From the comedian…

Art,

Thanks, I think, for the post on your website about my new skill, pundit/comedian.  We need some levity around here.  However, if you read my post, I said it appears the Kochs would like Christie to get the GOP presidential nomination. And if Christie goes all the way to the Oval Office, then Lonegan, part of the Koch team as head of AFP in NJ, would probably get their backing for the gubernatorial nomination in 2013.  One thing we know about politics is that there are no certainties.  I did not predict Christie would win nor that Lonegan would be the next governor.  I just wrote about what apparently is in the offing, Christie’s entry into the presidential race.  

Four years ago, the pundits predicted a Giuliani/Clinton presidential contest.  So much for the experts.  There is a “lifetime” between now and the first caucuses and primaries.  Yesterday, the FL straw poll results add fuel to the Christie for President bandwagon.  Bachmann is toast, Perry is toast, and the others are marking time.  Santorum and Gingrich had their egos stroked from yesterday’s results but they are going nowhere.  

Cain is the latest “flavor” of the week.  But he in not going anywhere either.  He wants even bigger government than Obama as DiLorenzo points out today on the LRC blog.  Ron Paul benefited enormously from the results yesterday.  He was right there with the other candidates.  In short, he is not a fringe candidate as much as the MSM would like to portray him as such.

One more thing; The title of my post: Is the fix in?  Not, The Fix is In as in your post.  Big difference.

Regards,

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Newsmax: Christie Reconsidering 2012 White House Run

Obama responds by outlawing asthma inhalers

Newsmax is reporting that Governor Chris Christie is reconsidering his decision not to be a presidential candidate in 2012 and will make his new decision within days.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is reconsidering his decision not to enter the 2012 presidential race — and he says he will let top Republican donors know within days about his plans, Newsmax has learned.

During the past few weeks, several leading Republican donors and fundraisers have been urging the popular Republican governor to reconsider his decision not to run and to enter the GOP primary.

These Christie supporters note that significant GOP support has remained on the sidelines of the primary fight. Many leading fundraisers have yet to commit to any current primary contender, including frontrunners Rick Perry and Mitt Romney.

Newsmax has learned that the effort to draft Christie culminated in a hush-hush powwow held in the past week with Christie and several notable Republican billionaires.

A source familiar with the meeting suggested that Christie seemed inclined to enter the race but said he needed more time.

Christie promised to make a final decision “within two weeks,” the source said.

Another source involved in GOP fundraising tells Newsmax that that uncommitted fundraisers and donors have been receiving phone calls from top political aides to Christie, seeking their feedback about his possible entry into the race.

President Obama must have gotten word of Christie’s secret meetings with billionaire Republicans.  The Obama Administration’s EPA is set to ban over-the-counter asthma inhalers.

Christie suffers from asthma and uses an inhaler.

Mike DuHaime, Christie’s chief political strategist, has not responded to MMM’s inquiry as to the accuracy of the Newsmax story.

UPDATE

Christie confidant and advisor Bill Palatucci says, “Newsmax is wrong,” according to the Star Ledger’s Mexican reporter Ginger Gibson via twitter.

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Rick Perry Is Not This Jersey Girl’s Candidate

By Carolee Adams, President, Eagle Forum of New Jersey

Governor Rick Perry is not this Jersey Girl’s candidate – and the primary reason concerns his softness about illegal immigration. 

We need thousands of boots on the ground – and – a wall with electronic surveillance at our borders. Governor Perry supports only the former and, to what degree, I have not heard.  

We cannot encourage more illegal immigration by granting tuition breaks to those who are not citizens as Governor Perry has done  in Texas.

On my radar screen this morning came a report about Governor Perry’s attempted hush hush visit to the Inwood section of Washington Heights in New York. That’s part of Rudy Giuliani’s sanctuary city, by the way. Perry met with Latino leaders – in particular, of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers. Politically, it’s not problematic to reach out to the Latino community and those who are discouraged by the Obama administration that attacks their livelihood. However, traditionally, that community represents a large Democratic voting block. They might be helpful to a nominee in the General Election, but not in the GOP Primary that Perry must win first. His visit is curious. 

Rick Perry’s candidacy dies with his stubborn stance on illegal immigration that he strongly defended in the debate last night. Even the Northeast is withering on the vine because of illegal immigration. Reports indicate a minimum cost of over $3 Billion to New Jersey taxpayers alone to subsidize illegal alien activity in hospitals, schools, jails, and more. Illegal immigration cannot – must not – be tolerated or encouraged – particularly by any candidate hoping to win the GOP nomination for President of the United States of America.

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The Next Vice President Of The United States?

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Stunning Upset In NY CD-9

In what is being viewed as a stinging rebuke to President Obama, the largely Jewish 9th Congressional District of New York elected Republican Bob Turner to the House of Representatives yesterday in a special election to replace disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner.

