Libertarian Turned Republican Is Tired Of Screwing Up GOP Primaries So He’s A Libertarian Again.
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Murray Sabrin (from his campaign website)
Recently some random guy sending an email to the radio station begging that Murray Sabrin get a little air time with The Bob & Steve Show got me thinking about how many times Murray Sabrin has screwed up an election for Republicans.
If Sabrin, or the aggressive campaign volunteer of his, reads this my guess is the Libertarian Party candidate will not be on our show. I have no issue with the Libertarian Party, I’m a small “L” libertarian who, a lifetime ago, ran for Philadelphia City Council as a Libertarian.
My issue is with the guy running under the Libertarian Party banner for U.S. Senate. Simply put, when it comes to the electoral process, Murray Sabrin has spent a political career screwing things up for Republicans.
I have to admit, I was hoping that email to the radio station that I did reply to would give me the opportunity to tell Sabrin on-the-air he’s a spoiler but two weeks later and not a word back.
So, back to the spoiler. Consider this, if not for Sabrin there likely would never have been a Governor Jim McGreevey. Think about it. 1997 McGreevey ran against incumbent Governor Christine Todd Whitman. Back then, we Republicans thought she was the best, she was widely considered a rising star in the national party. Sabrin was the Libertarian Party’s candidate for governor in that race and thanks to his 5% of the vote Whitman barely beat McGreevey 47%-46%. Losing that close essentially guaranteed McGreevey the Democrat’s nomination four years later.
In 2000 Sabrin was one of the four contestants in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate, he finished last with 12.6% of the vote. Bob Franks was the winner over Bill Gormley by 4,360 votes. Jim Treffinger came in third. Gormley was the kind of guy we needed to defeat Jon Corzine. Sure, Corzine still would have spent the $63 million, but remember Franks lost by 3% spending only $6 million. Gormley was a far more dominant figure, the outcome could have been different. Without Sabrin in the primary it is possible it would have been a Corzine-Gormley fight.
Then, there’s the mess that was the 2008 Republican primary for U.S. Senate. Sabrin was in the contest as was Joe Pennacchio. The brain trust that ran the party at the time was enamored with Anne Evans Estabrook because of her ability to self-fund. Estabrook dropped out of the race shortly after a video titled “Anne Estabrook Flops on the 2nd Amendment” found its way to YouTube. To be fair, the official reason for her dropping out was a mini stroke.
Estabrook’s exit positioned Pennacchio as the frontrunner, the aforementioned brain trust wasn’t having that. First they went to Andy Unanue, his campaign lasted so long that he never made it back to New Jersey from his vacation in Colorado. Then there was a list of potential candidates before the party bosses settled on Dick Zimmer. Sabrin’s 13.8% of the vote, the bulk of which would likely have gone to Pennacchio, is what helped Zimmer garner 45.8% for the win. Zimmer then went on to get crushed by Frank Lautenberg.
Also, during that mess of a campaign Murray “I’m a fiscal conservative” Sabrin proved he’s not very conservative with other people’s money when he bet campaign funds on a horse in the Kentucky Derby.
Sabrin ran again as a Republican in the 2014 four-way U.S. Senate Primary. He finished dead last.
Now, tired of screwing up Republican primaries, he’s back running as a Libertarian. Don’t let Murray Sabrin screw up this election for Republicans like he has in the past. And, to the guy who emailed the radio station on Sabrin’s behalf, I’ll still let Sabrin come on The Bob & Steve Show and he can explain why he’s spent his entire political career screwing things up for Republicans.
