Little-Gooch Battle Continues
After a detente that lasted through the general election, the battle between CD-6 GOP rivals Anna Little and Diane Gooch seems to be heating up again. Little bested Gooch by 83 votes in the 6th district Republican primary last spring and went on to lose to incumbent Congressman Frank Pallone by 11%, which is the closest any Republican has come to Pallone since 1994.
Gooch didn’t exactly fade into the background after the primary, as is the custom for defeated primary candidates not named Lonegan. She stepped up her editorial writing in the TwoRiversTimes, the weekly newspaper she and her husband Mickey own. She formed Strong New Jersey, an issue advocacy organization that ran ads against John Adler in CD-3 and she funded an anti-Pallone ad for Voice for My Child.
After announcing her 2012 candidacy for Congress in her concession speech on Noveber 2, Little tossed the first post election volley at Gooch when her campaign manager told a TwoRiverTimes reporter, “We’re planning on running whether your boss decides to run or not.”
Gooch returned the volley during this week’s edition of NJN’s On The Record with Michael Aron. She told Aron that if she felt she was the best candidate against Frank Pallone after the congressional districts are redrawn that she would run for the seat again. While praising the Tea Parties for the energy they brought to the campaign, Gooch said they made mistakes in some of the candidates they choose. She mentioned Delaware’s “I’m not a witch” Christine O’Donnell and Little as two of those mistakes.
Gooch’s appearance On the Record was broadcast this morning at 9 and 11. It will be broadcast again tomorrow at 6:30 am. As of this posting the program has not been posted on NJN’s website. If NJN’s webmaster follows the usual schedule, it will be posted here tomorrow after the final broadcast.
More from my site
CD-6 Primary: It will all come down to turnout
Scott and Anna have jumped the shark
Anna Little, David Corsi won’t be Tea Party candidates in GOP Primary
Could Pallone Be A Redistricting Target?
Little mentioned as U.S. Senate candidate
Look who is covering Little and Pallone!
Who is Christine Hanlon? The Monmouth County GOP Chair’s Race, Part 4
Gooch Steps Down As Two River Times Publisher- Gooch “has a decision to make”
- Gooch would challenge Pallone or Holt
Diana Gooch is the Nelson Rockefeller of Monmouth County.She equates money as her connecting tissue to the people in Monmouth County.She has never held public office,seldom attends republican events,and would no more know what to do in the Bayshore than Obama would at a Republican ball.Your political life Diane is better served as a king maker ,not a king.
Gooch is a liberal carpetbagger. She doesn’t even live in the district that Frank Pallone represents. She is unaccomplished. She is the reason we have a Tea Party.
Go back to Rumson, Diane. I am bored with you already.
Jim,
I edited your comment and your comments are the only ones I’ve deleted since moving the site.
Please class up your attacks a bit. The line is where I say it is. You’ve been reading long enough to sense if you’re crossing the line at my house.
It is way too early for either of them to declare and quite frankly neither of them can win if the district does not change dramatically during redistricting. The only question is who would loose by a bigger margin.
Dianne still does not get it. No matter how much money she spends that district will always view her with skepticism.
Ana had her shot. I do not think she will do as well second time out.
Quite frankly they both look silly arguing about it two weeks after the election.
Why do intelligent women do this to each other? I do not have any knowledge of public accomplishments by Diane Gooch but certainly feel is competent to represent. Anna Little connects with the people. Unfortunately not enough to have won. Nevertheless, the last thing I am interested in is a cat fight between two women who stand to lose more humiliating themselves with these “public displays of affection” than if they would educate their party and learn from their respective mistakes.
OK here is my 2 cents…Anna proved to be the best candidate to date since 94 to take out Frank Pallone.She proved Money is irrellivant in winning elections as proff of the primary as well as the general.Pallone had over 4 million,as well as a jerrymandured district to ensure a victory.Anna Little,If she had gotten more REAL support from the GOP heads as well as the elected officials in every town in the district.I think that the 14000 votes she lost by would not have been anywhere near the final number.You establishment GOP people whom did not commit to walk your towns and make all the phone calls and run fund raisers I hold as the reason for Anna’s short fall in the general election.The support from many was luke warm at best by the GOP and they jumped in way to late.
