(Image via Twitter) Following a dinner with president-elect Donald Trump and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus in New York City Tuesday night, Mitt Romney told reporters that he thinks “America’s best days are ahead of us.” Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, is rumored to be at the top of… Read the rest of this entry »
BEDMINSTER — President-elect Donald Trump arrived at his golf course in northwestern New Jersey on Friday night for a weekend of meetings as he and his transition team continue to plot out who will serve in the Republican’s administration. Gov. Chris Christie, and one of the team’s vice chairs, was not in tow as Trump’s motorcade… Read the rest of this entry »
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during an October event in in Clive, Iowa.
WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would defeat Gov. Chris Christie and other possible Republican opponents in the 2016 presidential election, according to a poll released today. The Bloomberg Politics survey showed Clinton, also a former U.S. senator from New York, leading Christie, 42 percent to 36 percent. Clinton, who would be the frontrunner… Read the rest of this entry »
A CNN/ORC International poll survey indicates Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney are the top picks for the 2016 Democratic and Republican presidential nominations, respectively. The poll found 65 percent of left-leaning American voters queried would support Clinton if she ran in the Democratic primaries for president while 20 percent of right-leaning voters said they would support… Read the rest of this entry »
Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican Presidential nominee, is schedule to be a “Special Guest” at Governor Chris Christie’s birthday celebration/NJGOP fundraiser on September 10. Christie turns 52 on September 6.
The grand party will be held at the Hilton East Brunswick. A ticket to the general reception costs $150. Entrance to a private reception is $5,000 per person. There are 20 “Roundtable” spots reserved for 20 well healed guests.
For an additional $75, guests can have a message inserted in Christie’s birthday card. For $35 a family will be listed in the card, $15 for an individual listing.
In lieu of gifts for the Governor, guests are urged to bring an unwrapped toy which will be donated to Toys 4 Tots.
Mitt Romney was declare the winner of the Iowa Caucuses by 8 votes. Weeks later after all the votes were counted, Rick Santorum was declared the winner.
Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina GOP Presidential Primary.
Holmdel Deputy Mayor Serena DiMasowas elected a Monmouth County Freeholder by the Monmouth County Republican Committee.
State Senator Joe Kyrillos announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate.
U.S. Senator Bob Menendez blocked Federal Magistrate Patty Shwartz’s nomination to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Menendez denied he was blocking the appointment because Shwartz’s boyfriend was the Assistant U.S. Attorney who investigated him in 2006. Menendez reversed himself after the news of his opposition to Shwartz become pulbic. Shwartz’s nomination has yet to be confirmed.
Governor Christie nominated Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre to be the Director of the Division of Alcohol Beverage Control.
Governor Christie nominated First Assistant Attorney General Philip Kwon and Chatham Mayor Bruce Harris to be State Supreme Court Associate Justices. Kwon was the first Asian-American ever nominated. Harris was the first openingly homosexual nominee.
New Jersey’s newspaper industry fought back efforts to allow “Legal Notices” to be posted online instead of in newspapers.
Mitt Romney won the Florida GOP presidential primary.
In early December of 2005 I attended the annual holiday gathering of the Monmouth Ocean Development Council. This particular party stands out in my memory of the hundreds of such parties I’ve attended over the years because of the entertainment. A jazz band from New Orleans was touring the country to raise money for the Katrina recovery efforts. Their music was fabulous. Their plea for help is what stuck with me. It was deep, personal and profound. The wreckage seen on television four months earlier was a distant memory for me, until I felt a little of the pain in that band’s plea.
The difference between hearing about and watching news accounts of a devastating hurricance and living through the aftermath of such a catostrophic event is like the difference between watching porn and having sex, though not nearly as fun. It’s not fun at all.
In a negative sense, the Republican Party accomplished the impossible last night. In a year of economic stagnation and anemic job growth, the GOP failed to win the White House against an incumbent president who had begun the campaign with a negative approval rating. At the beginning of 2012, most pundits expected the GOP to regain control of the U.S. Senate; instead, the Republicans appear to have incurred a net loss of two seats.
The reelection victory of incumbent President Barack Obama was primarily a matter of demographics. In my PolitickerNJ column of August 5, 2012, I described this demographic factor as follows:
“Obama’s larger electoral vote base is largely a function of what I define as demographic political inelasticity, namely the tendency of certain demographic groups to vote overwhelmingly for one party or the other, regardless of the condition of the economy. Specifically, the Democrats have maintained the loyalty of African-American, Puerto Rican, Mexican-American, and single women voters, regardless of the current economic doldrums….”
One could also add voters under 25 to the list of these Obama demographic constituencies.