Tag: Vote

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Donald Trump has invented a new way to win

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By Mark Cunningham

February 15, 2016 | 8:24pm

The other GOP candidates are finally starting to fight on Donald Trump’s terms, to judge by the slugfest that was Saturday night’s debate. But it speaks volumes — whole encyclopedias — about the ignorance of our political and media elites that they’re only now realizing that much of what Trump’s been doing is just busting balls.

It’s a blue-collar ritual, with clear rules — overtly insulting, sure, but with infinite subtleties. It can be a test of manliness, a sign of respect, a way of bonding and much more.

Rule No. 1: You can wince, but don’t squeal.

Rule No. 2: Bust right back, if you can.

Not knowing how to play is no excuse. And not getting it shows you have no idea how a huge swath of America lives — the Americans whom Trump has made his base.

From the start, Trump targeted the (mostly) white working class, which happens to be 40 percent of the country. And he’s done it not just with issues, but with how he talks — the ball-busting, the “bragging,” the over-the-top promises.

https://nypost.com/2016/02/15/donald-trump-has-invented-a-new-way-to-win/

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Reader says BCIA Funding a Sad day for the Village of Ridgewood – but only a day

BCIA Meeting

photo by Boyd Loving

Sad day for the Village – but only a day.

We should neither despair nor capitulate. We can prevent the council from handing the Village over to failed developers and downtown businesses. The May 10th election really isn’t that far away, and these things can still be derailed and prevented. Thankfully there are people working on doing just that. We need to all join in. Aronsohn knows his plans can be undone – – that is why he acts like he does when you try and nail him down on specifics. What scares him beyond belief is that if he doesn’t deliver, his developer friends will drop him like a hot potato. He’s not loved in either the local or state level democratic organizations or other groups. He knows the developers are his last hope to ever winning a real election. And yes, our current debates about Village life are all about one man’s political future (or lack thereof) – – that is what makes the sell-out so despicable.

Let’s keep the pressure up. And let’s see what happens in the May election. If those of us opposed to the overdevelopment are truly in the majority, as I suspect we are, then the council votes will reveal just that. In the meantime, lets not have this fellow undo over a hundred years of village life just so he can try and advance his own failed political career.

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Sessions: Choose carefully America, 2016 is ‘THE LAST CHANCE’

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By PAUL BEDARD

1/29/16 5:34 PM

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, a leading voice on trade, immigration and executive powers, is urging Americans to choose their next president carefully because 2016 “is the last chance for the American people to take back control of their government.”

In a sober interview with Secrets, the Republican warned that liberal special interests, Wall Street moguls, and international media conglomerates are fast turning the United States into just another member of the European Union and that the effort is being led by a Democratic president eager to go his own way with executive orders.

“This election is different because we have pell mell erosion of law, the constitutional order, where President Obama has pushed an agenda that eviscerates the immigration legal system, and pushed this trade agreement that will commence decades of transferring American economic power to an ever-expanding international commission. It’s just not going to stop” unless voters take action, he warned.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sessions-2016-is-last-chance-to-take-back-control-of-government/article/2581874

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Monmouth Poll: Anger the Perceived Chief Voter Emotion

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The public feels that most Americans are angry at Washington and many believe the country would suffer lasting damage if people who did not share their principles got their way in politics. At the same time, the latest national Monmouth University Poll also found that most Americans feel the harsh rhetoric of politics is not justified and believe that we can recapture the spirit that landed astronauts on the moon in the 1960s. However, there are significant differences of opinion among those who hold ideologically extreme views. Politicker Staff, PolitickerNJ Read more

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Readers say Going to the BCIA is a back-door way of going around the electorate

3 amigos in action Ridgewood NJ

file photo by Boyd loving

Going to the BCIA is a back-door way of going around the electorate, plain and simple.$250,000 in additional cost to the taxpayers because the bond vote failed 3-2.

At the meeting on January 6th a few things were made clear. One is that the “threesome” stands firm as a bloc and of course voted in perfect synchronicity, in spite of the gigantic number of objections to the huge garage. Another point  is that Aronosohn is going rogue, going directly to the BCIA to get his funding, for which he only needs three votes.

Damn the laws of the land, just find a way around them. Another is that Albert’s trigger temper is still very much alive, as he went after a resident who alluded to the upcoming election. The resident was calm and polite, and Albert was wild, then Gwenn started holding up her cell phone. Such unprofessionalism from the dais, such calm in the audience.

A summary is SAME OLD SAME OLD. A million people spoke. Most were against the garage. The three amigos voted in favor of the bond. Susan and Michael voted against it. Aronsohn is immediately going to circumnavigate the law (legal, but still underhanded) and go to the BCIA, where he only needs three votes. He put that in motion before the ink was dry on the bond defeat. Good luck trying to find the Ustream on the new website. It seems to be nowhere.

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Voter disenfranchisement :N.J. plan for revamp of voting districts remains (Purposefully) vague

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JANUARY 9, 2016, 11:46 PM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JANUARY 10, 2016, 12:04 AM
BY DUSTIN RACIOPPI
STATE HOUSE BUREAU |
THE RECORD

Word bubbled up in November at a Democratic conclave in East Brunswick that state lawmakers were considering new rules on how to configure the state’s legislative map, but they offered no details and quickly moved on to other topics.

