Remembering About John Bennett What Art Gallagher Has Forgotten

By Tommy DeSeno

Dear MMM readers,

I have nothing against Christine Hanlon.  I understand she has come up through the ranks as a boots on the ground fighter and I’m down with that.  If she becomes Monmouth Chair and needs me I’ll be there for her.

But I must confess County politics is not my brand of Tea Party.  It embodies clientelism. I say that not to down the good people involved – it is designed to be clientelism.  I can’t imagine a local system that wouldn’t work that way.   So I watch from a distance, rooting for the Republican side, and serving when asked.

I’m compelled to write now due to the recent treatment of John Bennett.  In 2003 he was attached by a Camden County hydra.   That’s why he lost.  He suffered no ethical or criminal lapses (as the Press was forced to later print – one time).

What concerns me is that this website and some others are forgetting what went down in 2003.  To attack John using the hyperbole of Norcross warriors and Skip Hidlay fans is to use the weapons of an enemy to defeat a loyal friend.

I’ll hold no grudge if John loses this race to Monmouth people over Monmouth issues.  But to continue the Democrat attack that was started in 2003 to beat him is unfair and irresponsible.  It invites the Democrats to target more of our good people.  Let us not do their work for them.  Let us remember what went down in 2003 (the following was printed in the triCityNews on late October, 2003):

Camden’s Political Boss, The Asbury Park Press and Swaying Monmouth’s Elections

O, it is excellent to have a giant’s strength, but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant.  William Shakespeare

The people of Monmouth County are under attack. A two-headed beast from Camden County is stealing away with our sovereignty. We must make a fight in our own defense for the sake of self-determination. Self-determination is why we fought the Revolutionary War; to govern ourselves, so not to be governed from afar.

Your attackers are stealthy. They won’t let you know what’s happening until it’s too late.  First examine the attack, and then join many of your Monmouth County neighbors in a grass roots effort to defend yourself.

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Negative Campaigning: The Monmouth County GOP Chair’s race, Part 5

As the Monmouth County GOP Chair’s race  crescendos on its way to a close tomorrow, several Republicans, mostly Bennett supporters, are bemoaning the negative nature the campaign.

Those who think this campaign was negative have limited experience in competitive campaigns.   Many, perhaps most, Monmouth County Republicans have limited experience in competitive campaigns.  If you want to experience competitive campaigns, spend some time in Bergen County.

John Bennett said he would run a positive campaign. He didn’t and he never intended to.  He ran a clever campaign designed to turn his substantial negatives around on his opponent.   Attempt to make his negative history out of bounds to talk about because he has a letter saying he didn’t do anything wrong and make his opponent’s government work a “conflict of interest”  to deflect attention away from his own piggish career.

That might have worked in the old 12th district against hapless Democrats .  It could never work in a competitive race.

John Bennett doesn’t know how to win a competitive race.  He’s never won one, unless you consider his 2003 primary against an unknown conservative by the name of Richard Pezzullo a competitive race.  Whenever John ventured out of his comfort zone in the old 12th, he lost.  

When Bennett was a “Chairman” as Leader of the Senate Republicans in 2003, he lost badly. Before that loss he fought back calls from fellow Republicans in Trenton to give up the Senate Co-Presidency and he fought back Chairman Bill Dowd’s call to step aside in his own race.  John knew better than everyone else.  Except he didn’t and he caused the loss of not only his own seat in the old 12th, but the Assembly seats too.  Worse, and something New Jersey has yet to recover from, he lost the Senate.

It’s not negative to say this.  It is just what is so. 

What would be negative is to not say it loud enough, like John’s friends didn’t say it loud enough in 2003.

Whoever the next Chairs of the major parties are on Wednesday morning, Monmouth County is going to become a more competitive county.  Those who rationalize that this year is a presidential year and next year is a gubernatorial year, so we’ll do well anyway are short term thinkers who don’t know how to build an organization.  That’s the kind of thinking that lead to the loss of Republican dominance in Trenton.

The two men who are competing for the Monmouth Democratic Chair both have a great deal of respect for the organization that Joe Oxley and Christine Hanlon have rebuilt over the last four years.  Both men are preparing and thinking long term.

Ultimately the job of the county chair is to win elections.  The Chair is not a position to give as reward, an act of friendship or because someone’s earned it as a “capstone” to a career.  It is not a ceremonial post that someone can coast in for two easy years.  Not unless you’re willing to let the competition catch up during those two years

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Who is Christine Hanlon? The Monmouth County GOP Chair’s Race, Part 4

By Art Gallagher

Who is this woman who, only six years ago was not involved in politics and now has State Legislators and county elected officials feverishly working the phones to make sure she is elected Monmouth County GOP Chair on Tuesday evening at Colts Neck High School?

