Best Super Bowl Ad: Halftime in America

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.Com

You can now reach your favorite website at www.moremonmouthmusings.com

Long time readers may remember that some url speculator in Austrailia bought the .com address while I was still writing over at blogspot.  He then tried to sell it to me for $500.00.

Today I bought it through networksolutions for $34.95.

Thanks for the many domain brokers and aftersellers who emailed me over the last two months trying to sell it to me at a premium.  If not for you guys I wouldn’t have known it was becoming available.

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Wake Up America – Artist Jon McNaughton

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Poll: Who should challenge Frank Pallone?

Thank you to all who participated in the design of this poll.

For good reason, political pros consider a challenge to an incumbent congressman an unwinnable  race.  Given Frank Pallone’s war chest and the gerrymandering of the district, the conventional wisdom certainly applies in NJCD-6.

All too often the candidates who take on this challenge, “taking one for the team” feel bitter after the experience.  They get no support, no money.  They are on their own.  When its over, they are rarely celebrated.   They feel used, because they were.

A smart candidate taking on such a race would measure their success not on the ballot result, but on what they built.  A candidate could take this on to lay the ground work for a future race, for this office or another.  To get a message out and alter the agenda.  To hold the incumbent’s feet to the fire or force them to spend time and money that they otherwise wouldn’t spend.

As we saw in 2010, a Republican challenger in CD-6 could win the Monmouth County portion of the district and still lose the election.  That helps the ticket elsewhere on the ballot.    Monmouth Demorcrats will attest to the fact that they lost on the municipal level in Bayshore towns in 2010 because of Anna Little beating Frank Pallone in those towns.  In 2012, without a credible alternative to Pallone on the ballot, the GOP will give many voters a built in reason to ticket split.  That would be detrimental to county and municipal candidates.

In selecting the 20 candidates for this poll, I omitted John Curley and Toni Marie Angelini from the list because they are running for reelection in their current offices.  I added candidates mentioned in the comments.  I added Charles Measley because 1) he included me in his poll, 2) Charles would drive Pallone crazy, and 3) Charles running would be fun. I added David Corsi for the same reasons.

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Christie’s Top 11

Politico produced a video of what they are calling Governor Chris Christie’s Top 10 quotes. (Hat tip InTheLobby)

It’s good, but I think they left the best one out.  In my mind, Christie’s best YouTube moment was one of his first.  The “Honest and Refreshing” video, made early in the term, where he turn the tables on Star Ledger Editorial page editor Tom Moran who was questioning the governor’s style or “tone.”

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Who Should Challenge Pallone?

The filing deadline is April 2.

With all the attention and excitement being paid to Joe Kyrillo’s U.S. Senate candidacy and a new map that most think makes Frank Pallone even harder to beat, there is little if any talk about a GOP candidate in the 6th Congressional District.

So let’s throw some names out there and have then have a poll.   I start with names that come to mind.  Please add names in the comments. Over the weekend I’ll create a poll.  

Former Highlands Mayor Anna Little

Selika Josiah Gore, Marlboro

Matawan Councilwoman Toni Marie Angelini

Matawan Councilman Tom Fitzsimmons

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin

Atlantic Highlands Councilman Peter Doyle

Keyport Mayor Bob McLeod

Former Middletown Committeeman Tom Wilkens

Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore

Hazlet Committeeman Scott Aagre

James Hogan of Long Branch

Oceanport Councilman Joe Irace

Former Freeholder Bill Barham

Former Assemblyman, triCityNews Publisher Dan Jacobson

Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno

Freeholder Director John Curley

Who else?

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Little Waiting To Hear What People Think Before Launching Senate Bid

Despite telling multiple press outlets that she was running and despite professionally produced fundraising appeals for a campaign for U.S. Senate, Anna Little has not decided whether of not she will challenge Joe Kyrillos for the GOP nomination to unseat Robert Menendez.

Little’s manager, Larry Cirignano, told The Asbury Park Press, “She’s thinking about it.  She wants to wait and see what the people think –if they want a choice or are they satisfied with the field. It’s (a matter) of who is the best person to beat Menendez.”

Click here to tell Little what you think.

Highlands GOP Municipal Chairwoman Carol Bucco has already weighed in.  Bucco and her husband Tony, long time Little supporters, were in attendance at Kyrillo’s campaign kickoff event at the Lincroft Inn in Middletown yesterday.  Sources tell MMM that Bucco declined to sign Little’s nominating petition.

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How Much Are These Commissions Costing Monmouth County?

Are they all necesarry?  What can be privatized?

The thing that I found most disturbing about the Middletown Library story is that Randall Gabrielan, in addition  to being president of the Middletown Library, is a employee of Monmouth County.

In his role as Executive Director of the Monmouth County Historical Commission, Gabrielan is paid almost $36,000 per year and earns pension credits.  I wonder if Executive Director of the Historical Commission is one of the jobs that you can retire from, start collecting a pension, and go back to work the next day.

I don’t mean to minimize the seriousness of the Middletown Library situation.  It is serious.   It’s bad enough that Gabrielan sold his own books and signed his own purchase orders.  Even though the sales did not amount to a great deal of money, what stinks about what he did in Middletown in addition to the obvious, is that the library could have gotten Gabrielan’s books cheaper from Barnes and Noble or really cheap from Abebooks, Middletown Mike’s  favorite book seller, for the library’s shelves. 

I suppose we should be grateful that Mayor Fiore and the Township Committee got wind of Gabrielan’s practice, that has been going on for many years, before he bought Middletown Mike’s newsletter, beautifully bound in brown cloth with gold lettering for $59.00 per copy from Abebooks.

I wonder if the Monmouth County Historical Commission has also been buying Gabrielan’s books.

But I digress.

Why does the Monmouth County Historical Commission have a paid executive director?  How many of the other 25 volunteer county commissions have paid staff? 

The Monmouth County Board of Freeholders are taking their budget meetings on the road this month.  Let’s ask them if there are savings to be had in these 26 commissions.

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Snooki Show Banned From Hoboken

Snooki won’t be cavorting along the Jersey shore of the Hudson River anytime soon.

The birthplace of the Chairman of the Board and baseball doesn’t have to worry about Snooki and JWoww filling the vacancy created by Jon Corzine’s departure, thanks to Mayor Dawn Zimmer telling MTV that a spinoff to the show that made Seaside Heights an international destination will not be filmed in her city, according to a report on NJ.com.

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