Now Diane is a wonderful woman .I have had a great meeting during the primarys with her ,but this was months after repeated attempts to set up this type of meeting ,where she twice RSVP’ed she was attending only to not show and the third invitation was ignored.Another thing about Diane is if you plan to run for an office of the magnitude of Congress,I would sugest maybe taking a course on the constitution,declairation of independance and the federalist papers to understand what your job discription will be.When I was asked by her campaign manager “what type of questions will your group be asking?” I said the Tea Party is basically a constitutional type of orginization and we would be asking about her views on how the present administrations agenda conflicts with the constitution”in which all congress people sware to take an oath to uphold and defend this document.I was told well she really is not a constitutional exspert. I feel if you apply for a job of that importance you should know that 26 page document.for crying out loud the bills she would be reading if she wom would be thousands of pages…
So we will see in a year or so how far She progressed in polishing her skills at knowing the job discription.As well as where Anna is Politically in the same time we will be looking to vet congressional candidates for 2012
Anyone who has read my writings knows I am not a big fan of the local party hacks however the premise that
“,If she had gotten more REAL support from the GOP heads as well as the elected officials in every town in the district.I think that the 14000 votes she lost by would not have been anywhere near the final number.You establishment GOP people whom did not commit to walk your towns and make all the phone calls and run fund raisers I hold as the reason for Anna’s short fall in the general election”
is absurd.
anna got more party support then any candidate in the last 10 years. she recieved more support then Sipperelle. She recieved more support then the Freeholders usually get.
Mr. hegarty is clueless about how the local parties operate.
How are you all doing? LOL Enjoy kids the debate of who would like to lose to me in double digits in 2 years ago. Enjoy spending all your time, energy, and money to get clobbered again. Doesent matter which bimbo it it is.
Diane Gooch is a fine example of the kind of friendly spirited, self empowered, executive office oriented candidate we need seeking elected office in New Jersey. Knowing (familar with) the US Consitution, important! Obtaining the Republican Party “official” support, vital! Connecting with people, Crucial! Articulating a realistic, attainable and inspiring message & vision for the constituents of the New Jersey 6th Congressional District, RARE! Anna Little had the support she needed in the end. True it did not come easy and immediate, but she did have more support than most over the course of the last ten years. Many other people in elected office supported her as the Republican Candidate, but not as an individual. I like Anne Little she was / is very weel received in Neptune, going way back as far as the NJ State Little League Campionships in 2006. She was a Mon. Co. Freeholder then, running with Andrew Lucas, another exceptional person of tremendous integrity. Diane however is a bit more polished and executive in nature. I think she probably has more effective administrative skills and yet at the same time is relatable to most. As a member of the Board of Trustees of the Midtwown Urban Renaissance Corporation (MURC) (non-profit developer revitalizing Midtown Neptune) Diane was way out ahead in agreeing to meet with our group and most importantly listened to what we had to say! She didn’t sell us anything, but naturally expreseed her willingness to deliver meaningful change in the less affluent areas of Monmouth County. We’ve never heard back from “fambulous” Frank one time! Diane endeavors to understand what she hearing, before she insists and or requests to be understood. very RARE!
Anna is a really wonderful person, but a minority fraction of her campaign team (Tea Party) were undisciplined and wreckless at times. Especially with respect to how they treated other Republican Campaigns and Candidates. Someone should have laid down some ground rules and explained how to play nicely in the political sand-box. I don’t think most people are even paying attention to any swabble going on right now. In the end Diane deserves her shot, at least at another primary. Diane is a more Washington D.C. suitable person. Anna is “hometown – neighborhood (folksy) better suited for Freehold. Frank has been good for the environment, but doesn’t move anything through congress unless we spend money on it. His domestic policies are killing our Regioal Economy and certainly crippling the National one. He doesn’t care, every dollar coming out of Washington buys votes! Public assistance is more addictive than cigarettes, and unfortunately much more easy inherited & passed down from generation to generation. The social & economic policies that Frank has supported while in office have set back the poor another twenty years. Again, he doesn’t vare because he can’t see it from his own neighborhood. It’s all part of a good debate and needs to be executed with only factual information and conducted honor and self-respect.