The congressional seat had previously been held by Chuck Schumer and Geraldine Ferraro.  The seat has been filled by a Democrat since 1923.

A MMM reader wrote:

You do not know how important this was.  I lived in that district.  When Schumer ran he would get 88-90 percent of the vote.  R’s would put up a token.  This is like a D winning in Rumson.  This district is so ingrained with the New Deal it shows that Obama is very vulnerable because the district voters were not voting against Weprin or voting for Turner.  They were voting against the Big “O.”

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Neptune Nudniks: Pass the American Jobs Act. Now.

The Asbury Park Press Editorial Board opined to its declining readership that President Obama’s American Jobs Act should be passed now.

The problem with that is that is that the bill  hasn’t been written yet.  Obama launched his reelection campaign in earnest Thursday night in an address to a joint session of congress that proposed a 1/2 trillion in spending.  He said it would be paid for, but didn’t say how.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich, hardly a Tea Party radical “determined to dismantle government and its vital programs piece by piece”  said he would have to see the bill before deciding whether to vote for or against it.

I never would have thought that I’d be writing that Kucinich exhibits more sanity than my hometown newspaper.

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Why the Republicans should nominate a divider instead of a unifier.

By Bill Spadea

If you’re like many Americans, it’s too early to be thinking about the presidential contest next year. Even if you are aware of some of the candidates running, chances are you’re not glued to the set watching the early debates. Last night’s MSNBC sponsored GOP debate was interesting though. I managed to catch a few minutes of it and although I thought Romney was particularly sharp and Rick Perry made a very good case as a solid conservative, it was clear why the current field leaves something to be desired among many in the Republican Party. A former George W. Bush speechwriter said this past weekend that “I don’t think Republicans regard this as a strong field. So there is still talk of people getting in the race.” 

Let’s forget all the conventional reasons why there is a lack of excitement from the current cadre of presidential hopefuls. Romney has a problem effectively discussing the failings of Obama-care given his own health care bill in Massachusetts, add to that his 59 point economic plan…59 points? I’m worried there might be a test at the end! Governor Perry, although articulating many strong conservative principles, has the challenge of the latest critique of his Texas job creation efforts through government subsidies and ‘poaching’ from other states; there’s Bachman’s lack of executive experience and Ron Paul’s difficulty overcoming the fringe label among many voters. Gingrich, Huntsman, Santorum and Cain round out the field but lack funding and have thus far failed to light a spark among earlier likely primary voters. 

Despite the short-comings of the top-tier, they may all be able to put up an effective fight simply based on the current economy and the President’s own poor performance. Mishandling the economic crisis; the deepening of unemployment and under-employment; vast expanse of government beyond what it palatable for the average taxpayer; and out-of-control debt have all contributed to a general lack of enthusiasm for his re-election in recent polls. That said the GOP is very skilled at the art of snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory.

Only a candidate with the courage to polarize the electorate on the issues and present a stark contrast with the Democratic incumbent will win. We need someone to unapologetically pursue a new policy course focused on economic growth and individual liberty in order to win.

The first step is to challenge the conventional wisdom that our nominee needs to be a conciliator and a unifier instead of a polarizer by looking at the facts of history. There are plenty of successful Presidents who ran in the center and then governed from their partisan corner. Then there are a few who campaigned from a solid partisan position, specifically outlining an enemy, who won decisive victories.

President Reagan, President George W. Bush and President Clinton were highly partisan political leaders creating vehement opposition from the other side. Each had the polarizing effect of a wide gap between the support of members of their own party and the lack of support among voters in the other party as they entered the second year in office. See Poll Results

And each were winners of a second term because they appealed to the core of their own party and created enough momentum to show strong leadership on the issue of the day which won over the average voter who only pays attention at the end.

Obama, like his predecessors, has embraced the role of polarizer-in-chief as he knows that his success is dependent on his aggressive far-left agenda energizing the core of the Democratic base. As long as he offers some hope for a recovery and continues to redistribute your wealth he’s got a good shot at keeping the job.

That same zeal on the side of individual liberty and economic growth is the only way for a Republican challenger to have a chance of unseating this administration. Why is it that the Democrats are unafraid to be aggressive champions of their big government ideology while Republicans more often look for a middle ground thinking that they will appeal to everyone? Democrats like Obama and Clinton understood the value of the base and the importance of ‘dividing and conquering’ the electorate. Bush understood that as well when he stood for re-election in 2004 and certainly President Reagan understood the value when he used divisive terms like ‘welfare queens’ and ‘evil empire’.

Perhaps the best model to view for the upcoming election are the three Presidents who, in addition to causing divisiveness while in office, actually campaigned successfully by exploiting a major issue of the day and defining a clear position outlining the ‘enemy’.

