Conservative Commentor Andrew Breitbart died unexpectedly of natural causes early this morning. He was 43 years old.
From BigGovernment.com:
With a terrible feeling of pain and loss we announce the passing of Andrew Breitbart.
Andrew passed away unexpectedly from natural causes shortly after midnight this morning in Los Angeles.
We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior.
Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love.
Andrew recently wrote a new conclusion to his book, Righteous Indignation:
I love my job. I love fighting for what I believe in. I love having fun while doing it. I love reporting stories that the Complex refuses to report. I love fighting back, I love finding allies, and—famously—I enjoy making enemies.
Three years ago, I was mostly a behind-the-scenes guy who linked to stuff on a very popular website. I always wondered what it would be like to enter the public realm to fight for what I believe in. I’ve lost friends, perhaps dozens. But I’ve gained hundreds, thousands—who knows?—of allies. At the end of the day, I can look at myself in the mirror, and I sleep very well at night.
Andrew is at rest, yet the happy warrior lives on, in each of us.
A Quinnipiac University Poll released this morning indicates that New Jersey voters support same sex marriage by a 57%-37% margin. By 67%-28% respondents said they support Governor Christie’s proposal the issue be decided via referendum.
Voters are split, 48%-47%, over whether Christie did the right thing vetoing same sex marriage bill approved by the legislature earlier this year.
“The numbers are all over the lot,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, “Voter support for same-sex marriage goes up every time we ask, but about half of them think Christie was right to veto it. By better than 2-1, they like the governor’s proposal for a referendum.”
The numbers seem to be all over the lot on education reform as well.
By 50%-43% voters approve of the way Christie is handling education. 60% think limiting teacher tenure is a good idea and 72% think merit pay for good teachers is a good idea. Yet voters oppose school vouchers by 50%-44% and oppose expanding charter schools by 52%-41%.
New Jersey voters have a positive view of public school teachers, 57%-25% but an unfavorable view of the teachers union, NJEA, by a 46%-31%. Only 42% of union households have a favorable view of the NJEA.
82% Don’t Know Enough About Kyrillos To Form An Opinion On His U.S. Senate Candidacy
New Jersey voters continue to approve of the job Governor Chris Christie is doing, according to a Quinnipiac poll released this morning.
Christie’s job approval is 55-38%, with a significant gender gap. Men approve of the governor 62-32% while woman approve 49-44%.
New Jersey voters approved of Christie’s proposed income tax cut by a 55-31% margin.
If Christie were selected as the vice presidential nominee, his presence on the ballot as Mitt Romney’s running mate would close the gap between Romney and President Obama, but not by enough to carry the state. Obama beats Romney 49-39% in New Jersey. The gap closes to 49-43% if Christie in Romney’s VP choice.
In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Democrat Bob Menendez bests Republican Joe Kyrillos by 49-34% with Independents favoring the Democrat 44-32%.
82% of the respondents did not know enough about Kyrillos to form and opinion.
“Sen. Robert Menendez’s numbers are only so-so, but nobody has heard of State Sen. Joe Kyrillos. He gets only the generic Republican vote,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
In the Republican presidential primary, Romney leads former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum 38-24%, with Texas Congressman Ron Paul coming in third with 12%. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gets 9%. The Republican primary survey has a margin of error of +/- 4.6%.
Obama beats all Republican contenders in New Jersey. Santorum by 52-34%, Gingrich by 55-30% . If Quinnipiac polled Paul against Obama, they did not report the results.
Quinnipiac surveyed 1396 registered voters, 446 (32%) of them Republicans, between February 21-27. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 2.6%
Former Highlands Mayor Anna Little has filed her federal paper work registering as a candidate for United States Senate.
Friends of Anna Little was designated as principle campaign committee on the FEC Form 1 STATEMENT OF ORGANIZATION that was signed by campaign treasurer Brett Rappaport on January 31, 2012 and received by the Secretary of the Senate on February 8, 2012.
