State Senator Joe Kyrillos sent a staffer to hand deliver a debate challenge to U.S. Senator Bob Menendez this morning. Menendez wouldn’t take the Kyrillos’ letter.
Here is the text of the letter:
Dear Senator Menendez:
One of us will be the next United States Senator from New Jersey. We will be tasked with finding a solution to the rising unemployment and exploding deficits and debt that are wrecking havoc on our country. The ongoing fiscal crisis has largely been caused by Washington’s inability to create certainty for the economy and the demands of powerful special interests and unions and the politicians who do their bidding. We will have to make tough choices to return America to prosperity and stability. I am willing to make these tough choices. New Jerseyans would benefit from knowing your position.
New Jeseryans need to know our positions on these important issues before, not after, the election. That’s why I have released a comprehensive jobs plan. When you publish press statements you carefully avoid such specifics. And by drastically limiting your exposure to the press and the public, you are avoiding being pinned down in live questioning. But these are new times. New Jerseyans want leaders, not politicians. Difficult times require a leader who is able to get results.
We owe New Jerseyans a serious conversation about fixing our country, so I hope you will join me in a series of 5 debates across the Garden State that cover separate topics. I suggest a debate on each of these topics – jobs and the economy, taxes, spending, education and government ethics. We must also ensure maximum viewership of our debates so that the voters can make an informed decision come November.
I am committed to working with you to ensure that all New Jerseyans know where we stand on the issues that matter most to them. I await your call at my campaign headquarters at (732) 957-1580. I look forward to hearing from you and I look forward to vigorous debates of these critical issues.
Sincerely,
Senator Joe Kyrillos
It would be one thing if the junior U.S. Senator was a popular incumbent not wanting to give his opponent exposure, but despite 6 years in the Senate and 7 terms in Congress, 60% of New Jersey voters still do not know who Menendez is. Obviously, Menendez is hoping to continue to go unnoticed in November and ride back to Washington on Barack Obama’s coattails.
Americans are hurting. Unemployment is rising. We need leaders who care about the challenges we face as a country, and not about winning their next election. That’s why I was troubled to read about your objection to a resolution that I supported, which would allow voters to decide whether our state judges should pay the same amount as other state employees toward their health and pension benefits. This resolution would save our State a lot of money that could go towards other worthwhile investments like improving education and protecting our environment. New Jerseryans deserve an explanation as to why you oppose such a commonsense reform. On behalf of all of them I will ask you, Why? We await your response.
Politics should trump good public policy and the will of the people, in the mind of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez.
The Auditor is reporting that New Jersey’s junior Senator called Democratic State Senators Steve Sweeney and Ray Lesniak to complain about the fact that they’re allowing voters to decide on the constitutional amendment that, if passed, will require New Jersey’s privileged Judges to abide by the same pension and benefit rules as all other state employees.
Menendez wasn’t complaining about the merits of the legislation. He was complaining that the presence of the constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall would get Governor Chris Christie out on the campaign trail supporting the amendment….and also supporting State Senator Joe Kyrillos in Joe’s quest to unseat Menendez.
In a poll of New Jersey registered voters released by FDU Public Mind this morning, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez leads State Senator Joe Kyrillos in the race for U.S. Senate by a 45%-33% margin. FDU did not poll likely voters.
Despite the 12 point gap, the news is not all bad for Kyrilllos.
Among Independent voters the candidates are virtually tied at 28% for Menedez and 27% for Kyrillos. 45% of Independents are undecided.
57% of respondents said they haven’t heard of Kyrillos. Of those who have heard of him, 22% have no opinion of him, 16% have a favorable opinion and only 5% have an unfavorable opinion.
In contrast, 20% of respondents have never heard of Menendez. 20% of those who have heard of him have no opinion and 23% have an unfavorable opinion. Only 36% have a favorable opinion of Menendez. These are very week numbers for an incumbent.
The challenge for Kyrillos is to get known with Independent voters and to do so favorably. Given Menendez’s $10.3 million to $1.9 million cash advantage (as of June 30) Kyrillos may need to save someone from a burning building or get a gay activist group to attack him unfairly in order to meet the challenge.
