Governor Christie: You need a Trenton to English dictionary to understand Democrats

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Democratic Operatives Caught Encouraging Voter Fraud

James O’Keefe and his Project Veritas has it again.

The group that exposed corruption at ACORN, NPR, NJEA and SEIU has recorded employees of the Democratic National Committee and Organizing for America, the community organizing arm of the Obama campaign encouraging people to vote twice and helping them to do so in the upcoming presidential election.

Think voter fraud is not a problem in New Jersey?  Watch the video until the end.  A New Jersey Democrat in front of a Bob Menendez sign recognizes O’Keefe from the ACORN video sting. Its pretty funny.

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Poll biases: It’s not just the sampling weights

As some national polls show President Obama widening his lead in his race for another term, much has been made about the sampling weights that pollsters use.  Analysts on the left insists the polls are accurate.  nalysts on the right say the polls are inaccurately favoring Obama by assuming his supporters will come out on election day in the same numbers as they did in 2008.

But its not just weighting that reveals a pollster’s bias.  The way the question is asked also makes a difference.

In a Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press  poll  about the 2013 New Jersey gubernatorial race released this morning, pollster Patrick Murray asked if voters were “bothered” with how Governor Chris Christie interacts with his critics and detractors.

Thinking about Chris Christie’s style and not his policies, does the way he speaks to or about people who disagree with him bother you personally or not bother you? [If BOTHER: Is that a lot or just a little?]

63% of respondents said they weren’t bothered by Christie’s style.  23% said they were bothered a LOT and 11% said they were bothered a LITTLE.  Given the way Murray asked the question, one could conclude that 74% of New Jersey voters are indifferent about Christie’s style.

In his narrative of the poll, which sets the tone for how much of the lazy lefty media covers it, Murray highlights his spin on Christie’s style.

“NEW JERSEY ON CHRISTIE’S STYLE: ‘MEH!’ ” is Murray’s headline.   His opening sentence:

Governor Chris Christie’s job approval rating has ticked up a few points in the latest Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press Poll and few New Jerseyans are particularly bothered by the way he deals with people who disagree with him.

Notice the use of the word few.

Christie’s numbers are the highest they ever been in a Monmouth poll. 55% of registered voters approve of the governor’s performance. 36% do not approve.

Yet Murray spins the results to read that a few people like him better and a few people are bothered about how he talks to people who don’t agree with him.  The few who are bothered take top billing over the fact disclosed but not reported that Christie’s numbers are better than ever in Murray’s poll.

What does that tell you?

The Asbury Park Press’s coverage of the poll leads with the “bothered” question.

The headline at NJ.com for an Associated Press story is Christie’s approval rating up slightly, poll says.

To their credit, PolitickerNJ cut through Murray’s spin and covers the poll results very well.   They reported the real news of the poll results;  New Jersey’s sagging economy is not hurting Christie’s popularity with voters and that of potential Democratic challengers in 2013, only Newark Mayor Cory Booker and former acting Governor Richard Codey have sufficient name recognition to be considered credible candidates for governor next year.

What if instead of asking if voters were bothered by Christie’s style, Murray asked if they liked his style?   If Murray had done that, the headline would be:

CHRISTIE’S APPROVAL AT ALL TIME HIGH

New Jersey voters like his style

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O’Scanlon Blasts Democratic Colleagues, Statehouse Press Corp Over S &P Outlook Spin

The three major credit rating agencies affirmed the credit ratings of New Jersey’s bonds within the last week.   Two of the three, Moody’s and Fitch affirmed the outlook for the State’s credit as stable.  However, while affirming their AA- rating today, Standard and Poor’s lowered their outlook for New Jersey from stable to negative.  S&P’s rationale for lowering their outlook is that they consider Governor Chris Christie’s revenue projections optimistic.

Democratic legislators, Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Vincent Prieto, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo and Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald, a potential gubernatorial candidate next year, all jumped on the S&P outlook downgrade to score political points against Christie.  The Statehouse Press Corp was happy to advance the negative spin.

