Middletown Democrats, Asbury Park Press Follow MMM’s Lead In Endorsing Pallone

Following the lead of MoreMonmouthMusings, the Middletown Democrats and the Asbury Park Press have endorsed Congressman Frank Pallone for the Democratic nomination to complete the term of the late U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg.

Frank Pallone at 2010 Highlands Clamfest.
The 19th annual clamfest ends today in Highlands. Pallone was there on Friday night

MMM, the first website in the world to endorse Pallone for the Senate nomination, did so on June 25 because the congressman asked publisher Art Gallagher for help, because Gallagher believes the Republican nominee, likely to be former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, stands a better chance against Pallone than against Newark Mayor Cory Booker, and most importantly, a vacancy in Pallone’s 6th district congressional seat would be fantastic for MMM’s web traffic.  Our advertisers would love it!

The Middletown Dems say they endorsed Pallone because he “did the best he could” on a variety of issues.  In reality, they are hoping for money from Pallone to fund races even porn distributors are taking a pass on.

The Asbury Park Press endorsed Pallone, even though they say, “Voters can’t go wrong, no matter which way they lean in this primary, ” because they hope hometown Pallone will spend some advertising dollars,drive up newsstand sales and website visits.

All three endorsements come down to money.  Only MMM will admit that.  We like money and we need it!  Go Frank Go!

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APP endorses Claire French for Clerk

Could they possibly endorse Curley and DiMaso for Freeholders too?

The Asbury Park Press has recognised the fine job Republican County Clerk M. Claire French has done over the last ten years and endorsed her for a third five year term.

The Neptune Nudniks got this one right.  They dismissed Democratic candidate Michael Steinhorn as someone who “has little to recommend him for the job,” despite the fact that he exposed the statistical anomaly of the Monmouth GOP winning the first general election ballot position in 30 of 33 years and that they like his proposal to that the clerk’s office provide mobile services to seniors and veterans.

Given their logic in endorsing French, it will be fascinating to see how they endorse at least one of the Democratic Freeholder candidates, as I expect they will.

The Democratic Freeholder campaign has been so anemic that I suspect many readers don’t even know who is running.  Despite the Monmouth Dems outraising the Monmouth GOP through September, there is little evidence that Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal and his team are trying to get their nominal slate elected.   Publicly Democratic leaders say the right things about supporting their candidates. Privately they seem resigned to a Republican blow out.

The Democratic candidates are William Shea and Kevin Lavan.  Shea, as Amy Mallet’s running mate, lost to Freeholders Lillian Burry and Gary Rich last year. He is challenging Freeholder Director John Curley for a full three year term.  Lavan, who lost his run for Assembly to Declan O’Scanlon and Amy Handlin in the 13th district last year, is running against Freeholder Serena DiMaso for the remaining one year of Rob Clifton’s term.  Clifton resigned upon being sworn into the State Assembly.

Shea and Lavan were not even on the same page when the Nudniks interviewed all four candidates in September.  Shea recklessly proposed a 20% across the board spending cut from the county budget without backing up how he would do it.   Lavan said “maybe” depending upon the results of an audit.

Yet, the Nudniks loath single party control of any governing body (except the federal government when it is in Democratic hands) and has a historical bias against “Club Monmouth” as they frequently call the Monmouth GOP.  They seem to forget that all of the Monmouth Republican county office holders and all of Monmouth GOP leadership has been replaced since Operation Bid Rig, except Claire French who they just endorsed.  The GOP holds all five seats on the Freeholder Board.

Will the APP editorial board affirm the nudnikness and endorse Shea or Lavan?  We’ll find out soon.  Either way, it won’t matter on election day.   It might matter to their own crediblity if the actually endorse the best people for the job and get over their own biases.

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U.S. Chamber of Commerce Endorses Kyrillos for Senate

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.”

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HANLON ANNOUNCES ENDORSEMENTS BY MONMOUTH REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP

Christine Hanlon today released a list of municipal chairs and party leaders supporting her in the upcoming election for Monmouth County Republican Chair. The chairs who have pledged their support to Hanlon represent 394 county committee members, more than half of the 768 total committee membership.

 “I am grateful and humbled by the support I’ve gotten from so many people across Monmouth County since I announced my candidacy for Monmouth County Republican Chair,” said Hanlon. “The leadership of our party understands that we must keep moving forward and know that I am the choice to keep our party stable and to lead us into the future. People are happy at the direction the party has taken in the last four years and they want to keep moving forward. We’ve improved our fundraising efforts, expanded our grassroots network and volunteer support, improved communication with our base and most importantly, won elections. I’ve been involved in all of those efforts, and if I’m elected Chair, people know those efforts will continue.”

The list of Municipal Chairs and party leaders supporting Hanlon include:

MonmouthCounty Republican Committee Vice-Chair Diane Gooch

Aberdeen Chair- Sheilah Balavram

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