Everywhere I go, every party event I attend, the conversation almost always comes to Congressman Jeff Van Drew. There are those who express happiness about his party switch and becoming the incumbent Republican Congressman in CD2 or I hear a bunch of stuff about how it’s completely unfair the way the party is lining up behind him along with a conversation that nearly always goes something like this: “They’re ramming him down our throats.”
Get over it!
Admittedly, I was less than kind to Congressman Van Drew when the news broke that he was going to become a Republican.
Guess what? I got over it!
The President of the United States has endorsed the man. President Trump is the head of our party. Of course, the party is going to line up behind the guy the President endorsed.
I’m not going to lie, I feel bad for Brian Fitzherbert, Bob Patterson and David Richter. Fitzherbert and Richter I consider friends and I have a decent relationship with Patterson even if I do have a tendency to break his stones a bit.
I think having been on the receiving end of the party lining up behind a candidate other than my preferred candidate is why I feel bad.
Remember the 2018 CD2 Republican primary? The story goes: A Republican insider got Hirsh Singh to move from the Senate race in an attempt to clear the field for Bob Hugin to CD2 where the field was supposed to be cleared for him. Even with that kind of effort to clear the field for Singh he did not get the line in half the counties in the district. Both Seth Grossman and Sam Fiocchi won counties running off the line and, as you know, Grossman was the eventual winner of the primary.
How about 2009? I was on the “ramming” side on this one as then candidate Chris Christie’s South Jersey regional political director. He was expected to have every county line, there was one holdout in South Jersey. I burned a lot of bridges to make sure he got that line – to this day there are people who will not speak to me.
Remember the 2008 US Senate Primary on the GOP side? That was the year that for some strange reason “the party” wanted anybody but Joe Pennacchio. I was on the receiving end of this disaster, I served as Pennacchio’s press guy and his South Jersey coordinator. The party wanted Anne Estabrook, she dropped out. Then they wanted Andy Unanue, he dropped out before he even made it back to NJ from a vacation. Then they wanted John Crowley, but he said no. Eventually they decided on Dick Zimmer. Pennacchio had already won lines, only to have them taken away. The then-Salem County chair scheduled Pennacchio as the speaker at the organization’s annual dinner, then took the organization’s slogan away after he spoke. It wasn’t all bad though – I met my co-host on the radio show, Bob Greco and former Assemblyman Sam Fiocchi, two guys I’ve been friends with ever since.
With all that said all the counties in South Jersey have a process to select the endorsed candidate for a particular office. It is my understanding that every county chair is going to stick to that process. It is also my understanding that Congressman Van Drew has told the chairs that he respects their process and will take part in it. You can’t be mad at a guy who says he respects the process and is a willing participant in that process.
I have chatted with Richter, Patterson and Fitzherbert. None of them appear to be dropping out of the race. Will they win any county lines? Having been on the receiving end of this kind of thing, I doubt it. What I do know is not dropping out means there will be a primary election which means, line or no line, you will have choices on June 2nd, or sooner if you vote by mail.
The other thing I know, as I demonstrated above, this is not the first time the party has lined up behind a candidate. Again, I have been on both sides of the party lining up behind a candidate. If you didn’t complain every single time the party got behind a particular candidate in the past, then complaining now makes you a hypocrite.
Don’t be a hypocrite! Do whatever you feel is right at the voting booth or on your mail-in ballot. But do not complain if you never complained before. I dislike hypocrites more than I dislike Democrats.
Finally, spare me the “he was a Democrat” stuff. I know the Congressman was a Democrat. I was Cumberland GOP’s consultant under Chairman Greco. I worked with former Assemblyman Sam Fiocchi. I spent years fighting against the man, I know he was a Democrat. The key word is “was.”
Congressman Van Drew is one of us now. He is a Republican. I am not suggesting you simply say “okay” to whatever he says. Still hold his feet to the fire, just like you would any Republican. There are Republicans with whom I disagree, that’s why we have primaries. But remember this, after a primary it is our duty as partisan politicos to support the nominee of our party, even if you don’t agree with them 100%. It’s the price you pay for picking a team. Don’t like that rule, pick another team.