Late last week as I was finishing up my preparation for this series, I called two of the elected officials who had endorsed John Bennett for Chair.   I trust these people’s judgment and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something.

“Tell me why John Bennett will be a better Chair than Christine Hanlon,” I asked both Republicans.  Neither had an answer.  Both said they liked Christine and that she would be a good Chairwoman.  They both spoke of their friendship with Bennett and the support he gave them early in their careers as the reason for endorsements.  Neither disagreed with my concerns about Bennett’s baggage.   

One of them called me back over the weekend and asked, “Why do you think Christine will be a better Chair than John?”  “Bennett is too much of a risk.  Fair or not, he will become a campaign issue and a distraction.   No one works harder than Christine and she’s motivated by something other than personal gain,”  was my reply.  “How can you say that about someone who has only been involved for a few years?” the person quickly asked.  “Because I’ve taken the time to get to know her, just like I took the time  to get to know you when you were running.”  “Oh, I was just asking.”  “That’s OK, I was just answering.”

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The Chairmanship and Conflicts of Interest

My friend Jim Giannell  asked that I write a short piece about conflicts of interests and the County Chair, as it relates to the current race between Christine Hanlon and John Bennett.

Jim is supporting John Bennett for Chair.  While I haven’t made an endorsement yet, most people assume I am supporting Christine Hanlon given my recent coverage of John Bennett.  I’m on the fence between Christine and Bayshore Tea Party Group Co-Founder Bob Gordon.   No, not really.

Jim and I started our friendship working on Anna Little’s 2006 Freeholder race.  Over the last six years we’ve been on the same side and opposite sides of various races.  We’re not go on vacation together or spend Christmas Eve together kinds of friends, but we always take each others calls, help each other when we can, and neither of us is ever bitter with the other when a race is over.  I always tell him the truth and he usually tells me the truth after I call him on his bullshit.  When I launched this site and started selling advertising, Jim wrote me a check, even though he didn’t have a website to link an ad to.  We’re friends.  I owe him an ad.

In politics, as in life, holding grudges only nails you’re own foot to the floor.   It can be both humorous and maddening to watch grudge holders spin around in circles, while they think they are getting somewhere.

But enough about my friendship with Jim, and on to his request.

In the comments of the Chair’s race Part 3 post, Jim said,

Hi Art,
Wow ! Things are getting wild out there !
Anyway, talk about “Deals”, many of us have heard the rumor that a certain Chairperson of a fairly large town has been promised the job of “Commissioner of Registration”; an $80,000/yr job to support Christine, should she win. I know you can figure out who.
There is no question that a Republican County Chairperson should not have any business with County Government that is controlled by Republicans yet Christine fails to address this critical issue. Could you do a short piece on this before Tues ?
I could go on with many things I’ve heard but have to get to work. Lunch is either on you or me at the end of the week, we shall see Tuesday eve and then I’ll let you know why you have been wrong & vice versa !

I responded,

@ Jim Giannell

We both know how rumors work.

I promised you that I would find out the truth. From what I hear, the Commissioner of Registration appointment is indeed coming up. I hear that several inquiries have been made about it and that no deals or promises have been made by Christine.

Who, if anyone, has John promised the job to? I’m sure you know.

Regarding the chair doing work for the county, that only became a conflict of interest because John decided to say it is a conflict of interest and his supporters, like yourself and Gerri, are running with it. We all know its a red herring. County work is no more of a conflict for the chair than municipal work is. The county chair has as much power on the municipal level as he/she does on the county level.

In a perfect world, someone who doesn’t need to earn a living would be county chair and do the job passionately. We don’t live in a perfect world. The demands of the chairmanship would put most people out of business or out of a their jobs, or they would not be a successful chair. Vic Scudiery is such an example. Politics is not his business. He always took care of his family and his business and did the best he could as chair of the Dems with the deck stack against him. More than once, political pros tried to take him out. The Dems would have been more competitive in Monmouth if a politico was their chair all these years. There is really no question about that.

If John becomes chair, his income will not take a hit. If Christine becomes chair, her income will not take a hit either.

If a business person like you or me became chair, our incomes would take a hit.

I don’t like it, and I know that you don’t like it. But that is the way it is.

See you Tuesday night and again for lunch on Friday.

