform or seek abortions after his constitutional amendment is passed. And she should not let him weasel out of the answer.
Iraq:
To my mind, it's this simple: "Mike, of you had known, as we know now, that the president was wrong about WMD's in Iraq, would you still have voted for this war?"
then...
"Mike, are you proud of the ZERO rating you received from the Disabled American Veterans?"
Corruption:
"Mike, you took money from Mark Foley, Jack Abramoff, Tom Delay, Duke Cunningham, and Denny Hastert. Do you think they share New Jersey's values?"
then...
"Do you support Denny Hastert as Speaker?"
The "Incident" at the bar in Washington:
I say stay away, unless he brings it up (he'd be crazy if he did, but who knows?). If he does, say:
"Your own spokesman said you handed your security pin - which you need to gain access to the Capital Building - to a strange woman in a bar. Given the fact that your party has been unable to stop Al Qaeda, and we can assume they're plotting another attack, do you think that was a smart thing to do?"
Where Mike will attack:
"Stender=Spender"
Response: "Silly rhymes won't bring back the surpluses you wasted, Mike."
Union County/Democratic Corruption
Response: "There they go again. The Republican party has a miserable record, so the only thing they can do is smear people. They smeared Max Cleland, they smeared John Kerry, they're smearing Bob Menendez, and now, they're smearing me. Well, it won't work. I'm going to talk about the issues, Mike, because the people of the 7th District are sick and tired of having a representative who won't."
Stender was in the Assembly, and NJ's finances are a mess
Response: "I've been here, Mike, wrestling with these issues - you've never held a local or state position in New Jersey. You don't know what we're going through here, Mike, and that's why you're so out of touch with this district. We've been looking for leadership from Washington, but you've been too busy working with Tom Delay and Dick Cheney. That's why I'm running, Mike - New Jersey needs real leadership from Washington."
OK, that's what I think. Add your strategy below.
GO GET HIM, LINDA!