Posted by
Chris on Monday, May 04, 2009 1:29:09 AM
We are one month from the New Jersey Republican primary election and the mainstream media has already picked the Republican candidate. Those outside of the Garden State may have heard the name of former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie thrown about as the likely challenger to incumbent democratic governor John Corzine. This should not come as a surprise to anyone as Christie is a classic "Arlen Specter" Republican who supports illegal immigration and has called pro-life activists "extremists". His opponent in the primary, Steve Lonegan, is a true Reaganite. Let the truth be told, Christie is leading in the polls; however, Lonegan has closed the gap from 22 points on March 9th to nine points April 21st and internal polling is showing Lonegan down just two.
One could say this is a classic contest between a conservative and a moderate Republican, but it's way more. Chris Christie is a card carrying member of the New Jersey Republican Party machine. This is the same party machine that voted for liberal programs such as paid family leave, mandatory union labor for all state construction contracts, card check (yes, New Jersey has already taken away the right to a secret ballot), state bureaucrats determining compensation levels in CBAs, and a minimum $500 income tax on s-corporations -- even if they don't turn a profit. Each of these laws would not have passed without Republican support.
You may be interested to know that prior to serving as U.S. Attorney, Christie never engaged in a trial. How do you get a Presidential nomination for U.S. Attorney with no experience you ask? The old fashioned way of course -- you buy it. In the years prior to George Bush's presidency, Christie gave $800 to the New Jersey Republican Party. After Bush was elected, Christie gave $144,000. When the Bush asked the party hacks to recommend a nominee, of course they named Christie.
Now as U.S. Attorney, Christie did rack up an impressive number of convictions, and as such he's staking his entire campaign on one issue -- ethics. The irony here cannot be overstated. In the last few months Christie has been embattled in not one, but two pay-to-play scandals. It seems he took thousands in campaign contributions from individuals that received multi-million dollar no-bid contracts from him as U.S. Attorney. If Christie was running in a federal election, his actions would have been illegal and he would be under indictment right now. However, since they were federal contracts and he is running in a state election, it's not illegal. Bailed out by a loophole in the law. Nevertheless, it remains a huge ethical violation. But it doesn't stop there.
Chris Christie's brother, Todd Christie, was president at the Wall St. Specialist firm of Spear, Leeds, and Kellogg where he made $100 million before its sale to Goldman Sachs. During his time at Goldman, Todd Christie was nominated to a seat on the New York Stock Exchange board, one of the most prestigious positions for a Wall St. trader, however, he was forced to withdraw his nomination and resign from Goldman Sachs after being among a group of 20 specialist accused of "fraudulent trading practices". David Rosenthal, an associate regional director for the SEC said, "Christie was one of the worst". According to the SEC, Todd Christie committed more than 1600 fraudulent trades, including one where he received a $1,590,000 commission on a trade that netted only $14,000 for his client. Despite the severity of the accusations, Todd Christie was the only person in the top 15 not to be indicted. Coincidentally, candidate Chris Christie gave a multi-million dollar no-bid monitoring contract to the prosecutor who chose not to indict his brother. Again the irony of his ethics platform cannot be overstated. Since then the chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary committees have called for hearings into the issuances of monitoring contracts. So we can take solace in knowing that our crime busting republican nominee may fall under indictment himself.
Luckily, his opponent, Steve Lonegan, is not only "corruption free", but he is probably the most conservative candidate to run for a major election in the last decade. As mayor of Bogota, New Jersey, a town that voted 66% for Barack Obama, Lonegan kept spending growth below the inflation rate for 12 years while state spending was growing by 116% over the same period. He even got arrested for leading a protest on public property against John Corzine's proposed 800% toll hikes. Can you say "political prisoner"? You can see the video on You-Tube. He even outlawed Spanish signs (laughing out loud). Under the new Corzine budget the state's top income tax rate is scheduled to go up to 10.25%. Lonegan is proposing a 2.5% flat tax to go along with a 20% cut in the state budget. Unlike Christie, Lonegan doesn't owe the Trenton party bosses a thing, meaning they won't be able to control him as they would Christie, and he will be free to propose the type of legislation this state desperately needs.
Conventional logic says a conservative Republican can't win a general election in a heavily blue state. However, this election is different. John Corzine has run this state into the ground, people are moving out of the state in droves, it has the worst business climate of the 50 states, massive unemployment, huge budget deficits, and tax rates have gone up 55% in the last six years. Quite frankly, liberalism isn't working and the people are starting to wake up. The latest Rasmussen poll shows that if the general election was held today, Steve Lonegan would beat John Corzine by eight points. His message is resonating, and he is building a genuine grass roots movement. He has more donors than Chris Christie and John Corzine combined, something that has to infuriate the Republican Party machine. This is a golden opportunity to finally elect someone who shares our values. If Steve wins the primary he will be the next Governor of New Jersey. If Chris Christie wins, he will govern exactly the same as John Corzine, maybe worse (think Arnold Schwarzenegger).
If you live in New Jersey, you absolutely have to vote for Steve Lonegan in the primary election on June 2nd. If you don't live in New Jersey, but still share his conservative values, you can still contribute to his campaign at Lonegan.com. If Lonegan moves up a few more points in the polls, the media will be forced to start mentioning his name, and we will be one step closer to a true conservative governor.