Work Horses or Show Horses?

Rush Holt doing Steve Holt. Who is Steve Holt? facebook photo

Frank Pallone doing Frank Pallone

Congressmen Frank Pallone and Rush Holt have each been trying to close the canyon in the polls between themselves and Newark Mayor Cory Booker for the Democratic nomination to succeed the late U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg be asserting that they are “work horses” that get the job done while Booker is a “show horse” celebrity.

There’s not much evidence that it is working.  Nor is there much evidence that Pallone and Holt are indeed “work horses.”

In the 24 years Pallone has been in Congress, 6 bills that he sponsored became law.  The Affordable Health Care Act, aka ObamaCare was not one of them.

Holt has been in Congress 14 years. Three of his bills have become law.

Of those nine bills Pallone and Holt have successfully navigated to the president’s desk for signature, two were to name post offices.  One post office for each of them.

Booker may be a “show horse,” but what do Pallone and Holt have to show for their years in Congress?

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Booker won’t run for President in 2016

Former Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vic Scudiery and Newark Mayor Cory Booker

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, the front runner for the Democratic nomination to replace the late U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, yesterday told Poltico, that he “unequivocally” will not be a candidate for President or Vice President in 2016.

“I think that people want me to be the next U.S. Senator from New Jersey,” he  said, adding, “I would not consider [a presidential run]. At this point, my  focus is 100 percent on being the next U.S. Senator and doing a great job  finishing out the unexpired term of Sen. Frank Lautenberg, and then doing six  years [in a full term].”

“There’s a lot of work to do here in the state of New Jersey and I’m excited  about it,” he said, adding later, “No presidential, no VP, no.”

No one asked Congressman Frank Pallone if he was going to run for President.

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Scudiery Aggressively Out To See Pallone Defeated

Former Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Puts His Money Where His Mouth Is

Victor V. Scudiery, the Monmouth County businessman and former 23 year Chairman of the Monmouth County Democrats, is backing up his endorsement of Newark Mayor Cory Booker in the August 13 Special U.S. Senate Primary with an aggressive negative endorsement of Congressman Frank Pallone.

Scudiery is launching a personally financed campaign this morning designed to weaken Pallone’s support in his 6th Congressional district home base of Monmouth and Middlesex Counties. Scudiery’s efforts are independent of and without the prior knowledge of the Booker for Senate campaign.

The $45,000 campaign includes a mailing to 75,000 likely Democratic primary voters, print ads in local weekly newspapers and a web based ad campaign on local websites.

“I might even spend more by the time the 13th (the August 13th primary) comes around,” Scudiery said this morning.

“He’s all about himself, not for the people,” Scudiery said of the congressman whose tenure coincided with his own marathon as party chairman, “When I brought him to events, non-political events, like for senior citizens, Italian-Americans or small businesses, people would always say, ‘Frank, you never got back to me, I need your help,’ He’s been an embarrassment.  He rarely followed through. When he did follow through, it was usually with excuses, not results.”

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Pallone’s Family Values

By Art Gallagher

Frank Pallone has been my congressman for almost twenty years.   Through ten election cycles, I don’t recall Pallone ever promoting himself as a family man.  I didn’t even know he was married (to a woman) until 2010 when, during Anna Little’s first campaign against him, triCityNews columnist Ernesto Cullari revealed that Pallone’s wife, Sarah had secured a six figure job in the Environmental Protection Agency.

So I was surprised to find the above Pallone family portrait on Frank’s Senate campaign website and facebook page.  In his video ad, Typical Jersey Story, Frank looks into the camera and says, “Sarah and I have three teenagers, which means that things are a little crazy at home, most of the time.”  Frank’s facebook introduction starts,”Husband, Father, Democrat, Public Servant.  Frank Pallone, Jr. has been fighting for the people of this state for over 2 decades.”

After wondering why Pallone’s eldest daughter isn’t squinting, the next question to occur to me upon seeing the portrait was, “Why after almost three decades of keeping his family life private, is Pallone trotting his family out on the campaign trail?”

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Scudiery Endorsing Booker For U.S. Senate, Bashes Pallone

Former Monmouth Democratic Chairman Victor Scudiery

Former Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Victor Scudiery is breaking with the organization he lead for over 20 years by endorsing Newark Mayor Cory Booker over Congressman Frank Pallone in the Special Senate Primary on August 13.

“I was born and raised in Newark,” Scudiery told MMM, “I have great admiration for Mayor Booker and what he has accomplished in the city and with their schools.  I believe he is the right person to move up to be our next United States Senator.

“Newark is not an easy city to govern, but they’ve made great strides under Mayor Booker.  I am proud to support him.”

Scudiery said that the Monmouth County campaign headquarters of the Booker campaign will open on Thursday in the Airport Plaza Shopping Center which he owns.

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Pallone’s Past

facebook photo

Long before Cory Booker was shoveling snow and tweeting about it, Frank Pallone was delivering generators to storm victims in his district.