The committee has established bank accounts at Valley National Bank in Highlands, NJ and First Virginia Community Bank in Fairfax, VA.
With 74% of the votes reported, FoxNews has projected that Mitt Romney has won the Michigan GOP presidential primary with 41% of the vote. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum came in second with 37%, Texas Congressman Ron Paul was third with 12%. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who did not campaign in the state, earned 7% of the vote.
Fox called the Arizonia primary for Romney earlier this evening based upon exit polling.
The Asbury Park Press editorial board is doing such a good job covering Monmouth and Ocean Counties that they’ve decided to expand their coverage north to Essex County.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker had a sit down with the APP editorial board yesterday. It was a nice interview judging from the write-up; Booker agrees with Governor Christie’s proposed public education reforms. He disagrees with Christie’s restructuring of higher education. He differs with Christie on gay marriage and diet. He thinks the Governor is a good guy. As is usually the case, no news was broken by The Asbury Park Press.
Gannett’s Middlesex/Somerset publication ran the same article and included a video on MyCentralJersey.com
This from Central Jersey’s supposed major news source that didn’t know that a new Monmouth County freeholder was elected in January until they read about it here and on Patch.com.
Monmouth County had 53 mayors. Ocean County has 33. Has the editorial board ever sat down with one of them?
Gannett is apparently surrendering the local news market to the Patches. Maybe as they change their business model they plan to merge all of the New Jersey publications and and put out a statewide edition of USA Today. To bad for them that NJTV already took the name NJ Today.
A Rutgers-Eagleton poll released this morning indicates that State Senator Joe Kyrillos is “virtually unknown” to the statewide electorate.
80% either have no opinion (50%) or are unsure (30%) of Kyrillos. 11% have a favorable opinion, 9% have an unfavorable opinion.
U.S. Senator Bob Menendez leads Kyrillos in a head to head match up by 44% to 22% with 26% unsure and 7% saying they won’t vote.
In a generic Democrat vs Republican match up, the Democrat wins 46% to 34%.
The poll’s sampling was slightly skewed in favor of Democrats. Of the 914 registered voters Rutgers-Eagleton surveyed, 37% were Democrats, 20% were Republican and 43% were Independent. The actual partisan break down of New Jersey’s registered voters is 34% Democrat, 22% Republican and 45% Independent, according to a February 18 report by Labels and Lists. The survey was taken February 9-11.
Kyrillos views the poll in a positive light for his campaign. His campaign manager, Chapin Fay, issued the following statement:
“With gas prices 50% higher than when Bob Menendez was elected to the Senate and unemployment skyrocketing from 4.7% to 8.3%, it’s no surprise Bob Menendez continues to struggle in the polls. His favorable/unfavorable rating is an anemic 37-24 and he is 44% on the ballot, which is Jon Corzine territory. When voters learn how Joe Kyrillos helped Governor Christie turn New Jersey around, they will support his effort to do the same in Washington.”
UPDATE: Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno is scheduled to attend tonight’s hearing at Monmouth University.
The State Planning Commission continues the introduction of its new plan, which is a revision of the 2001 State Development and Redevelopment Plan, with public hearings this week.
Locally, there will be a hearing on Tuesday, February 28, at Monmouth University, Bey Hall, 400 Cedar Ave, West Long Branch. The hearing is scheduled for 6PM with public comment and questions at 7PM.
There will be a hearing in Morris Township on Monday and in Bordentown on Wednesday. Click here for details.
The plan sets forth a vision for the future of our State along with strategies to achieve that vision. It is the culmination of several years of work by the State and its staff in collaboration with county and local stakeholders and members of the public, according to the State Planning Commission’s website.
There has been some growing grassroots opposition and pointed questioning of the plan by Tea Party members and opponents of UN Agenda 21. Opponents are expressing concerns of the loss of private property rights, local control and sovereignty.
