72 % of New Jersey voters still do not know enough about Joe Kyrillos, thus Bob Menendez has slightly widened his lead in the U.S. Senate race, according to a Qunnipiac poll released this morning.
Menendez favorablity rating remains weak, especially for an incumbent, at 37%-25% with 36% not knowing enough about him to form an opinion.
Barack Obama is leading Mitt Romney in New Jersey by 49%-38%. Romney’s favorability rating is upside down, 35%-43%.
New Jersey voters are split over ObamaCare. 47% favor keeping it, 45% favor repealing it.
In honor of Senator Bob Menendez crying, “twice choking back sobs” today as Poltickernj put it, because Joe Kyrillos is distinguishing himself as the pro-women candidate in New Jersey’s U.S Senate race, MMM is announcing a song parody contest with the theme being “Joe Kyrillos is the pro-woman candidate in the New Jersey U.S. Senate race.”
The contest is open to all readers of MoreMonmouthMusings. Submissions will be accepted until midnight on July 31st, or whatever time Art Gallagher wakes up on August 1. There is no limit on the number a submissions any one person or team of people can submit. Submissions can be made in the comments of this post or by sending a message to Art Gallagher on facebook. Submissions can be made in your real name or with a pseudonym. By submitting a parody you give up any copyright or right to profit monetarily from the parody.
The winning song will be made into a professional quality video produced by our friend and professional videographer Joe Schilp. MMM readers will be stars of the video. The video will be launched on YouTube the week after Labor Day
To get things started, MMM publisher Art Gallagher reached deep into the MMM archives to find Lightshines, a prolific parody writer for MMM and other sites in the late 2000’s. Art asked Lightshines to write a parody entitled “Don’t cry for me Bob Menendez” to the tune of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Don’t cry for me Argentina.” This is Lightshines’ first entry in the contest:
After witnessing the sad spectacle of Bob Menendez breakdown when addressing a Union County Day Care Center (he didn’t get his nap?) we channeled Eva Peron who, feeling Senator Bob was a little too corrupt even for her, had this to say:
Don’t cry for me, Bob Menendez The truth is we never liked you All through your Hudson days your dirty politics You kept no promise Now keep your distance
And as for fortune, and as for fame That didn’t do much for us Cause it seemed to the world that was all you desired
You’re an illusion You are not the solution you promised to be The answer was here all the time Defeat you and all of your grime
Don’t cry for me, Bob Menendez The truth is we never liked you All through your Hudson days your dirty politics You kept no promise Now keep your distance
Pick any song you like to write your parody. You can use “Don’t cry for me..” or any other song.
MMM is assembling a panel of judges who will select the final four parodies.
MMM readers will select the winner in early August.
Politickernj is reporting that U.S. Senator Bob Menendez cried emotionally, “twice choking back sobs,” at a Union City daycare center earlier today.
State Senator Joe Kyrillos’ claim that he is the “women’s candidate” in New Jersey the U.S. Senate race is reportedly what brought Menendez to tears.
Menendez and a cohort of Democratic women were at the Union City daycare center to take a page out of the Obama playbook by accusing Kyrillos of being anti-woman, according to a report on NJ.com
“That fact of the matter is, on all of the issues that matter most to the women of New Jersey, state Sen. Joe Kyrillos has been on the wrong side,” state Sen. Barbara Buono said at a campaign rally held in a Union City daycare center. “For every stride Sen. Menendez has made to uplift and support women in New Jersey and across the nation, Sen. Kyrillos and his allies took a step — a leap — backward.”
The Kyrillos campaign fired back with a statement from Communications Director Meaghan Cronin:
“Sadly, aided by some partisan politicians, Bob Menendez today tried to deflect from his record of failing women by attacking Joe Kyrillos. The truth is women have been hurt by Bob Menendez’s votes and policies. In fact, there are 780,000 more women unemployed today than there were three and a half years ago. What does Menendez’s record show: increased debt, reduced jobs and cuts to Medicare. No wonder he wants to draw focus away from that. While Menendez continues to play politics, a ticking time bomb awaits New Jersey families. While he continues to talk and not act, the threat of a massive tax increase that will hurt women and all taxpayers continues to grow. Bob Menendez promised us better, but gave us so much worse.”
U. S. Senator Bob Menendez raised nearly $400 thousand more than his challenger, State Senator Joe Kyrillos did during the quarter that ended June 30th. Menendez raised roughly $1.7 million to Kyrillos’ $1.3 million. During the first quarter, Kyrillos out raised Menendez by $100 thousand.
Menendez has $10 million in cash to Kyrillos’ $2 million.
“I am grateful for the support of so many people for my campaign, which is about so much more than re-electing one person as Senator. It’s about the middle class of New Jersey and what matters most to all of us,” said Senator Menendez. “These resources are invaluable to me as I prepare for a long hard fight in the Senate race. Contributions from regular people who hold a tremendous stake in this election serve as a bulwark against the very real possibility of my opponent turning to corporations and billionaires to fund his campaign.”
The Kyrillos campaign said that the $3.1 million they have raised to date puts them in the top tier of U.S. Senate candidates, both incumbents and challengers, throughout the country.
