OPINION: Please Don’t Make Her A Hero. Not Every Enemy Of Our Enemy Is Our Friend.

Without a doubt anyone who pays attention to New Jersey politics knows progressive activist Sue Altman was removed from a Senate hearing in Trenton yesterday.

What I don’t understand is why are so many Republicans are trying to make her into a hero?

The answer I keep getting is some variation of, “She’s against Norcross.”

So what? Will she ever support a Republican at the polls? Nope, never.

Please spare me the “she should not have been removed with force” garbage.

I’ve been removed by police from plenty of meetings. Way back in 2003 I, along with my father, a friend and an 8-year-old boy, was pulled, pushed and shoved by police out of a Camden County freeholder meeting that was held in Winslow Township. We were passing out “Nash Cash,” flying a Jolly Roger, and chanting, “Get your Nash Cash, it’s free you don’t have to work for it.” Our protest was against no-show jobs and other controversial practices of Camden County Democrats of the time.

After we were shoved out of the building, my father continued to argue with the police until he learned the Republican Party wouldn’t pay our bail – only then did things calm down. I still laugh as I remember my father saying to one of the cops who happened to be short, “You’re just mad because your nightstick hits the ground every time you take a step.”

That same year I was stopped by the Gloucester Township police from entering the municipal building for a council meeting. Prior to the meeting we were out front protesting what we dubbed, “Snowgate.” Hindsight being 20/20 perhaps my protest sign shouldn’t have been mounted on a snow shovel in the middle of July.

After these protests, and others I have taken part in, not one Democrat tried to turn me into a hero. And, believe it or not, some of my fellow Republicans actually complained that, “Republicans shouldn’t be acting like that.”

At every protest I, and whoever was with me, knew we would find trouble. We hoped for it. The point of protests is to draw attention to your cause and then use that attention to your advantage.

Make no mistake, Ms. Altman went to that hearing looking for trouble. She held a press conference before going into the hearing room. She fired up her troops. She got exactly what she wanted and people are buying into it.

Camden County Republican Party Chairman Rich Ambrosino was absolutely correct when he said in a press release:

“As I’ve been saying since the start of this war between the establishment and progressive Democrats, the only people to blame for the tax incentive controversy are Democrats, be they establishment or progressive because for the past 28 years both sides have come together every November to vote the Democratic Party line,” Ambrosino said. “Progressives helped give the establishment the power, now they’re having buyers’ remorse. They’re little protests and acts of civil disobedience are too little, too late.”

Democrats, progressive or machine, it doesn’t matter, all Democrats are to blame for the political machine running Camden County and most of South Jersey.

If Ms. Altman and her fellow progressives were truly on our side why have they remained silent when members of the Norcross machine have committed misdeeds? Former Assemblyman Arthur Barclay punched a woman, resigned from office, still has a county job and not one word about it from Altman or her fellow progressives. How about former Haddon Township Commissioner Paul Dougherty who crashed his car into another, left the scene and then tried to blame his own wife (who wasn’t with him) for the accident? Again, not one word about it from Altman or her fellow progressives. Even Brian Reagan, the guy who won a school board election in Gloucester Township who we at the Bob & Steve Show discovered once appeared in blackface – you guessed it, not one word about it from Altman or her fellow progressives.

Wake up and stop making a hero out of a progressive Democrat. Ms. Altman is not on our side! Republicans have to stop buying into the belief the progressives will help us defeat the Norcross machine. They will never help us.

Please do not mistake my opposition to the progressives as support for the Norcross machine. I’ve spent the better part of 20 years fighting against that machine. I was there the time a certain now-state Senator’s father intentionally hit a Republican volunteer with his car during a campaign. There’s still a video of a Norcross inviting me to “step outside big boy.” The list goes on.

The only thing I ask is that Republicans remember who is on their side and who isn’t. Stop the nonsense of supporting progressives. Not every enemy of our enemy is our friend.

Insurgent Democrats Excite Some South Jersey Republicans And Put Machine Democrat Hypocrisy On Display

It’s no secret, much to the dismay of many of my Republican friends, I love a good primary election fight. Unfortunately, for me, there’s only one GOP primary (LD8) for me to write about and it’s kind of boring.

But at least the Democrats in Camden County are giving me something fun to watch, and it appears some Republicans are getting excited about it.

Things started heating up last week thanks to a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial, “The machine age of politics should be over in N.J., Philadelphia” and a piece in Politico by the great Matt Friedman, “Anti-machine Democrats in Camden County complain of ‘phantom candidates’.” Even the folks over at Blue Jersey got into the act.

I take no issue with any of those pieces, but they all had one name in them: George Norcross. And, whenever Norcross’ name is mentioned, Republicans seem to get excited.

I’ve written before in this blog that “For some reason South Jersey Republicans get excited when they hear the name George Norcross. Well, here’s a newsflash for you. Voters don’t care! His name is not on the ballot.”

