Lonegan turns to churches to get out vote, slams Obama for suppressing religious freedom

Lonegan turns to churches to get out vote, slams Obama for suppressing religious freedom (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan turned to churches and synagogues today to help get out the vote — and accused President Obama of suppressing religious freedom under the Affordable Care Act. Lonegan, a conservative activist…

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Booker Going Negative

Maybe Cory Booker’s internal polling numbers are similar to Steve Lonegan’s and show the U.S. Senate race closer than the independent polls indicate.

Booker is launching a negative ad against Steve Lonegan today, according to Politico.

Booker’s ad targets Lonegan.

Lonegan is still running against President Obama and ObamaCare.

With the Monmouth polls showing Booker’s support is shallow, that voters think that Booker is in it more for fame than service and that he’s a typical politician, Lonegan would be wise to focus on Booker’s weaknesses over the next two weeks.

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Monmouth Poll: Booker holding a 13 point lead

Lonegan team says it’s a single digit race

With two weeks left in the special election campaign for U.S. Senate, Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s lead over former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan in down to 13 points, from 16 points in August, according to a Monmouth University poll of likely voters released this morning.

Despite holding his lead within the margins of error in the Monmouth polls, Booker’s favorability rating has taken a 20 point hit since August.  The percentage of those who view Booker favorably dropped 7% while those who view him unfavorably increased by 13%.

Lonegan’s overall favorability rating declined 4%.  35% said they view Lonegan favorably, up from 31% in August.  28% said they viewed Lonegan unfavorably, up 8% since August.

Lonegan’s name recognition has jumped 11% since August when 49% said they had no opinion of him.  38% said they have no opinion of him in today’s survey.

Booker has widened his lead with Independent voters from 2% in August to 6% today.  Monmouth Polling Director Patrick Murray said this figure is statistically insignificant.

Lonegan has shored up his support among Republicans a bit.  83% of Republican likely voters say they will vote for Lonegan, up from 79% in August.  14% of Republicans said they would vote for Booker, down from 16% in August.

Lonegan’s strategist and pollster Rick Shaftan says his man is down by only 6%, 48-42.   Shaftan thinks Booker’s shallow support in his base will translate into a lower turnout among Democratic voters than Republcans and conservatives. “Maybe I’m undercounting African-Americans who I have at 8% of the turnout,”Shaftan said,  “I know others expect more.  I do not.”  Shaftan said that the African-American vote was 12% of the turnout in last year’s election in New Jersey.

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Rising polls boost Lonegan campaign in Senate race against Booker

Rising polls boost Lonegan campaign in Senate race against Booker (via NJ.com)

BOGOTA — Steve Lonegan was 35 points down to Newark Mayor Cory Booker a few weeks ago, but having a good time. His campaign for the U.S. Senate seemed a desultory sort of affair, not far removed from the kind he ran when he would go house to house…

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Shaftan: Lonegan in Single Digit Range

Long-Time Lonegan Strategist, Pollster Sees Much Tighter U.S. Senate Race Than Public Survey Results Reflect

By Matt Rooney, SaveJersey.com

He’s one of most controversial figures in Garden State politics, Save Jerseyans, but in all candor, I always enjoy talking shop with Rick Shaftan.

For those who don’t know (maybe you’re tuning in for the first time this cycle), Rick Shaftan is a campaign strategist/pollster for Republican candidates across the country (and a couple Dems, including state Sen. Nick Sacco). His most famous client is Steve Lonegan, and their relationship goes back many years; Shaftan’s cameo in Anytown USA – a documentary following one of former Mayor Lonegan’s Bogota reelection campaigns – is well worth the watch.

I had a chance to catch up with Rick on the phone last night when he was in between an event and a campaign conference call (and I had just returned from a cocktail party and was settling down for a tedious evening of busy work and HBO GO viewing).  His message to me concerning the 2013 U.S. Senate special election: don’t believe the public polls. “This is a single digit race,” Shaftan declared. Even his detractors who think Rick is crazy would never make the mistake of believing he’s stupid. I brought up the fact that conservatives (including yours truly) didn’t believe the 2012 public polling only to have those polls largely verified by the final result.

Rick Shaftan’s counter: 2013 isn’t 2012…

In short, Lonegan completely rejects the idea that Mayor Lonegan is trailing by large margins and that the nominee is underperforming with the GOP base; his argument is that the major public polls are failing to adequately screen for who is actually likely to show up at the polls to choose between Cory Booker (D-Twitter) and his candidate.

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Lonegan: Booker’s Syria Position Is As Fake As ‘T-Bone’

GOP U.S. Senate nominee Steve Lonegan said this afternoon that his Democratic opponent, Newark Mayor Cory Booker is afraid to admit his support of President Barack Obama’s desire to attack Syria.

“Mayor Booker claims he cannot say whether he will support or oppose President Obama’s proposed military attack on Syria allegedly because he has no access to classified information,” Lonegan said, calling that argument “as fake as T-Bone.”

“The American people have figured out very quickly that President Obama has not made the case that American interests are at stake in Syria,” Lonegan said.  “Americans are sick of being the world’s policeman and sick of getting involved in domestic civil wars where there is no evidence that America’s national security is threatened.”

“Cory Booker is afraid to admit he supports the President’s proposed war in Syria,” Lonegan said, “so instead he attempts to hide behind the smokescreen of not having enough information.  But people are on to the Mayor’s act now, and his refusal to speak out against the President’s war can only be interpreted as assent.”

T-Bone is a character in a parable that Booker used early in his political career, until the Star Ledger raised questions about the authenticity of talent.  Booker claimed that T-Bone was a Newark drug dealer who once threatened his life and then a few year later pled with the mayor, in tears, to help him avoid prison.  In published reports Booker has claimed that the character is both “1000% a real person” and “an archetype.”

Regarding Syria, Booker initially said he would not support a strike, then equivocated.  Now he says he does not have enough information to say whether or not he would vote to authorize a military strike.

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Tax returns reveal Booker earned nearly $4 million since 1998, paid $1 million in taxes

Tax returns reveal Booker earned nearly $4 million since 1998, paid $1 million in taxes (via NJ.com)

John Munson/The Star-Ledger NEWARK — Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s political stardom has paid off well. The Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful has earned nearly $4 million from various endeavors over the past 15 years, including an average income of $577…

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Hey Cory, You’re the nominee. How about those tax returns?

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

If you work really hard, you can release them:

© Jim Urquhart / Reuters;

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Christie: “It is my honor to endorse Steve Lonegan”

“Steve will be a clear and powerful voice for putting people back in charge of government; not government in charge of people.”

“Let there be no doubt about the Republican apparatus being behind Steve Lonegan.”

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Live Election Coverage From NJTV

Watch NJTV’s live primary election coverage here at 6, 8:56, 9:56 and 11 tonight.

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