“Bob Menendez has raised millions of dollars from special interests,” said Kyrillos Campaign Manager Chapin Fay. “Oil companies, banks and Wall Street are all kicking in big bucks. And like Jon Corzine did in 2009, Menendez will have more money in this race. But no amount of money can explain away Bob Menendez’s failed record on jobs and the economy. We are right on pace for Joe Kyrillos to have the resources necessary to get out his job growth message.”
The Joe Kyrillos for U.S. Senate Campaign launched a new website yesterday, CheapTalkBob.com
The site centers on a video of Bob Menendez’s constant chatter about the middle class, with facts that prove he does nothing to help the middle class.
Six years ago, Senator Menendez campaigned on a message of job creation for the middle class, but instead gave us a national unemployment rate that ballooned from 4.7% to 8.2%, a national debt that has nearly doubled, and a deficit which has more than quadrupled. Talk is cheap and Bob Menendez’s inaction continues to make things worse for the middle class.
Middle class families need a real reformer like Joe Kyrillos. Senator Kyrillos doesn’t just talk about reform, he’s implementing it for middle class families across New Jersey. Senator Kyrillos, under the leadership of Governor Christie and with the help of like-minded reformers, has worked to balance the state’s budget without raising taxes, cut spending, stopped borrowing, and reformed programs like the pension system. Election year rhetoric, like Bob Menendez’s cheap talk about the middle class, is no excuse for consistently voting to raise taxes, explode debt and stifle job creation.
“Bob Menendez thinks that if he talks enough about helping the middle class, people will start to believe that he actually is,” said Senator Kyrillos. “But you can’t hide from the facts. Bob Menendez has been consistently making things worse. He is making it harder for businesses to expand, and create more jobs. He is making families insecure about their financial decisions because of the frailty of the economy. He is hurting our friends, families, and neighbors, who have worked hard to succeed but have fallen on hard times. Those that want a better job, and to make a better living for their families. His constant talk about making things better for them is just that—talk.”
In Chris Christie:The Inside Story of His Rise to Power, authors Bob Ingle and Michael Symons describe U.S. Attorney Christie’s reluctance to use Solomon Dwek as informant during the Operation Bid Rig investigation in 2006. “Do I really want to get in bed with this guy?” Christie is described as asking his deputies who were pushing for approval to make Dwek an informant.
Ironically given how Democrats and defendants have argued that the July 2009 arrests based on Dwek’s sting were politically motivated to help Christie, the Deputy U.S. Attorneys advocating the sting argued to Christie that he would have been acting politically if he did not approve Dwek’s cooperation.
If this Star Ledger article by Matt Friedman is an indication of charades to come this summer, the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee will make Joe Oxley’s confirmation hearing for his Superior Court Judgeship nomination a payback for the unceremonious end to former House Speaker, Senator and Commissioner of Community Affairs Joe Doria’s career when he his home was raided during the July 2009 federal operation.
Doria has been cleared of any wrongdoing. He has a letter from the U.S. Attorney, just like John Bennett does, but his career in public service is over. Maybe Doria can become Chairman of the Hudson County Democrats some day.
U.S. Senate nominee Joe Kryillos is in the Democrats sites as well. Dwek is the ammunition.
Democratic State Chairman John Wisniewski Tuesday issued a list of questions for Kyrillos, including how often he met with Dwek, what was discussed, who else was in attendance and whether he was ever contacted by law enforcement about it. “If you deny this and suggest Dwek is lying, does that raise the possibility with you that Dwek’s testimony that convicted others should be questioned?” Wisniewski wrote.
Kyrillos campaign spokesman Chapin Fay did not directly respond to Wisniewski, instead repeating that Kyrillos did nothing to help Dwek.
During the trial of Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez it was revealed that among the diobalical schemes Dwek deployed in the 14 years leading to his 2006 arrest was a life insurance scam. Dwek paid the life insurance premiums of people close to death who could not afford to keep their policies. Upon the death of the insured, Dwek would give the deceased’s family 10% of the policy proceeds and pocket the rest.
Dwek’s father tried to get Soloman a pardon from President George W. Bush. Maybe President Obama will pardon Dwek if he helps knock Chris Christie down a notch and helps keep Bob Menendez in the Senate.
“Senator Kyrillos has built a sterling reputation throughout his career, and this is a shameless oppo dump from the Menendez political machine. The fact of the matter is that Senator Kyrillos never did anything to help this man at any time. And furthermore, the second it was clear that this man was a con man, Senator Kyrillos, unlike others, immediately gave his campaign contribution to charity and documented that with the Election Law Enforcement Commission.”
99% of the votes of been recorded for the U.S Senate GOP primary and Joe Kyrillos won 77% of them, 161,137 votes.
None of Kyrillos’ three opponents broke 20,000 votes. David Brown came in second with 18,666 (9%), Joseph “Rudy” Rullo was third with 16,691 and Tea Party favorite Badar Qarmout was last with 12,636.
State Senator Joe Kyrillos is the New Jersey GOP nominee for U. S. Senate.
In Ocean County, with 99.5% of the vote reported, Kyrillos has 78.5% with 17,538 votes.
David Douglas Brown came in second in Ocean Co with 9.6%. Joseph “Rudy” Rullo is third with 6% and Badar Qarmout is last with 5.6%.
In Monmouth County, with 90% of the district reporting, Kyrillos has 82% of the vote. Rullo is second with 8.6%, Brown third with 5.4% and Qarmout last with 4%.
