Do Not Write Off Steve Lonegan (and His Supporters)

By Eric Sedler

In the past writing for the long lost blog known as Red Jersey, I have written pleas to the conservative wing of the New Jersey Republican party to not write off the moderate wing's numbers and forces. In these pleas, I made the case for conservatives to respect the moderates, work with them (instead of against them), and stop trying to push them out of the party.

Tonight, after attending a Steve Lonegan organizational meeting in Monmouth County, I come bearing a different message, this time aimed at the Moderate Wing of the Republican Party, and Chris Christie's campaign.

Do not write off Steve Lonegan. Equally as important, do not write off his supporters.

You can not simply write off a man and a campaign that turned out 60-70 people on a freezing cold night with snow on the ground to a Freehold Elks Club. The turnout was incredibly impressive, given that it is early January and we are four months plus away from the primary election. Equally as impressive is the fundraising Mayor Lonegan has done. With well over $300,000 raised, he now has over a million in the bank thanks to matching funds. This is not someone who should be completely ignored, as he understands the concept of grassroots well. In the crowd were familiar faces from the McCain effort in Monmouth County, people who worked their butts off to put up signs and make calls in HQ for McCain and the Freeholder Campaign.

While I'm sure that some of these people will be seen at Christie events as well, it's impossible to ignore that there is a good core group of people who know how to deliver votes and manpower to campaigns behind Lonegan, and this is just in Monmouth County.

As for the Mayor's speech, it was everything as advertised. On message, mixed with some historical analogies and stories about his parents, Lonegan painted a picture of a core conservative against the failed Corzine/McGreevey policies that have plagued our state's economy. You can bet that the economy was message number 1 in Lonegan's speech, but he knew the crowd he was speaking to and was not afraid to mention the smaller issues that rev up the engines. While he did go a sentence or two about social issues, one of the things that caught my attention was his focus on the DEP and his advocation for sportsmen, hunters, and fishers of New Jersey.

That's exactly the kind of small issue that's always great to mention at some point in certain speeches and use as an advantage. Just ask Mike Panter about how a bill he proposed to change the make-up of the Fish and Gaming Council could have been one of the reasons why he lost his seat. Lonegan's knowledge of the problems some have with the DEP will play extremely well with this crowd, and it's not to be ignored that this crowd can certainly deliver results.

Make no mistake however, that Lonegan's three points were economic centered and issues that most New Jerseyans care about. Spending, Taxes, and Education. Lonegan also focused much of his attention on COAH, which when mentioned caused the audience to grumble. This is a very positive development, although I'm not so sure on how many informed "regular" voters know about the housing mandate. It definately has potetial to be a kitchen-table issue. However, Lonegan's message of Cutting Spending and Government, Reducing the Tax Burden, and Improving Education are a winning message anywhere in this state.

More impressive was Lonegan's ability to tell the crowd exactly where he stood on the issues and answer every single question asked directly. For those who still had questions or opinions in their mind, he stayed after the event closed to speak to them individually. Heck, he even answered questions on issues that a Governor has no control over. One of the audience members made a comment praising Lonegan for this at the end and remarking how little we see this quality these days. I couldn't agree with him more.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect to me, was the idea in itself. A county organizational meeting for those with questions. It was essentially a town hall forum, Lonegan made his pitch after brief comments by his campaign team and then took questions. It's such a simple concept, yet has rarely been utilized in previous campaigns, especially during primary season. My hope is that all statewide candidates would adopt this idea and hold these organizational meetings from primary until the end. I can't think of a better idea to really organize the grassroots of a statewide campaign.

For those expecting a negative speech about primary opponents from Lonegan, it did not happen. Lonegan barely touched on his opponents in his speech, and did not even mention his biggest one by name except when answering a question about him. The Mayor expressed respect for Chris Christie, and did what any primary contender would do and sold himself as the better candidate on the main issue of the economy.

While some of Lonegan's supporters are already angling their anger at Christie and painting him as same old "establishment" Republican and assigning him positions and stances before he even kicks off his campaign, Lonegan himself is doing the right thing and staying above the fray mostly...at least for now.

My main concern is that this is a primary, and well it's bound to get negative soon enough. While I expect it will, I think it would be better for all candidates to stay on message and continue attacking the real targets of this election: The failed policies of the Corzine administration and the same people who have been in charge of our state over the past few years.

So far Lonegan has done this and I think it's unfair to paint him negatively as long as he continues to do this.

Recently, More Monmouth Musings commenter "Lugar96" wrote, "I think it's time that our party had a reality check. The party apparatus needs to treat conservatives as fellow Republicans with merit who ought to be respected more than tolerated. Conservatives need to be less absolute and realize they can get more of what they want if they work with their fellow Republicans than if they piss and moan because those Republicans aren't conservative enough. It is time to heal old wounds, show some mutual respect and appreciate that we have some very good options this year for our Gubernatorial candidate."

He couldn't have hit the mark any closer. For too long conservatives like Lonegan have been written off by our party like the crazy uncles at family reunions. This is a losing strategy. Lonegan is a valuable person to have in our party, and so are his supporters, even if one or two of them are relentless in their attacks on moderates. They just like their candidate a lot and that's their strategy for winning. Maybe one of these days they'll realize it doesn't really help them win much needed votes, and one of these days the moderate base will realize they better stop writing off conservatives like Lonegan and his supporters.

I do not agree with some of Steve Lonegan's positions. I have not always agreed with some of the past comments he's made and I question some of his previous actions. Sometimes he ends up making enemies instead of friends within the party, but so do most politicians. It's not politics if you don't have enemies.

I made a promise to myself that I would go into this campaign open minded and try my best to objectively listen to each candidate. Tonight I listened to Mayor Lonegan, and I look forward to listening to Chris Christie in the upcoming weeks along with Assemblyman Merkt and Mayor Levine.

At the end, I'll make my decision on who to support and probably keep it to myself. Honestly, at this point I, like most, just want to win. I can't imagine another four more years under Corzine and the same ruling party in this state, it's really a scary thought.

Steve Lonegan has merit, and deserves respect, along with his supporters. The Christie campaign should not overlook Mayor Lonegan and the group of people that run and support his campaign. I also would not ignore Assemblyman Merkt or Mayor Levine. They may be longshots, but they bring valuable ideas and experience to the table.

One thing is for sure, after the primary is over we need to all get on the same boat, and push the nominee of our party to work with his former primary rivals throughout the campaign in bringing their supporters on board and working every day to win this election for our party. No more lip service, respect is to be paid to everyone and there better be a serious effort to court all sides of the spectrum the second the primary ends.

This election is far too important. New Jersey residents deserve change from the failed Corzine policies and the same party that has ruled this state for the past 8 years. New Jersey deserves a leader who takes responsibility for managing this state's finances, not one who places blame on outside factors or unpopular national figures.

Let's not blow the oppurtunity we have by writing off any of the primary candidates and their supporters.