Then, just days before a harried year-end session in Trenton, a formal proposal to overhaul the process for redrawing New Jersey’s 40 legislative districts was circulated to Republican members of committees that would have to advance the plan. The proposal was to create at least 10 “competitive” districts using results from selected elections. An Assembly panel approved it in 20 minutes after hearing one public comment, and its chairman did not allow questions from any of its members.

The once-a-decade ritual required by the state constitution to redraw New Jersey’s legislative map has always been a political exercise. Democratic and Republican leaders each appoint five of their members to a commission to draw the maps; they always deadlock on which version is fairest and the deciding vote is cast by someone appointed by the state Supreme Court’s chief justice.

But this year’s push — the first in more than50 years — to significantly alter the process through a constitutional amendment has drawn the most criticism, if not sheer outrage, from the people who will be directly affected by any changes: the legislators themselves.

Depending on how it is drawn, the map could help to determine who is elected to the Legislature and which party holds power in Trenton. That would determine who controls what bills are posted, who gets assigned to what committees and who has final say over judicial and Cabinet-level nominations. Democrats have held the majority in the Legislature since 2004.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-plan-for-revamp-of-voting-districts-remains-vague-1.1488593

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Readers say Village Council Majority “Dismissiveness” to Residents Concerns Raises Voter Mobilization Drive

3 amigos in action Ridgewood NJ

What’s needed is MORE VOTERS who have a clue. Votes by only a small coterie of those who follow the issues WILL NOT CUT IT (viz. G. Hauck’s election in the first place, by a handful of votes). The amigos and their amigos know the importance of numbers of votes and will be out there lying their shirts off (lies of commission and omission) in “vote for parking” mode.

Start talking it up NOW. Please make sure your family members, neighbors, and friends are registered to vote–the number of the unregistered who won’t admit it is apparently staggering. Any 17-year-old who will turn 18 by the day of the next election can register in advance of that birthday, showing documentation. Talk to friends and neighbors who may be clueless; often they are thrilled to be told whom to vote for or not.

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Dead people not only vote they get $2M in N.J. property tax credits

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Dead people get $2M in N.J. property tax credits while home sellers lose $10M

Thousands of New Jerseyans who sold their homes in the year and a half it took the state to issue the most recent Homestead Benefit missed out on $10 million in property tax credits, according to an audit released Tuesday. Samantha Marcus, NJ.com Read more

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Donald Trump Forges New Blue-Collar Coalition Among Republicans

Trump 2016

Celebrity businessman appeals to nonreligious voters who don’t believe politicians can get U.S. back on track

By
AARON ZITNER and

DANTE CHINNI
Dec. 4, 2015 6:38 p.m. ET
527 COMMENTS

Donald Trump has built his leading position in the Republican primary race by bringing together an underappreciated segment of the GOP—blue-collar voters who aren’t especially animated by social issues—and who may be setting the stage for an unusual, three-person sprint to the nomination.

Mr. Trump’s appeal is a form of secular populism rarely seen in Republican primary races, and one he is pressing in part with appearances in working-class communities in Iowa that include independent voters and even Democrats who may be lured into the caucuses. The celebrity businessman’s message appears to resonate among voters who believe most strongly that political leaders are unable to put the nation back on track.

Past nominating contests have often boiled down to two-person races in which an establishment-backed front-runner beats a socially conservative candidate who appeals to working-class voters—a role Rick Santorum filled in 2012, as did Mike Huckabee in 2008 and Pat Buchanan in 1996.

Now, Mr. Trump appears to be opening a new, third lane in the GOP, drawing on a large share of voters who don’t have a college degree and don’t identify strongly with the party’s touchstone social issues, such as opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage.

That raises the prospect that the 2016 contest could narrow to a three-person race featuring the leading choice of social conservatives, the top pick of the party’s establishment wing of centrists and business-friendly Republicans—and Mr. Trump.

Polling shows the unusual nature of Mr. Trump’s coalition, which has kept him at the front of the pack in national and early-primary state polls far longer than any nontraditional candidate in 2012.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-forges-new-blue-collar-coalition-among-republicans-1449272326

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An idea who time has come : After Yale, Mizzou, raise the voting age — to 25

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Glenn Harlan Reynolds10:18 a.m. EST November 16, 2015

How can students too spoiled to tolerate debate weigh opposing political arguments? They can’t.

In 1971, the United States ratified the 26th Amendment, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18. In retrospect, that may have been a mistake.

The idea, in those Vietnam War years, was that 18-year-olds, being old enough to be drafted, to marry and to serve on juries, deserved a
vote. It seemed plausible at the time, and I myself have argued that we should set the drinking age at 18 for the same reasons.

But now I’m starting to reconsider. To be a voter, one must be able to participate in adult political discussions. It’s necessary to be able
to listen to opposing arguments and even — as I’m doing right here in this column — to change your mind in response to new evidence.