to even have these conversations, at this time!.. every election cycle has its own dynamics,this’ll be at the heels of months of crazy Presidential primaries,and whether the new Congress has done a better job for the folks.. who knows what that district will look like, who else would be interested, and, most of all, if Frankie is even IN that seat?.. “the Laut,” as with all of us, can’t live forever, and that’s where Frank wants to be, he will have $5 or 6 gazillions to buy that Senate seat with, at that point,so, just wait and see all the “brave” souls, who will suddenly decide they are just perfect to rep. whatever that district looks like!..the ladies are best suited to keep smiling, do their respective things they do, and WAIT and see!!!(their supporters, included!).. so much speculation so soon is unfounded and purely personally based : a sense of entitlement or “wishful thinking,” for anyone, will/ does NOT make it so!
Anna Little was NJ’s single best-known example of the single best-known political movement in a generation. And she performed horribly. Why? Because she is a horrible candidate.
This is not about Gooch vs. Little. It’s about the fact that Anna Little failed in every aspect of her campaign. She raised almost no money. She underperformed the rest of the ticket — unheard of among top-of-the-ticket races. Her strategy was horrible — releasing a bogus poll three weeks before Election Day was presumably designed to raise funds, but instead simply insured that Pallone would spend the few bucks it took to guarantee him a double-digit victory. And she wore out her welcome among those who know her best, including her own hometown. Her daily hectoring calls to the NJGOP earned her the wrath of the state committee, which grew tired of being told what a genius she is.
Anna Little is not a credible candidate. She has no political future.
Arthur – why not do a story about Anna Little losing highlands?
Cheers,
FP
Francis–I was the first to report Little’s loss in Highlands.
Silly – I know lots of “Wonderful woman/women” and would not vote for any of them to represent me in Congress. You’ll know the right one when you see him/her. In the meantime – GOP – go to those towns where you lost big. There is a message there and it’s not only about the money thrown around by the current office holder.
@Art – just because Anna’s campaign manager said something, DOESN’T mean that it came from Anna. I respectfully and firmly request that you clarify in this post that her campaign manager made that statement on his own, and Anna didn’t approve that comment. I know that many people during the campaign said things to others that didn’t come from Anna, and shouldn’t have been said.
@TL – your comment about Brians comment being “totally clueless” is itself totally clueless. Were you involved in the campaign? If not, can you say for certain that Anna did get the most help? No. I was part of the campaign, and Anna didn’t get help from the GOP party the way she should have, because she doesn’t walk in lock-step with the party. When they’re wrong, and wnat to go against the people she represents, she does what’s best for her constituents, NOT her own power or the parties’ power.
@Frank – IF that really is you, I have one thing to say – BRING IT ON!!!!! next time, you aren’t going to be so lucky.
@Michael – from my several experiences with Diane – specifically referring to the 4 qualifications for running for this office – she doesn’t qualify on any of the categories. As for your comments “Diane however is a bit more polished and executive in nature. I think she probably has more effective administrative skills and yet at the same time is relatable to most” and “Anna is a really wonderful person, but a minority fraction of her campaign team (Tea Party) were undisciplined and wreckless at times…Someone should have laid down some ground rules and explained how to play nicely in the political sand-box.” We don’t need another person like Frank Pallone or Barack Obama who will say what a person wants to hear just to get reelected and not do anything, we need a perosn who will buck the system when necessary to stay in line with their constituents wishes. Anna is that kind of person, Diane is not. The same thing with the TEA Party individuals. If you actually looked at their past political activity, you’d find that this was the first time for most of them to actually be involved with a campaign. Were there bumps and wrinkles that need to be worked out? yes. does that mean they should disband and re-assimilate back into their political parties and go back to their prior apathetic state? NO!
