With polls suggesting a tightening race and only a few days remaining in the United States Senate contest in New Jersey, thousands of people gathered at a racetrack here to watch Sarah Palin endorse the Republican candidate, Steve Lonegan.
Sarah Palin, right, backed Steve Lonegan, shown with his wife, Lorraine, with their daughters, Katherine, left, and Brooke.
“Something big is happening here; it’s called momentum,” said Ms. Palin, the former Alaska governor who was John McCain’s running mate during the 2008 presidential election. “The country knows it, the media knows it.”
Recent polls have shown Mr. Lonegan, a former mayor of Bogota, N.J., and a businessman, gaining ground on his nationally known Democratic rival, Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark. The election is on Wednesday.
The surge has surprised many who thought the special election to fill the seat that became vacant upon the death this year of Senator Frank R. Lautenburg, a veteran Democrat, would be a landslide victory for Mr. Booker.
While Mr. Booker maintains a 12-point lead in the polls, Mr. Lonegan has gained traction in part by framing the election as a referendum on Mr. Booker’s celebrity.
“My opponent, Cory Booker, was anointed by Hollywood; he was anointed by Oprah,” Mr. Lonegan said. “California doesn’t need a third senator.”
More than 2,000 supporters of Mr. Lonegan’s crammed beside a dirt racetrack in front of a bus emblazoned with “Tea Party Express.” Many hoisted yellow flags that said “Don’t Tread on Me.” Most raised iPhones to snap photos of Ms. Palin.
He’s winning and he will win, but in the meantime he’s not running a stellar campaign and there’s something about Steve Lonegan that makes you want to watch him for a while. Like a really bad car accident or a singer who’s so off key you smile while listening to them or someone who reminds you of a character out of 1984. After a time, though, you realize that he wants to be taken seriously and that’s when you disengage. That will happen next week.
Lonegan probably isn’t saying it now, but he’s got to be unhappy with Chris Christie’s choice to schedule this election separately from the gubernatorial election in November. Christie’s original argument was that having the Senate election on the same date would pull in more Democrats, who would support Booker, to also vote for Barbara Buono. The real loser, though, will be Lonegan, who would otherwise gain some supporters who are showing up to vote for the governor. Or maybe Christie really doesn’t like Lonegan and cares not whether he wins. In any case, this openly helps Christie, who has made a Trenton career by making sure that his needs are taken care of.
This will be the last election that Christie will win, so in the end, he and Lonegan will end their elective political careers the same way. Meanwhile, Cory Booker will have six years to sharpen his running skills before he too considers a national campaign.
During Hurricane Sandy, President Obama and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie joined forces and did what was right for the victims of the hurricane. They did what they were both elected to do, they did what the people wanted. And it was this coming together of the Democratic President and the Republican Governor that caused Christie to see his poll numbers rise among New Jersey Democrats and paved the way for his likely re-election in the upcoming governor’s election, and possible a 2016 run for President.
For his part, the President also benefited from the newly found political relationship as his poll numbers rose right before the November 2012 election, allowing him to defeat Mitt Romney and gave him the opportunity to serve out his second term.
Many in the Republican party blamed Christie for the President’s 2012 win.
But the new found political allies have now gone back to their respective corners as Christie came out on Tuesday and endorsed right winged nut Steve Lonegan to represent New Jersey in the United States Senate. Mr. Lonegan has made questionable comments about President Obama, ObamaCare and immigration, Planned Parenthood among others. He was also the New Jersey state director for Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers-aligned group. In his endorsement on Tuesday, Christie said Lonegan was just what New Jersey needed in the Senate.
Obama on the other hand endorsed New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker. In his endorsement, the President said “Cory Booker has dedicated his life to the work of building hope and opportunity in communities where too little of either existed. Whether as a college student working in East Palo Alto or as mayor of New Jersey’s largest city, Cory has time and again taken on tough challenges, fought for the middle class and those working to join it, and forged coalitions that create progress – and that’s the spirit he’ll carry with him to Washington.”
Looking at these two endorsement, it is clear to see that Christie’s endorsement was purely political. The Governor it seems, is trying to win back the hearts and minds of those Republicans in New Jersey and nationwide, who still blames him for Obama’s win. The Latino American Democratic Association of Bergen County has also picked up on Christie’s blatant political move. The group’s president Jorge Nunez, said in a statement, ““We need to call this endorsement for what it is, an endorsement of radical-right-wing extremism and anti-Latino sentiment.”
And Christie’s Democratic challenger for Governor Barbara Buono said through a spokesman, “Just like tea party extremist Steve Lonegan, Governor Christie is anti-choice, anti-Planned Parenthood, anti-marriage equality, and anti-commonsense legislation to reduce gun violence. Their unabashedly conservative views are completely out-of-touch with most New Jerseyans.”
Obama’s endorsement was expected all along. Cory Booker has been a staunch advocate for the President and his policies, so Obama’s endorsement was an easy or obvious conclusion.
So who will win? Will New Jersey see through Christie’s political moves and reward his challenger Barbara Buono? Or will New Jerseyans be blinded by Christie’s love the president today, endorse his adversary tomorrow strategy?
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