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Bennett responds to the Soprano State anonymous mailer

An anonymous mailing which included a copy of the book jacket of The Soprano State and the two pages of the New York Times Best Seller by Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure that featured former Acting Governor John Bennett was sent, from Trenton, to members of the Monmouth County Republican Committee this week, presumably to hurt Bennett’s candidacy for Monmouth County GOP Chair.

Bennett’s opponent, State Committeewoman Christine Hanlon, has denied any involvement in or prior knowledge of the mailing.

Bennett responded by mailing the County Committee members a photocopy of a March 24, 2007 Asbury Park Press article, Feds: Bennett is cleared in billing probe, which included a handwritten note from the former Acting Governor in which he refers to The Soprano State as a “politically charged and intentionally biased novel.”

A copy of Bennett’s mailing can be downloaded here.

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Bennett’s Rage: The Monmouth GOP Chair’s Race, Part 3

By Art Gallagher

Part 3 of this series was going to be about Christine Hanlon, but that will have to wait.

John Bennett called in a rage today over the two pieces about him.  He was screaming.  All the awful things people say about me are true.  At least he has the balls to say it directly to me.

He said he’s suing me and having me charged with extortion.  Extortion because Christine Hanlon and Ernesto Cullari advertised here.  He and Anna Little did not.  That’s why I was hard on Anna Little and that’s why I’m printing “lies and untruths” about him.

I’m not really a Republican because I talked to Bob Ingle.  I wish I had my wits about me to say he’s not really a Republican because he favors a woman’s right to kill babies, but I didn’t think of it until much later after someone pointed out to me how unprincipled Anna Little’s endorsement of Bennett was, given her pro-life commitment and Christine Hanlon’s pro-life commitment.  Not that a county chair has any power over Roe v Wade. 

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Bennett’s Baggage: The Monmouth GOP Chair’s Race, Part 2

Ultimately the job of a county chairman is to win elections.

Unfortunately, one of the candidates for Monmouth County GOP Chair is blinded to the fact that that his record will become a major issue in the next two general elections, should his revisionist history campaign successfully result in his chairmanship.

If John Bennett and his supporters think The Asbury Park Press and the new Monmouth County Democratic Chairman, whoever that ends up being, are not rooting for Bennett to be the next Monmouth GOP Chair, they truly have their heads in the sand.

Bennett has been promoting his early legislative career and electoral successes as a reason to elect him chairman as if the unceremonious and embarrassing end to his legislative career didn’t happen.  He even implored MMM not to write about the damage he has done, not just to Monmouth County, the Monmouth GOP, but to the entire State of New Jersey and the New Jersey GOP.  “Don’t write bad things about me!” Bennett exclaimed when we met for almost three hours early last month.  We hoped he would realize the obvious himself and that we wouldn’t have to write the truth about him.   Unfortunately that has turned out not to be the case. 

Just as he did in 2003 when he ignored then County Chairman Bill Dowd’s call to abandon his unwinnable reelection bid, Bennett has his head in the sand now.  Just as he didn’t see that his continued candidacy in 2003 would not only cost Republicans the 12^th legislative district but control of the State Senate where he was Co-President, Bennett doesn’t see now that his being Chairman could very well cost the Monmouth GOP control of the county government which we have worked so hard to win back over the last four years.

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Monmouth GOP Chair’s Race, Part 1: The way the game is played

Ultimately the job of a county chair is to win elections.

Unfortunately, much of the current campaign for Monmouth GOP chair has been focused on the spoils of victory—which lawyer would be a hungrier pig if he/she got elected.

That issue is a red herring.

John Bennett’s pledge that he, his daughter and his firm will forsake doing legal work for the county should he be elected chair would be impressive if he also pledged to forsake municipal work and pledged not to trade legal work at the county and municipal levels with chairs from other counties.  That will never happen.

Bennett has demonstrated over his thirty year career that he is a master of working the system for the benefit of himself and his family.  There can be no  little doubt that before he pledged that he and his daughter would not do legal work for Monmouth County should he be elected GOP County Chair, that he already had made a deal to replace and expand those billable hours and retainers in other counties.  To put it bluntly, if Bennett becomes Chair, his income will increase from Ocean County and Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore’s income will increase in Monmouth County. 

“That’s the way the game is played,” one Bennett supporter recently told MMM in defense of the obvious.