Monmouth County’s Declan O’Scanlon, the Assembly Republican Budget Officer, fired back against the Democrats and the media for “crowing” about the S&P report while falling mute over the Fitch and Moody’s reports is a scathing statement:

“My Democrat colleagues are like vultures seeking to pounce on potential prey despite the fact that their appetite will not be satisfied by one agency’s outlook,” said O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth. “They are always ready to jump on what they perceive to be negative news and many in the media buy into their political theatrics. Instead of working with the governor and Republicans in the Legislature, they continue to wait for gloom and doom predictions.

“The conduct and glee from our leading legislative Democrats is remarkable and disturbing. For days, they sat silent when two ratings agencies affirmed New Jersey’s credit rating in response to the Schools Development Corporation bond offering and today are dancing in the streets when a third rating agency – after also maintaining the state’s credit rating – gave an outlier’s opinion and lowered its outlook,” explained O’Scanlon. “To see this kind of political opportunism and rooting for failure from individuals entrusted with some of the highest leadership positions our government offers is disgraceful. Their Swiss cheese, fragmented perception of reality – with the holes miraculously lining up with anything positive about our state’s fiscal condition – is disturbing, but not surprising.”

“That our Statehouse press corps simply gobbles the partisan nonsense up so willingly is also a real disappointment, stated O’Scanlon. “That is especially so when you see them blindly quoting even those lawmakers who so vigorously fought bipartisan pension and benefits reforms in an effort that would have crippled New Jersey’s long-term efforts to fix our long-term economic health.

“Had we followed the path of the very people now attacking the Governor the outlook for the state’s future would be dramatically worse. They cannot, with a straight face, criticize this Governor with any credibility,” said O’Scanlon. “It was this governor that has started to turn our state around – and he had to fight the very people now attacking him in order to do that. The governor and Republicans know we are in a difficult economy and these are risky times. But we are also not afraid to make tough decisions. Previous Democrat administrations talked about tough times, but never took action. Without taking decisive action to fix many of our state’s problems,New Jerseywould be in a financial abyss.

“The Democrats’ are selling a bill of goods to the public and the media which conveniently ignores their eight-year record of expanding government spending and want us to believe their distorted view of reality,” commented O’Scanlon. “We have more work to do in turning our state around, but I am much more confident entrusting our state’s future with the Christie administration than its Democratic predecessors.”

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FEC to Anna Little: You’ve got some ‘splaining to do

“Please file an amendment to your report to accurately disclose your financial activities.”

The Federal Election Commission wrote Anna Little’s congressional campaign three times during the month of August to demand that her campaign finance reports comply with federal law.

The letters were addressed to Little’s opposite sex husband, Robert Lee Little III, the campaign’s fourth treasurer this year.

On August 24th  FEC analyst Carolina Cavana wrote the male Little informing him that the campaign’s April 2012 quarterly report failed to adequately disclose the identity of donors who contributed $200 or more to the campaign.  The campaign must disclose the missing information or prove that it made a good faith effort to obtain the information.  The answer is due by September 28th and there will be no further notice given, unless Rob reads MMM.

Another FEC analyst, Brian Jones, wrote to Little III, who is Treasurer IV, on August 27 to inform him that the 12 day pre-primary report, filed on June 27 three weeks after the primary,  is also missing the donor information that April report was missing.  The answer to that letter is due on October 1.

Jones wrote again on August 28 detailing 4 problems with the July 2012 quarterly report including contributions accepted for the primary campaign, post primary, beginning balances that did not match ending balances for the April report, and a ending cash balance of negative $11,321.08 in the July report.

Your report discloses a negative ending cash balance of $11,321.08. This suggests that you have overdrawn your account, made a mathematical error, or incurred a debt. If your committee has incurred a debt or obligation, please itemize this debt on Schedule D, show a zero balance on Line 8 of the Summary Page and include the amount on Line 10. If the negative ending cash balance is a result of an overdraft, it may constitute a prohibited bank contribution unless it is made on an account that has automatic overdraft protection with usual and customary interest rates and a definite repayment schedule. Please file an amendment to your report to accurately disclose your financial activities.

The answer to the August 28 letter is due on October 2.

