Wednesday, March 28, 2007

The Spin goes on

In his OpEd piece today, Adam Puharic declared that more than 400 county committee members voted to move beyond the divisiveness and infighting of the past two conventions. He called those past conventions an atmosphere that created Anna Little and helped to lose the first Republican freeholder seat in 20 years.

I wonder why he said over 400 showed up? If that was the case, why would so many show up and them not vote? The first two votes, done by hand count, were under 300. When the rules passed, first by 174 to 98 and then by 198 to 85, one might expect that less people would vote in the two remaining contested races. Yet, only 356 voted in the Sheriff's race, and 352 in the Freeholder race.

Once again, Puharic exhibits his strategy of creating unity by quashing dissent and thwarting debate, while spinning the numbers to make himself out as powerful and effective. Maybe he is powerful and effective. We won't know for sure until November.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are two ways to look at it:

1. Adam needs to try to put his best foot forward
2. His foot has been shoved so far down his mouth that it really doesn't matter what he writes.

He is truly an embarrassment to the PR world. At the end of the day it is Director McMorrow because Adam simply is not a leader. Absolutely positively not a leader. Whatever...

Anonymous said...

Looking back on it, do you think maybe Anna Little received bad political advise by not just participating in the screening process? Why didn't she submit to it? She said she had nothing to hide.

Art Gallagher said...

Anonymous said...
Looking back on it, do you think maybe Anna Little received bad political advise by not just participating in the screening process? Why didn't she submit to it? She said she had nothing to hide.

Anna listens to advise from many, and ultimately makes her own decisions. From what I hear, some of her supporters encouraged her to screen while other encouraged her to take the course of action she did.

When the process was first announced, there was no mistaking the fact that Puharic designed it specifically for her. No incumbents were to screen if they had "served a full term."

Throughout December and January Little hoped that she and Puharic could work out their differences. Her public statements reflect that.

When Puharic finally consented to meet her in early February, in what turned out to be the famous "Goon Squad" meeting, her hopes of reconcilation were dashed by the beratement and disrespect she was subject too.

I think she made a strategic mistake by not choosing a course of action sooner. If she was determined to defeat Puharic at the convention, she would have had a better chance of doing so by declaring that strategy and letting her supporters wage the campaign. Her extended flirtation with the Democrats' offer of their nomination and a well funded campaign thwarted any organised convention fight.

Honest Abe said...

"Little brought that belligerence to the freeholder board, and the Republican County Committee could see fratricide for what it was."

So just sit down, shut up, do what Bill Barham says and vote yes on Malcolm Carton.

"Even the freeholders' lone Democrat has been able to serve residents without partisan bickering."

Barbara McMorrow has been "Barhamized."
Butbutbut- Would a Democrat actually vote yes on Malcolm??? Maybe.
Adam's phrase that McMorrow "has been able to serve residents without partisan bickering", will come back to bite him when the Dems use it in their literature.

Honest Abe said...

Then: A Chairman will be measured by his record of wins and losses. I take the loss of Andrew Lucas’ seat personally, and the buck stops here.

Now: "The Republican County Committee voted to move beyond the divisiveness and infighting of the past two conventions. It was that atmosphere that created Little and helped to lose the first Republican freeholder seat in 20 years.

What happened to "the buck stops here?"

Lugar96 said...

Wow, does that Op-ed wreak of desperation. It appears that he's trying to convince himself that everything is going well. He must be taking lessons from the Bush Administration.

I don't think it has dawned on him that every time he talks or writes about Anna Little, he's probably getting her more votes.

Anonymous said...

Lugar96 said:
"I don't think it has dawned on him that every time he talks or writes about Anna Little, he's probably getting her more votes."

If that theory holds true, then every time bloggers and the press talk and write about Adam, your probably getting him more votes. It's no wonder Adam's slate and rules won by a large margin...you all talk and write about him more than anything! :)

Anonymous said...

Had Anna remained in the race, regardless of what happened in the primary, there would have been a unified Republican Ticket going into November with candidates from both factions winning seats in the primary. Now that Anna has dropped out, a major portion of the Republican party will sit this year out completely, letting Adam fall on his face and finally ending the Manalapan connection for good. How the party allowed the man who single handedly brought down the Manalapan Republican Party, doing nothing of note except losing elections, isolating his only winning candidate and causing two losses since the only Republican victory in 2004, to turn around and control the county party and do exactly the same thing there is amazing. Once again, the only winning candidate from last year is isolated and now gone. The party is split in Monmouth just like in Manalapan. Meanwhile, while destroying the county republican party, he managed to get his daughter another largesse job, just like in Manalapan. In November, with most of the republican party sitting home in disgust and preparing for next June, when we can rebuild the party, the democrats will end up with a majority in the County for the first time in decades. And forget about the 12th District. We may have permanently given that to the democrats. With Jen Beck's assinine decision to give up her assured assembly seat to run against an incumbent with nothing but good press and millions of dollars, she may have shown that she simply doesn't have the right stuff, the judgment, to represent us anyway. The assembly seats in the 12th, awarded to a proven loser in Declan and a loud mouthed, crass attorney who can't even read the pay to play laws, failing to file the right documents when she was handed the township attorney job by Andrew in Manalapan, are easy pickens for the Democrats. All of this is compounded by the fact that the Republican Party, who couldn't raise money last year, will now face a huge campaign war chest as the democrats are smelling blood, with NO ONE contributing to the republicans save Malcolm in the Middle. Hang in there -- it's only fourteen months before we pick a new chairman.