Citing State Senator Joe Kyrillos’ 100% rating from the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, Rob Engstrom, the U.S. Chamber’s Senior Vice President and National Political Director, today announced the nationwide business advocate’s endorsement of Kyrillos in his contest with incumbent Senator Bob Menendez for one of New Jersey’s seats in the U.S. Senate.
“New Jersey is leading the country’s efforts for fiscal responsibility at the state level, but we need leaders in Washington willing to make tough financial decisions as well,” said Engstrom, “New Jersey voters have a clear choice between the candidates on issues that will create jobs and spur growth. State Senator Joe Kyrillos has consistently prioritized free enterprise, while Senator Menendez has a record of failure on economic issues—having only voted with the business community 38% of the time.”
Engstrom noted that the Chamber automatically endorses any incumbent U.S. Senator, Republican or Democrat, that has a business friendly rating of 70% or more in emphasizing Menendez’s hostility to the private sector. “He votes against business is a knee jerk manner.”
Speaking on a conference call with reporters, Engstrom said that the U.S. Chamber is waging its largest voter education effort in its 100 year history in the 2012 election. He declined to answer a reporters question about indenpendent expenditures the Chamber might make in the New Jersey U.S. Senate campaign, but noted that the Chamber has already spent millions of dollars on 12 Senate races and 31 House races. “Stay tuned,” was the most Engstrom was willing to say with Kyrillos on the call, given campaign finance laws that forbid independent expenditures being coordinated with federal campaigns.
“I am humbled and encouraged to have received the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in my campaign against Bob Menendez and his job-killing policies,” said Joe Kyrillos.
“American small businesses and job creators are facing undeniably hard times right now. We are not producing jobs at the rate we should because of the uncertainty of new or higher taxes, and more regulation. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and the policies supported by Bob Menendez are killing their opportunity for growth.
“I have outlined policies in a comprehensive jobs plan that will put people back to work and restore a robust economy. My plan will create economic certainty, and allow business to plan for the future. My opponent has no plan to create jobs, and if his past record is any indication, he will continue to make things worse.”
After spending the last two months touring New Jersey businesses listening to what job creators need to jump start the U.S. economy, State Senator Joe Kyrillos, the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate announced a 7 point jobs plan, America Works, at a press conference in Trenton yesterday. Representatives of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) were on hand to endorse Kyrillos’s plan and his candidacy against incumbent U.S. Senator Bob Menendez.
“Americans are struggling through the weakest economic recovery since the Great Depression,” said Kyrillos. “Families that played by the rules and worked hard are not looking for a handout or another government program, but for the opportunity to use their talent, industry, and smarts to build their own future. After listening to the difficulties these job creators face first-hand, I was able to create a jobs plan that directly addresses their needs.
“We need jobs and my plan creates them by restoring fiscal responsibility, reforming the tax code, reducing unnecessary and burdensome red tape, and restoring our nation’s place as the home of innovation. It will also establish programs to build a competitive workforce and put forth solutions to our nation’s energy crisis. The prosperity of our country is in jeopardy. We cannot afford to stay the course Bob Menendez has charted for our future. The opportunity for profound economic growth is before us, and we must seize it.”
Menendez scored the endorsement of Communications Workers of America (CWA), the largest government workers union in New Jersey, on Wednesday.
Regarding the Senate race, Monmouth University pollster Patrick Murray said, “There is certainly more room for a GOP upset in the Senate race than the presidential one here in New Jersey, but it’s a contest that few voters are taking an interest in.”
So far there are seveneight entries into the Bob Menendez is a cry baby song parody contest!
Don’t Cry for me Bob Menendez to the tune of Don’t Cry for me Argentina, Bob Menendez “Crying” to the tune of Don McLean’s Crying, Let’s Give Bob Something to Cry About to Bonnie Raitt’s Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About, Somewhere off in New Jersey to the tune of Somewhere over the rainbow, Tears of a Clown, Bobby’s Turn to Cry, and Spinning Wheel.
Submit your entries in the comments of any post and Art will put them on that page.
MMM’s song parody contest, with the theme of Bob Menendez crying because Joe Kyrillos is the women’s candidate in the New Jersey U.S. Senate race, continues until July 31. The winning entry (entries?) will be made into a professional quality video which will be launched in September.
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.