~The Star Ledger

And…he was a Republican in he youth? Yes, according to his Wikipedia page, Pallone was a member of the Young Republicans while a student at Middlebury College in Vermont. (h/t The Auditor)

Even as a Democrat, Pallone, who now has a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood used to be strongly pro-life.   He was endorsed by New Jersey Right To Life in his 1988 race for congress against the late Captain Joe Azzolina.

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More Monmouth Musings Endorses Frank Pallone

We received an email from Frank Pallone today asking for our endorsement.

Dear Art,

I need your endorsement. The support of friends like you is what has allowed me to fight for the issues that matter most to New Jersey families. But fighting is not enough. We need true leadership in Washington that stands up for what is right. ….

Congressman, we’re honored that you asked. We’re happy to accept.

MoreMonmouthMusings hereby endorses Congressman Frank Pallone in the Democratic Special Senate Primary on August 13.

Pallone has the best of the slim chances to defeat Newark Cory Booker for the nomination.

If Pallone is the Democratic nominee in the Special Senate Election on October 16, the Republican nominee, either Steve Lonegan or Dr. Alieta Eck, would have a much better chance of winning, than if Booker is the nominee.

Booker has been endorsed by the Essex County Democratic machine and the South Jersey/George Norcross Democratic machine.  If Pallone beats Booker, Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo and Norcross won’t have a U.S. Senator at their beck and call.  Pallone won’t owe them.  He’s never been much of a team player with them.  He certainly wouldn’t be beholden to them if he beats Booker.

In that case, Norcross and DiVencenzo might sit out the October 16 Special Election or secretly help the Republican nominee win, figuring that Pallone would be finished if he lost to Lonegan or Eck.  They would then make sure Booker gets the 2014 Democratic nomination and count on winning the Senate seat in 2014.

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What the Eck!

By Art Gallagher

Dr. Alieta Eck

Now that she survived Steve Lonegan’s challenge to her petitions, it worth getting to know the political novice who was able to get 2,285 nominating signatures in three days, Dr. Alieta Eck.  That was a task that was too much for many seasoned politicians.

From the looks of how the Special Election Senate race is shaping up, Newark Mayor Cory Booker is going to win in a landslide anyway.  Booker has a huge lead over Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and Congressmen Frank Pallone and Rush Holt in the independent polls for the Democratic nomination.  Lonegan is within striking distance of Pallone, Holt and Oliver in the Monmouth University Poll released last Friday, but loses to Booker by 16 points.

The only hope for a Republican to win the Senate seat in October is for someone other than Booker to be the Democratic nominee or for Booker to be badly wounded, politically, in a bloody Democratic primary.  That doesn’t look like it is going to happen.

So far, Pallone and Holt are playing nice.  Pallone is sending out emails asking people to recruit their friends to ‘Like’ his facebook page and volunteer for his campaign.  Holt is posting on facebook asking non-Democrats to change parties in order to vote for him in the primary. If Oliver is doing anything, we haven’t noticed.

No one is mentioning all the shootings in Newark this week, that, if they were happening in Marlboro or Newtown, CT would be making national news.  No one is asking Booker for his travel schedule or where he spends his weekends.   Pallone tried to make an issue of Booker’s relationship with Governor Chris Christie, but Democrats seem to like Christie more than they like Pallone.  No one is making an issue of Booker’s relationship with Wall Street, because Wall Street is investing a ton of money in Newark.

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Oliver is running for Senate

Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver. facebook photo

The Democratic Special Primary for U.S. Senate just got a whole lot more interesting and a whole lot more competitive.

The Star Ledger is reporting that Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver has collected 1500 signatures and will file as a candidate on Monday. She will compete with Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Congressman Frank Pallone and Congressman Rush Holt in the August 13 primary for the Democratic nomination to fill the Senate vacancy cause by Frank Lautenberg’s death.

Oliver, of East Orange, cuts into Booker’s base of African-American and urban voters far more powerfully than the suburban congressmen, Pallone and Holt.

In the Republican Special Primary, former GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan and newcomer Dr. Aleita Eck of Piscataway are expected to file their petitions in Trenton tomorrow.

Bayshore Tea Party co-flounders Barbara Gonzalez and Bob Gordon, former State Senate candidate Leigh-Ann Bellew and former Assembly candidate Edna Walsh announced their endorsement of Eck on Sunday evening.  Bellew and Walsh lost the GOP primary in the 13th Legislative District last week by a 80-20 margin, with the support of the Bayshore Tea Party.

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Pallone Says Booker Is Withholding Funds For AIDS Patients

Plainfield Today photo

Congressman Frank Pallone fired the first salvo of the 2014 Democratic U.S. Senate primary with a “scathing letter” sent to Newark Mayor Cory Booker complaining that the city of Newark is not fulfilling its obligations to the Hyacinth AIDS Foundation, a New Brunswick based non-profit that services patients with HIV/AIDS, according to a report in The Star Ledger.

The Star Ledger received a copy of the letter dated on Friday, May 10, before Booker received the original.

Booker’s staff dismissed the letter they haven’t seen yet, telling the Ledger that Hyacinth’s funding is working its way through the Newark bureaucracy and will be paid out this year earlier than it was last year.

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