Abraham Lincoln took a strong anti-slavery position and campaigned on stopping its expansion. His position was so strong the half the states threatened to secede if he won and then followed through. 1860 Campaign

Franklin Roosevelt ran a campaign pointing the finger at the ‘economic royalists’ and laid out a very effective populist campaign that defined the enemy as greedy businessmen and changed the country in a direction that set up the great expanse of government today. 1936 Speech

Ronald Reagan campaigned as a strong anti-communist defining the foreign enemy effectively and readying the nation to capitalize on their weak economic position. He also effectively defined the domestic enemy as government itself. 1980 Campaign

All of these men faced defining moments in American history, the Civil War, The Great Depression and the Cold War respectively. America is again confronted with a generational crisis that will have a resonating impact for decades to come.

The economic crisis today is beyond the dreadful employment numbers and slow growth. It encompasses the vast expanse of government that has put our nation perilously close to the tipping point of having more Americans taking from the government than paying to sustain it. If that happens and the Democrats feel secure knowing that entitlement benefit receivers outnumber working, taxpaying Americans, don’t expect a conciliatory or unifying tone from the other side.

Current polling shows that the economy and jobs is and will likely continue to be the number one issue heading into the next Presidential election. With nearly one in ten Americans out of work and another nearly one in ten working at a job that is insufficient to sustain a modest family’s standard of living, we’re in serious trouble.

The Democratic solution – which unfortunately has been aided and abetted by some weak, compromising Republicans in Washington – is to spend more of your tax dollars through new ‘stimulus’ spending – err sorry, just saw the White House talking points – it’s now ‘jobs’ spending. We’ve seen the failure of increased government spending under the current administration as well as the last Republican administration.  Not only is this an economically ruinous course to take, but every dollar the government spends to ‘create jobs’ is not wealth created, it’s a dollar redistributed by coercion. Of course the American people are starting to ‘get it’ and the anger that is growing among taxpayers regarding the over-reach and failure of these policies is becoming palpable. Many Americans seem ready to fire the President but simply won’t replace him with someone who will be perceived to do more of the same.

It’s one reason that Governor Christie is talked about as a potential top contender. His brash style, aggressive decision making and willingness to take on tough fights has some Democrats in New Jersey speaking positively about his administration around the water cooler. There hasn’t been a more successful polarizing figure in recent New Jersey history than Governor Christie. He hasn’t taken on the role of chief conciliator with the teachers and public workers unions. He’s stepped up and taken on the role of chief agitator and walked away with several key victories for the taxpayers. Christie’s success is contrary to conventional wisdom about reconciling and being palatable to the other side. He’s a fighter pure and simple and is earning the respect of former foes because of his unapologetic style and aggressive pursuit of solving problems. He’s a straight talker who isn’t posturing for image and acceptance. Instead he’s going for the jugular of those forces that are bankrupting the state and destroying the economic future for the next generation.

If it’s working in a blue state like New Jersey, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a nearly two-to-one margin, it can certainly work in swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Florida and New Hampshire where the registration numbers are much closer. Although a more moderate, conciliatory Republican may fare better in states like New Jersey, we’re likely to lose those states and do worse than expected in the swing states unless we energize the folks who are suffering the most with the current economy. The game plan in 2012 can’t be to earn the respect and admiration of the Democrats who will vote against us anyway. We need to be on the right side of history and champion the free market ideas that are the only way to create a robust and productive economy -and secure our future liberty.

This is not the time to play nice with the side who has levied on us the highest tax and debt burden in our history. This is not the time to play nice with the leaders on the other side whose agenda is not economic growth and freedom but the destruction of the very core of our capitalist system. Big government and debt are the goals of the other side. It’s time to take a stand and choose sides.

Of course Governor Christie has emphatically repeated that he is not going to be a candidate in 2012. Given his track record, I think it’s a safe bet to take him at his word. Without Governor Christie there is only one other Republican leader with the same style of tough talk and conservative record with the ability to deliver the message and energize the party as we haven’t seen since Ronald Reagan, former governor Sarah Palin. Her Iowa speech recently was an outright attack on the ‘crony capitalists’ who are turning profits with the aid of the taxpayers. She’s correctly stated that these are not champions of capitalism creating growth in the economy – instead they are parasites earning a living off of government bailouts and subsidies. Palin rightly attacks those businesses which have benefited from tax loopholes and redistributed wealth from taxpayers. She’s got a long history of success with her aggressive style challenging conventional wisdom and fighting entrenched government. She’s taken on the tough fights in her own party and won. Her leadership and decision making helped create a strong economy in Alaska. She’s rooted out corruption and stood firm in the face of criticism and every kind of vitriol thrown her way. She’s got executive and life experience necessary to be an effective commander-in-chief. Family values, patriotism and an unapologetic approach to supporting our military and putting the interest of America first in the world.