@MonmouthPolitics – You say “…It’s about the fact that Anna Little failed in every aspect of her campaign.” Will I say that she did everything right? No, because she is not perfect. I do say that you’re wrong, and that she did most of the things right. Anna raised such a little amount because she started her campaign in March, and didn’t have time to build up a bank account to spend on the race. Nor did the GOP help her by contacting their lists and asking them to help support her. You say that she under-performed the rest of the ticket – what possibly makes you think that? She worked harder and longer than any other candidate on the ballot this year. As for her releasing “a bogus poll” – obviously you aren’t knowledgeable about the poll, because it wasn’t bogus, and releasing it early DID net her some money. however, due to the parties general lack of support, she had to release it early and in doing so, tipped off pallone to his situation, causing him to end up spending over $2M to her $400K. You say that “Her daily hectoring calls to the NJGOP earned her the wrath of the state committee”, well if they had helped her from day 1 after the primary, she wouldn’t have been “hectoring” them to try and get their support. If they’re upset that she was asking for what was rightfully due her as the primary-victorious party candidate, than we need to replace the entire party leadership with people that will help and support the candidates – whether they’re their personal favorite or not.
“Michael from Highland Park said at 11:40 am on November 16th, 2010:
@Art – just because Anna’s campaign manager said something, DOESN’T mean that it came from Anna. I respectfully and firmly request that you clarify in this post that her campaign manager made that statement on his own, and Anna didn’t approve that comment. I know that many people during the campaign said things to others that didn’t come from Anna, and shouldn’t have been said.”
Michael, I believe my report is accurate. Larry was speaking for Anna on election night and not just to the TRT. In fact Larry reaffirmed his statement in a quote to the Examiner which linked to this post.
If Anna or Larry wish to issue a clarification, they know how to do that.
Anna has immediately staked her claim on 2012 without ever pausing to reflect on whether the voters will have her. This is revealing on several levels. One, a lack of introspection. Two, a level of arrogance. Three, a desperation for the job. Anna, do not forget…we care about the cause more than we care about the candidate. Any supporter who immediately jumps to her defense would be well-served to remember the same.
Well, at least Gooch never threatened to become a Democrat.
As a matter of fact, Anna got more support from the GOP than any other 6th district candidate, at least since 1998.
Now was that still enough? Could they have offered even more support? Keep in mind that the CD-6 race was never a competitive, toss-up race. It wasn’t even Leaning Dem. The best ranking it got, towards the end, was Likely Dem.
Miles,
I have been around for a long time.
I know exactly what the party did for Anna.
I also know what they usually do for candidates and I can tell you that beyond a shadow of a doubt Anna got a lot more help from the local GOP then congressional candidates usually get.
Granted they did it out of fear not love but they surely did it.
“Nor did the GOP help her by contacting their lists and asking them to help support her. ”
The GOP called their lists and held a special fundraiser JUST for Anna. They did NOT do this for Chris Smith or Scott Sipprelle or for any other candidate (as far as I know). Art even covered it. It was held at PNC. You can look it up on this blog.
that Anna or other interested parties, either supporters, or the Gooches, anyone, will take the time to carefully scrutinize that flatfoot’s FEC reports, and “follow the money” he did spend, especially in the usual towns he wins so large in.. we hear the price has gone up to $75. per vote, (inflation, of course, he used to pay $10., in the old days, as was alleged many years ago!).. wish someone with real info and guts would take this slimeball on.. it’s his turn to be looked into..
Anna’s political career is over. This is unfortunate because she had potential.
During the campaign she alienated many of her supporters. They stuck it out to the end but they will not support her again.
She showed herself to be arrogant and ungrateful. She would not listen to advice. If she had she would have done better and might have won. At times she acted in what appeared to be an emotionally unstable manner. The people who she is listening to now do not have her best interests at heart and are exploiting her.
She dose not have the influence or power she thinks she has and the spectacle she is now making of herself is very very sad.