Dede Dines Out

I have had several genuinely excellent discussions with many members of our group re the NJ Governors race that will be decided on Tuesday. Although just about every one I have discussed this with voted for Steve Lonegan in the primary they are now reluctantly supporting Republican Chris Christie over incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine. Most people feel it is important for Corzine not to be reelected. Carol & I also think it is equally important that Christie not be elected.

Anyone who read Paul Mulshine's Cross Country column in today's WSJ on page A17 will learn some of the details as to why Christie has been short on details since the Republican machine put him in the race last winter. Also anyone who heard Alan Keyes speak @ the Woodbridge Tea Party last Saturday learned why Christie is just the type of candidate America does not want in office - he will perpetuate more of the same statist leaning direction that the country has been heading toward for decades & four years from now there will be two more lousy candidates to vote for so that New Jerseyians once again cannot get ahead regardless of which one of them is elected. Six months from now you will not be able to tell the difference in the governance of NJ.

Most reluctant Christie supporters who I have discussed this with think that Christie winning will send Democrat congressmen & BO himself a message but such messages are always short lived & spun to whatever point necessary to minimize the result. Also, some people told me they are picking the lesser of two evils - how pitiful.

Now a much better example of an important election to learn a lesson from is found in NY's 23rd congressional district's special election to replace Republican Representative John McHugh who recently accepted the job of Secretary of the Army. The original Democrat candidate for the seat is John Owens & the original Republican candidate hand picked by the Republican machine was five-term state-level Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava who bowed out of the race today because 3rd party Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman had passed her in the polls. Now how much good would it have done for America to have Dede elected to hold the Republican seat vacated by McHugh.

How much of Republican Dede's positions do you share? - she is an abortion rights advocate who favors homosexual marriage. She is for card check, Cap & Trade, & favored bank bailouts & the Stimulus Bill - something every House Republican voted against. In past elections she has lined up with the ballot line of the Working Families Party -- a socialist outfit with ACORN connections.

Several days ago Sarah Palin endorsed Doug Hoffman, the 3rd party Conservative Party candidate. Palin was soon joined by Dick Armey, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann (R, Minnesota), Steve Forbes, The WSJ Editorial Board, Michelle Malkin, The National Review, The Club for Growth, & just yesterday former Republican NY Governor George Pataki. Even with her clear anti-American record on display Newt Gingrich endorsed Dede saying that "Republicans must embrace centrists who can capture swing districts" - a position great for Republican stats but awful for America.

Worse than even Newt's endorsement - as of October 29 the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) was planning to dump $300,000 in the race promoting Dede. I just hope they committed the money & Dede dined out of the race wasting it all. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele was just as pitiful when Dede was still in the race saying the voters will decide - like who else will? Steele could not endorse Doug Hoffman could he? - that would not be the politically correct thing to do for the Republican Party, but in the meantime the hell with America.

So now the people in NY's 23rd district have a real choice - something NJ voters do not have with the two major party candidates. But even New Jerseyians can start to make a difference - not in this election because either Corzine or Christie is going to win but by studying the other candidates' positions & voting for someone who deserves & earns your vote - neither Corzine or Christie do. There are excellent Gubernatorial candidates like Jason Cullen & his running mate Gloria Leustek who ran on the Lonegan line in Somerset County in the primary for Freeholder. Cullen told me that he is a perpetual candidate so in the long run a vote for him, if you think he earns it, will not be wasted.

But getting back to NY's 23rd - it has been in Republican hands for nearly 120 consecutive years. Don't think that the Conservative Party candidate is a shoe-in though. As a sign of the sliding times in America eight-term Republican John McHugh, the man who moved over to the Department of the Army just a few months ago, was elected in November 2008 with a grade of "D" by the National Tax Payers Union with only a 30% favorable rating. Now just how will Dede's supporters votes be distributed between the statist & the conservative? On Tuesday night watch the results of this race closely - it will let you know if there is any hope in the immediate future.