This evidence suggests that, whatever one might say about the 18-year-olds of 1971, the 18-year-olds of today aren’t up to that
task. And even the 21-year-olds aren’t looking so good.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/11/11/raise-voting-age-25-yale-missouri-protests-political-debate-column/75577468/

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How GOP campaigns are strategizing for Super Tuesday delegate bonanz

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By Philip Rucker and Robert Costa November 23 at 1:40 PM

MOBILE, Ala. — Ben Carson journeyed here last week to the buckle of the Bible Belt, where he proclaimed America a “Judeo-Christian nation” and delivered a stern warning to his devoted followers: Show up at the polls on March 1 or face consequences.

On Saturday, Donald Trump again swooped into Alabama, where he has cultivated friendships with immigration hardliners, to rally fans in Birmingham. Sen. Marco Rubio has his eyes on the state, too, recently becoming one of only two candidates (Carson is the other) to submit a full slate of 76 delegates for its primary.

Then there’s Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, whose volunteers have been buzzing around Alabama gathering names of grass-roots opponents to the Common Core education standards. At next weekend’s Alabama-Auburn football game, Cruz’s campaign bus will be parked with free stickers and literature. “The Iron Bowl is a big, big moment in Alabama, and Cruz people will be everywhere,” said Ann Eubank, Cruz’s state co-chair.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-gop-campaigns-are-strategizing-for-super-tuesday-delegate-bonanza/2015/11/22/17bbfca4-8fa1-11e5-ae1f-af46b7df8483_story.html

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Believe it: There’s high drama in some N.J. Assembly races

1280px Battle of Trenton by Charles McBarron

 

Experts say Tuesday’s state Assembly elections may draw one of the lowest voter turnouts New Jersey has ever seen. In fact, a Rutgers-Eagleton poll released this past week showed three-quarters of New Jersey residents had no idea at all there was an election coming up. But there are at least a few races generating drama — with both Democrats and Republicans hoping they can grab a few new seats in the lower house of the state Legislature. Brent Johnson, NJ.com Read more

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ELEC Report Shows County Party Coffers Suffering at The Hands of PACs

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A preliminary report from New Jersey’s Election Law Enforcement Commission reveals that county party coffers during state elections have seen a continuing slump during this year’s elections. The release cites the growth of independent PAC spending, limitations on contributions from public contractors, and overall contribution limits that have not kept pace with the rate of inflation. JT Aregood, PolitickerNJ Read more

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The Dead Zone: With NJ Unaware of Election Day, are any Surprises in Store?

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Tuesday limped lamely into view without suggestion of epic consequences. Clearly by the end of the night, as Rutgers-Eagleton polling showed 76% of New Jerseyans claimed zero knowledge of a coming election, no one would be able to lay claim to a Ben Hur moment. Max Pizarro, PolitickerNJ Read more

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10 Must-Watch Bergen Races on Tuesday night

cosgrove team

First Responders are my Heroes……and that certainly applies to this brave group from Fair Lawn. The Cosgrove Team hosted a wonderful event recognizing their fabulous EMS personnel, fire fighters and other stand outs for the life saving work they do. Bravo! — with Ken Tyburczy, John Gil andJohn Cosgrove at Fair Lawn AC.

 

Posted by Matthew Gilson On November 02, 2015 0 Comment

By Matthew Gilson | The Save Jersey Blog

#1 – Freeholder Race

The main attraction county-wide is yet another annual Freeholder Board control battle. The race for two three-year terms is growing increasingly competitive with former Freeholder John Mitchell looking to return to the post he held for three years and Ramsey CouncilmanKen Tyburczy mounting a strong showing. For the Democrats, Steve Tanelli is the stronger of the two incumbents and will be challenge to beat, but look for Republicans to pick off at least one of the two with Tracy Zur being exceptionally vulnerable. For the one-year term, union strongman Tom Sullivan takes on Daisy Ortiz-Berger. Ortiz-Berger would bring desperately needed diversity as the five old white Democrats currently on the board do little to address the needs of the county.

#2 – District 38

What can be said that has not been said? All that aside, District 38 remains our strongest opportunity to pick up a seat north of the Atlantic City Expressway. It is unknown what kind of impact Anthony Cappola remaining on the ballot will have in the race to replace Assemblymen Timothy Eustace and ‪Joe Lagana, but a strong showing even in a loss could set Mark DiPisa up nicely for a rematch in 2017. Which brings us to our next race…

#3 – Fair Lawn

Mayor John Cosgrove and his team can take complete control of local government with a sweep on Tuesday. Cosgrove himself is a heavy favorite to win re-election, and his team of John Gil and Marc Zharnest has made an aggressive push to incumbents Kurt Peluso and Lisa Swain. The signs say “The Cosgrove Team” for a reason; he is incredibly popular and has a tremendous record as the mayor and decades of community service. Looking ahead to 2017, Cosgrove, the favorite to take on Senator Bob Gordon, would be hard-pressed to pass on a run with a strong victory tomorrow.

https://savejersey.com/2015/11/10-must-watch-bergen-races-on-tuesday-night/