This guy is ridiculous:
http://www.nj.com/...
He opposes government bailouts. He chides Cory Booker for relying on aid from Gov. Chris Christie. And he boasts of his fiscal leadership as mayor of Bogota.
But every now and then, even Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan needs a little help from his friends. Even if those friends are Democrats.
In 2006, Lonegan asked former Gov. Jon Corzine’s administration for a $500,000 bailout to balance Bogota’s books, according to documents obtained by The Star-Ledger. And he asked for Sen. Loretta Weinberg’s help to get it.
In a letter to Weinberg (D-Bergen), Lonegan said increasing costs in pensions, utilities, insurance and salaries had left the Bergen County borough short.
"If granted, this extraordinary aid request will allow the Borough of Bogota to maintain its strong position and it should not be necessary to request similar aid next year," Lonegan wrote.
He only got $250,000 that year. In 2007, Lonegan needed more aid. That time he got $100,000. - The Star-Ledger, 10/8/13
That might explain why groups like the Senate Conservative Fund aren't helping Lonegan:
http://www.usnews.com/...
He is, in virtually every regard, exactly the type of candidate that the Senate Conservatives Fund – a SuperPAC founded by former South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint and now run by his former staff – pledged to support and help elect.
When DeMint announced last year that he was changing the Funds' designation from a "leadership PAC" to a SuperPAC – which allows it to raise unlimited contributions from individuals and corporations – Executive Director Matt Hoskins trumpeted publicly that SCF"supports underdog candidates who have been overlooked or even opposed by the Washington establishment."
Yet, even as the Times reports today that Booker ally Mayor Michael Bloomberg will start spending more than $1 million on TV ads to help prop-up Booker, amid what Lonegan's polling shows to be a tightening race, the Senate Conservatives Fund is curiously nowhere to be found.
A review of its Federal Election Commission records suggests the SCF hasn't spent a dime to support Lonegan or to hold Booker accountable. In fact, even setting money aside given that Booker is still favored to win, the Senate Conservatives Fund doesn't appear to have issued a single fundraising appeal, a single press release, a single Facebook post or even a simple 140-character Twitter message regarding the New Jersey Senate race.
This stands in contrast to: the National Republican Senatorial Committee – where I served as communications director – which has hammered Booker in press releases and social media; respected leaders like Sen. Rand Paul and Govs. Rick Perry and Chris Christie, who have all campaigned with Lonegan recently; and other conservative SuperPACs like the American Commitment Action Fund. Meanwhile, conservative leaders like Club for Growth board member Frayda Levin have raised money for Lonegan and he's been profiled by respected conservative publications like National Review. - U.S. News, 10/7/13
But Sarah Palin has no problem being seen with Lonegan:
http://articles.philly.com/...
Sarah Palin endorsed Republican candidate Steve Lonegan on Wednesday - thrilling Democrats and Republicans alike.
For Lonegan, who trails Democrat Cory Booker in name recognition and fund-raising but is polling closer than expected, the nod from Palin got him free publicity and a star name to rally conservatives.
He had previously won backing from two other champions of the right, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.).
"I'm galvanizing the entire Republican Party," Lonegan said Friday, "every part, and independent voters and those of us who share even the slightest bit in our principles."
To Booker, though, the Palin-Paul-Perry trifecta played into his emerging strategy for the campaign's final weeks: to aggressively paint Lonegan as a conservative whose views are out of sync with New Jersey's more liberal leanings. Palin gave Booker a high-profile target who might rile the left as much as the right.
"The people who would be swayed by those endorsements should already be in the Lonegan camp," said Brigid Harrison, a political scientist at Montclair State University. "If you're an undecided Democrat, if you have doubts about Booker, these endorsements, they're going to drive you right back into the Booker camp." - Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/7/13
Now in case you are worried about Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D. NJ) surprisingly losing this race, I say calm down. He'll be just fine:
http://theweek.com/...
Yet while Booker could still pull a Coakley and blow it in the campaign's final week, he is not, at this point, in any danger of losing the race.
Booker's lead has diminished, but it is still a commanding one. A Monmouth University survey released last week had Booker up by 13 points — the same margin by which Lautenberg won re-election in 2008.
The TPM PollTracker average pegs Booker's lead, based on the weighted trends of various polls, at about 18 points.
That's despite National Review needling Booker for his so-called "imaginary friends," allegedly fake characters whom Booker has cited many times to dramatize his connection to Newark's downtrodden. And it's despite BuzzFeed posting supposedly bombshell Twitter messages between the unmarried Booker and an Oregon stripper.
Lonegan has been unable to capitalize more on those distractions because he's a far-right conservative in a deep blue state. Lonegan opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest, and he's won Sarah Palin's endorsement, a development that should hurt more than it helps.
New Jersey's voters, meanwhile, haven't elected a Republican senator in 40 years. (A couple of Republican senators have served via appointment, though, including Sen. Jeffrey Chiesa, Gov. Chris Christie's (R) temporary fill-in for Lautenberg.) And President Obama won the state by a 17-point margin in 2012, indicating New Jersey is still very much Democratic territory.
Also bad for Lonegan's odds: There are signs the fallout from the government shutdown has begun to damage the Republican brand nationwide.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll Monday found 70 percent of Americans disapproved of how congressional Republicans have handled budget negotiations. And a PPP poll over the weekend showed Democrats with a chance to retake the House in 2014, specifically because the GOP's sliding poll numbers as a party threatened to drag down swing-district incumbents. - The Week, 10/7/13
Bloomberg has Booker's back so he'll be just fine but I don't doubt that Booker is annoyed that the government shutdown cancelled this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Vice President Biden has canceled plans to travel to New Jersey to campaign for Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) due the government shutdown, Booker's campaign announced Tuesday.
The vice president had been slated to stump for the Senate front-runner on Friday. - Washington Post, 10/8/13
I have mixed feelings about Booker and as you all can tell, I have been focusing more on the Virginia Governor's race and the New York City Mayor's race. But if you would like to get involved with Booker's campaign, you can click here to help out with voter turnout on October 16th:
http://www.corybooker.com/
Comments are closed on this story.