John Bennett’s career is a case study in “the way the game is played.”   From the high five figure state pension, plus lifetime health benefits, he is collecting from tacking together part time jobs, a practice that is no longer legal, to the jobs he has secured for himself and his family members on the state, county and municipal levels, to making the government work that his opponent in the Chair’s race, Christine Hanlon and her partners, do an issue in this race, Bennett is the maestro.

Talk to me about the potential conflicts of interest of your opponent after you’ve pledged to give up all government work for yourself and your family.  Short of that, please stop insulting our intelligence.

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Wall Republicans: Hanlon Has the “Moxy” To Be Chair

The entirely Republican Wall Township Committee is asking their County Committee Members to support Christine G. Hanlon for Monmouth County Republican Chair.

The following letter signed by Mayor Jeff Foster, Deputy Mayor Todd Luttman, and Committee Members Clint Hoffman, George Newberry and Ann Marie Conte was sent to the Wall County Committee Members earlier this week:

As you know, Monmouth County GOP Chairman Joseph Oxley has been nominated by Governor Christie to sit on the bench of the NJ Superior Court, and therefore will not be seeking reelection as our county chairman. I am sure you join us in wishing Mr. Oxley all the best. After much consideration, we, your elected Township Committee, unanimously support Christine Giordano Hanlon to replace Oxley as County Chairman. 

Over the last several years, Mrs. Hanlon has been a tireless worker for Monmouth County Republicans.  An attorney and former District Attorney who prosecuted white collar crimes, she is the Republican State Committeewoman serving Monmouth County. As Oxley’s “right hand man,” she helped to regain control of the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders and ensured the reelection of Sheriff Shaun Golden and Surrogate Rosemarie Peters by wide margins. In 2009, she worked to help Monmouth County deliver one of the largest margins of victory ever to elect Governor Chris Christie and Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno.  She was also County Coordinator for the McCain-Palin campaign and is the Chair of the Ocean Township Republican Party.  In short, she’s been the force behind many successful elections and we believe she has the drive and experience to help lead the Monmouth County GOP into the future.

Hanlon has a very specific agenda to improve communication and transparency in County GOP politics, improve voter outreach through the use of technology, and build on our existing excellent grassroots network. She is a tireless worker, has a proven record of success, and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support GOP efforts here in Monmouth County.  Furthermore, she has been endorsed by several members of the Senate and Assembly who can personally attest to her passion, commitment and unprecedented integrity.

We believe Christine Hanlon has the unique mix of skill, experience, innovation and moxy to be the next Monmouth County GOP Chairman.  We hope you will join us in supporting her at the Monmouth County Republican Committee Reorganization on June 12 at Colts Neck High School.

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Hanlon Scores More Endorsements For Monmouth GOP Chair

Assemblyman Rob Clifton, Sheriff Shaun Golden, Surrogate Rosemarie Peters and Freeholder Tom Arone, Gary Rich and Serena DiMaso have joined the long line of Monmouth County elected officials who are supporting Christine G. Hanlon in her quest to become the first female Chair of the Monmouth County Republican Organization.

They sent the following letter to County Committee members earlier this week:

We are writing today to express our strong support for Christine Hanlon to become our next Republican County Chair.  Reorganization of our party will take place on June 12, 2012 at 7pm at the Colts Neck High School.  We urge you to come to reorganization and cast your vote for Christine Hanlon for County Chair.

Over the years, Christine Hanlon has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to electing Republicans at every level of government.  She served as the Monmouth Coordinator, under Chairman Joe Oxley, for national, state and county races.  Christine was the coordinator for the McCain-Palin campaign in 2008, the Christie-Guadagno campaign in 2009, and our county campaigns in 2010 and 2011.  She also assisted with state legislative campaigns for years.

The success our party has achieved in recent years is due in large part to Christine’s tireless efforts.  She has the unique experience, skills and leadership abilities needed to lead our party into the future. 

Our candidates need a strong leader with unparalleled organizational skills and the knowledge of our county-wide Republican operation.  Christine Hanlon has the experience and the ability to ensure that Monmouth County will remain in Republican control and that our candidates and party have the resources we need to win.

This year, the Democrats will have a new County Chairman and will work hard to win two seats on the Freeholder Board and the constitutional office of County Clerk.  They will also seek to defeat our national candidates by increasing Democrat voter turnout in Monmouth County.  We must not let that happen!  We need to maintain the stability of our organization and continue the progress we have made over the past four years. We must continue moving forward!

We strongly and enthusiastically support Christine Hanlon for Monmouth Republican Chair.  Join us in showing your support for Christine at the Colts Neck High School on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at 7pm.

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