The country needs leadership, and we’re overdue for a tough talking sheriff not afraid to act who will get to Washington and clean up the mess left by years of apologetic and weak Republicans and big government Democrats.

Palin is already a champion of the right policies that will restore a growth economy nationally creating sustainable employment and revenue. She’s got the courage, conviction and charisma necessary to polarize the electorate enough to win.

The good news is that Americans are slowly waking up from the Obama-induced slumber that allowed government to explode overnight and not especially pleased with what they see.

We cannot fear standing up and aggressively fighting those political elites that would ruin our economy and create the ‘shared scarcity’ that Congressman Paul Ryan warned of in a speech in Chicago a few months ago. We cannot fear stepping up to the plate with a contentious, strong willed, leader to articulate the position of the taxpayer who is on the hook for the debt and the future liability of a nation of dependents. Instead we should embrace the opportunity and select a nominee who will be unafraid to champion the free market…unafraid to put American interests first…unafraid to take the beating that will surely come from the political and media elite.

Time to fight…are you ready?

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Little Positioning Herself To Join Perry Campaign

Anna Little spent Hurricane Irene in Texas singing her own praises to Governor Rick Perry.

Upon her return, Little proceeded to inform supporters that she will be the number 2 person in Perry’s 2012 presidential campaign in the Garden State and that her “ass will be the one to kiss” in the NJ GOP.  Little wouldn’t disclose to her supporters who Perry’s number 1 will be.

Multiple published reports have indicated that Governor Christie has asked NJ Republican donors and operatives not to commit to a presidential candidate.  I guess Little will no longer have front row seats at the Governor’s town hall meetings.

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The Increase The Lt. Governor’s Public Profile Campaign Resumes

Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno will be on the radio with NJ 101.5’s Jim Gearhart tomorrow morning at 7:35 AM and again with John Gambling on 710 AM at 8:05 AM.

Last Monday MMM noted that the front office was working to increase Guadagno’s profile.  I don’t know what it means.  I think it means that Governor Chris Christie is getting ready to run for President, despite his most recent denials.  I think he feels it.

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Fodder For The Christie For President Buzz

By Art Gallagher

Despite his repeated and colorful denials of interest, the Republican calls for and media speculation about Governor Chris Christie entering the 2012 Presidential race is not going away.

In large measure that is because Christie doesn’t seem as though he wants it to go away. 

“No, I’m not running.  I don’t know what to do short of suicide to convince you that I’m not running. Oh, and thanks for asking, I’m really flattered that you are asking, again and again and again, and that you’re willing to raise hundreds of millions of dollars if I change my mind, but I’m not changing my mind.”   That’s an invitation to keep asking.  It’s a tease.   “No, I won’t do it under any circumstances.  I’m not ready. But ask me again.”

By most accounts, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels really wanted to run for president.  Yet, when he announced that he wasn’t running because he didn’t want to put his family through a presidential campaign, Republican rain makers and the media stopped asking him to run or if there was any chance that he would reconsider.

That’s obviously not the case with Christie.

As I said in my radio conversation with Bob Ingle last week, the only way I can see Christie running is if his wife Mary Pat becomes convinced that another four years of President Obama would have a more detrimental impact on the lives of the Christie children than a Christie presidency would have, and if New Jersey’s First Lady became convinced that Obama was likely to be reelected if her husband didn’t run against him.

As rehearsed and coached as the Christie family appeared in their Piers Morgan interview, after viewing it I was convinced they had made a family decision that Christie wouldn’t run in 2012.  I admired their family unity.  I admired a marriage that puts the children first.

Yet, why do an interview like that if you’re not running for national office?

I stopped taking the Christie for President buzz seriously after the Morgan interview. Karl Rove’s vibrations about Christie after Texas Governor Rick Perry stole the limelight from Michele Bachman didn’t make me think Christie was running.  Ross Douthat’s  New York Times columns, here and here didn’t make me think Christie would run.   The Daily Caller and Weekly Standard reports that Christie and Congressman Paul Ryan made an pact that one of them would run made me wonder just a bit.

Something happened today that made me wonder if Christie isn’t getting ready to run.  It wasn’t the news that Ryan’s not running, according to The Weekly Standard.

Four times today the Christie’s press office sent out email announcements to the press about something Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno is doing, including a video.   Usually Guadagno’s public appearances are included in the daily itinerary for the Governor that the press office sends out with little additional mention, if any.  Today’s activity was unusual.

The Governor and his team are extraordinarily disciplined.  It’s rare that something happens for no reason.  If the Governor’s office is intentionally raising Guadagno’s public profile, there is a reason for it.

It makes me wonder if Mary Pat is getting concerned about the Republican field of presidential candidates, our country, and her children’s future.

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