If you missed the bake sale or the bikini car wash, you can support Little’s campaign by purchasing a lawn sign for $26.

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Booker’s next step….Why not the White House?

Updated September 10, 11:20 am

Prior to last month the buzz about Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s future was that he would run for U.S. Senate in 2014, challenging Senator Frank Launtenberg if necessary.  Booker opened a federal PAC last year and Lautenberg has been sniping at him ever since.

But in the weeks leading up to the convention Booker met with county chairs to plant the seeds of a gubernatorial run against Governor Chris Christie last year.  In Charlotte he went into full campaign mode without making an announcement.  In the process he made himself the front runner for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2013.  A Booker candidacy for governor will clear the Democratic field. Without Booker in the race there will be a contentious primary.  Senators Dick Codey, Barbara Buono and Steve Sweeney could be contenders.  Assemblymen John Wisniewski and Lou Greenwald are acting like candidates.  Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage says he will run if Booker doesn’t.

None of the other potential candidates will be able to gain any traction until Booker makes his intentions clear.

As a nod to Booker’s front runner status, Quinnipiac polled a Christie/Booker match up.  Christie won the poll by 7%, but Booker’s name was recognised by 60% of those polled.   That is an extraordinary high number for a New Jersey politician who has never run a statewide race.  Booker has better name recognition than Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.  He is as well known and better liked than U.S. Senator Bob Menendez.

Booker told the New Jersey delegation in Charlotte that Christie can be beat and that he is only governor because urban Democrats didn’t come out to vote for Jon Corzine in 2009.  The implication is that he can get urban voters out, regardless of the desires of Democratic bosses George Norcross in the south and Joe DiVincenzo in the north who didn’t rev their machines for Corzine in 09.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Governor Chris Christie on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

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Quinnipiac says Christie got no bounce from keynote address….but they started polling before he delivered the speech!

A Quinnipiac poll released this morning indicates that Governor Christie’s approval numbers remain strong among New Jersey voters…53% approve of his performance compared to 42% that do not….and that Christie would have been reelected if Newark Mayor Cory Booker was his Democratic opponent and the gubernatorial election was held last week when the poll was taken.

That’s good news for Christie, the NJ GOP and New Jersey taxpayers. Yet, in their write up of the poll, Quinnipiac did their best to spin the poll as a negative for Christie and the lazy main stream media is so far following that lead.

While 58 percent of New Jersey voters watched Gov. Christopher Christie’ keynote speech at the Republican National Convention, only 22 percent of voters say it makes them think more favorably of the governor, whose 53 – 42 percent job approval rating is barely changed, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

…..

“If Gov. Christopher Christie’s speech marked the opening of a 2016 presidential campaign he might want to try again.  People who like the governor liked the speech; those who don’t didn’t.  The net result – zero,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Quinnipiac surveyed 1560 registered voters from August 27-September 2.  Christie delivered the keynote address at the Republican National Convention late in the evening on August 28.   The Bobcats pollsters didn’t start asking about Christie’s speech until the third day of the seven day poll.

While showing their own biases, the Bobcats purported to measure New Jersey voters’ prejudices regarding offices seekers’ gender, race, creed, sexual orientation and waste line.

The numbers say that New Jersey is accepting of most.  In the poll that has a margin of error of +/- 2.5%,  3% said they would be less inclined to vote for a female candidate while 10% would be more likely to vote for a female. 4% said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who was African-American and 1% would be less likely to do so. 11% would be less likely to vote for a homosexual and 1% would be more likely.

Atheists and Muslims did not fare as well.  39% would be less likely to vote for an atheist, 1% would be more likely.

15% said they would be less likely to vote for an obese candidate, 1% would be more likely to vote for the big boned.

Does this mean that we should adjust Governor Chirstie’s numbers?  Would his numbers be 14% higher if he was svelte?  No, it doesn’t mean that.  It means that this poll is seriously flawed.  It reveals more about the pollsters than it does about those being surveyed.

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Pallone Spoofs Christie At Dem Convention

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Christie Blog from Tampa

Governor Chris Christie has an online scrapbook of his RNC adventure at http://govchristie.tumblr.com/

Click on the photo for a larger view

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