Yet, it doesn’t matter, still folks get excited at the mention of the Norcross name. Every time I say something like that I am accused of being pro-Norcross and/or the South Jersey Democrat machine. For the record, I’m not. Frankly, I’m not a fan of machines, period. That said, I do admit to being jealous that Norcross was able to build such a well-oiled machine.

This is not to say that I don’t work to beat that machine. I have and I continue to do so. The machine can be defeated. My co-host Bob Greco and I proved that. Back in 2009 when Greco became chairman of the Cumberland County Republicans he asked me to come work with him. We met a year earlier when I was working on state Senator Joe Pennacchio’s U.S. Senate campaign. Greco told me I could go at the Democrats as hard as I wanted – no leash – naturally I agreed since he promised not to put a leash on me. Together, along with quality mail by Chris Russell, we won and won enough that in only a few years flipped a 7 – 0 Democrat controlled freeholder board to 4 – 3 Republican. We did it with very little money and without mentioning the name Norcross.

Anyway, thanks to another Politico piece this week in the New Jersey Playbook even more people got excited over the insurgent Democrats challenge to the Norcross machine.

I had never heard of GGCNJ before someone sent me a link to their social media post. Apparently, it stands for Good Government Coalition New Jersey and according to Facebook their page was created on June 4, 2017. They even have a website on which they claim to be a “nonpartisan, grassroots group whose mission is to strengthen democracy by working with residents across our state to bring greater transparency, accountability, and participation to our state and local governments.”

Unfortunately, immediately after the line about being “nonpartisan” is the question “Want to build a progressive party from within?” Of course, that makes me wonder exactly how “nonpartisan” the group truly is.

So basically, it appears to me this whole anti-machine thing in Camden County is the progressives versus the establishment. I don’t quite understand why Republicans are getting excited over it – other than it’s fun to watch.

Now, if Republicans really want to make any kind of issue about all this Democratic Party infighting I would suggest they key on a letter penned by Camden County Democratic Committee Chairman state Senator Jim Beach in which he attacks many of the progressive (or are they insurgent) Democrats as “Trump Republicans.”

One glaring example is Jen O’Donnell. From the letter posted on CamdenCountyProgressiveDems.com.

True O’Donnell once ran for office with Republicans, I know, I designed the palm card, she might have been registered as a Republican for all I know, but she was never a “Trump Republican.” The palm card was clear, she and her running mates were “Republicans and Independent Democrats.” Trump wasn’t even a candidate when I designed the palm card. Or at the very least not one I was paying attention to. So, to call O’Donnell a “Trump Republican” is a stretch at best.

Another thing I would take issue within Beach’s letter is that he points out the criminal histories of several of the insurgent candidates.

Another thing I would take issue within Beach’s letter is that he points out the criminal histories of several of the insurgent candidates.

I’m fairly certain the histories listed by Beach are true, but why speak out about these particular Democrats when he completely ignored the arrest of former Assemblyman Arthur Barclay and only after Republicans discovered the arrest did Beach say anything, and when he did speak, not a word about the arrest, only that Barclay resigned for “health reasons.”

And, that’s not the only time the Camden County Democratic Committee chairman sat silent when one of his own was in legal trouble. I still don’t think Beach has uttered a word about former Haddon Township Commissioner Paul Dougherty, the guy who was involved in a hit and run and tried to blame it on his wife and eventually pleaded guilty on an unrelated charge.

And when the Deputy Mayor in Voorhees was outed for getting into bar brawls Beach had nothing to say.

Considering he didn’t care when his own people ran afoul of the law, it’s obvious Beach’s letter has nothing to do with concerns about the past actions of the insurgent Democrats.

The bottom line here is there might be a reason to be excited by the insurgent Democrats challenge to the establishment Democrats in Camden County, but it’s not because the insurgents have a chance at winning. It is because it appears the hypocrisy of the establishment machine Democrats oozes out when the heat is turned up on them.

Keep it up insurgents! We’re all watching.

Haddon Township Commissioners Have Found A Replacement For Dougherty

Ryan Linhart (Source: Facebook)

Haddon Township Commissioners have selected Ryan Linhart to replace former Commissioner Paul Dougherty who resigned in disgrace for reasons completely unrelated to his hit and run car accident.

Linhart will serve as the Commissioner of Revenue and Finance. This makes sense since he makes his living as a financial analyst.

Apparently, establishment Democrats aren’t happy about this as Linhart comes from the progressive wing of the party. Sources close to the situation say local Democrats were lobbying heavy for someone else.

Linhart is married, has two sons and lives in the Bluebird section of Haddon Township. He did run against current Commissioner Jim Mulroy. He appears to have been active in the township having headed up the restoration of the New Jersey Avenue public park. He also served on the township’s Shade Tree Commission.

Linhart will have to run for a full term in May 2019. With local Democrats not particularly happy with this pick the May election in Haddon Township could be exciting.