Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre spent over an hour with me last week in a "job interview" for the "party lines" to be awarded this month by the various GOP county committees in the 12th Congressional district.
Since the mainstream media doesn't pay attention to this critical process, my intention is to provide those who will vote in the county conventions and screenings a fair vetting of the candidates. To give those who will decide who gets the official party support in the primary a look into who the candidates are, how they think, what they've accomplished and what their goals are independent of what the candidates themselves or their self-interested supporters tell us. The goal is for the convention/screening voters to be able to make a more informed choice.
I posted the first segment of Halfacre's interview yesterday. That segment was an introduction to the interview, Halfacre telling us why we wants to go to congress and sharing his record as a tax cutting Mayor in Fair Haven.
In the second segment, we continue to examine Halfacre's background. He tells us of his education, his early private sector legal career and his public sector legal career as a municipal prosecutor and Fair Haven Board of Education attorney. In this segment, Halfacre debunks the misinformation that Sipprelle supporters have been disseminating about his legal advice to the Fair Haven BoE regarding the Boys Scouts meeting on school property. You can view that segment here.
During the third segment we deal more in depth with Halfacre's record as Mayor of Fair Haven, his vote decided by a coin flip and his view of government's appropriate role in our personal lives. View segment 3 here.
In segment 4 we move behind Halfacre's background into the red meat of the interview. During this segment we get a preview of the type of campaign that Halfacre will wage against Rush Holt, should he win the nomination. Here is the 4th segment:
Stay tuned for segments 5, 6, 7 and 8. Halfacre has more to say about Holt, about Holt's predecessor Mike Pappas, about his position on Life, fundraising and why he thinks he is the best candidate to beat Holt. There are a few surprises.
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Yawn.
Have a cup of coffee. You could not have possibly viewed one of the videos, never mind three, between the time I pushed this post up and the time of your comment.
How is it possible that a candidate could be so self-adoring, so mean-spirited and so boring all at the same time?
this guy is full of himself. he really never even answered why he was running in his first segment. that is the most fundamental question and he was clearly unprepared for it.
I thought the Mayor did a good job at answering the questions bluntly and not being afraid to take a controversial stance. (See against smoking law in cars with children) He had to be thinking that one can come back right at him.
That being said, I'm still undecided on who I'll support (both in Convention and primary).
I raised an eyebrow at one point of the interview and maybe you can clarify this Art or one of his supporters: Halfacre was going after Holt for turning his back on Israel and making the point he's out of touch. Certainly a good point to make, but then he said Holt was close to the only openly Muslim congressman as if it was a bad thing.
I thought we were past that whole let's stereotype every Muslim as if they are terrorists thing.
You can make a valid point that Holt is no longer serving Israel's needs, but attacking him for being close with a Muslim Congressman is borderline offensive.
It is a little dishonest to call this an "interview." Infomercial would be a more honest description. It should be posted as "The Halfacre Infomercial Continued" with that said the person who owns the site can do whatever he wants, that is the great part of being in America, even if we are stuck with corrupt dolts getting elected because 51% of those who vote are stupid enough to beleive crap like this.
Good answer on the Coin Flip question.
Good answer on the smoking in the car. Of course the other question is does the municipality have the power to legally adopt such an ordinance and I think the answer is no.
I can't wait to here the rest.
BTW still has not convinced me to vote for him which can probably be explained by the fable of the lion and the fox.
While it's not Holt's job (or any Congressman's) to "serve Israel's needs" (and I question that ugly phrase,BTW) the fact is that Holt simply goes where ever the far-left of his part goes. And right now, that is in a firmly anti-Israeli position, bordering on anti-semitic. The fact that Holt is tight with a Muslim Congressman means zero in and of itself, but looking at that congressman's positions on Israel adds creedance to the fact that Holt is now staunchly anti-Israel (and pro-terrorist, based on his voting record).
That being said, Holt's Israel position may be a moot point. As a member of a synagogue in Holt's district, I can tell you that Reform Judiasm in New Jersey is more about proving your liberal bona fides than about, you know...actually practicing the Jewish religion. And like many American Jews, aligning themsleves with the party that hates them is even more proof of the "authenticity" of their liberal beliefs.
I'll support Halfacre, because a Wall Street moneyman hiding behind closed doors is the worst candidate we can select in a year where Holt has a chance to be defeated. See Corzine, John for an example...what did he outspend Christie by, 3-1?
You are doing a great public service here...thanks Art!
So success is a curse now. Interesting. Apparently only cocky career politicians with no experience in reforming anything, or lowering property tax bills, or finishing a solitary term in office are qualified.
Halfacre got a $2400 campaign contribution from millionaress and CD6 Congressional candidate Diane Gooch in June 2009. Does her money now disqualify her from running for office too? Does the fact that her husband, the source of that wealth who only recently became an American citizen so could not have been a Republican either, make him ineligible for public office if he ever chose to run? Halfacre should return the money then or stop this ridiculous hypocrisy. And does he give any thought to the good of the Republican party with his low and desperate attacks? Where is his Republicanism? Sipprelle has not said a bad word about him....and Halfacre refuses to abide by Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment: "Thou shalt speak no ill of any fellow Republican." It is quite clear who best displays the spirit and attributes of the Republican party in this race.
Ok two bones to pick.
first a minor point. Being Mayor and BOE attorney certainly is a conflict. If the budget goes down the council votes on it and the Mayor breaks a tie.
Plus the BOE negotiates lots af agreements with the town. At least they do in my town.
Not a big issue because he stepped down but I wonder why he does not realize this.
Second. The Boy Scout issue.
The Dale case said the BSA had a constitutional right to exclude Gays. Because they excluded gays the BOE wanted to bar them from the schools. Con Law 101. the government can not punish someone for exercising their constitutional rights.
But my problem is not that he vigourously represented his client in trying to do what they wanted. That was his job.
My problem is the gratuitous comments attributed to him where he states what the BSA is doing is wrong. I believe something about it being a sad day for the Boy Scouts.
So I love you Art but you dropped the ball on that. You should have asked him what he personally thought.
I can not wait to see the rest of the interviews. A couple of the upcoming subjects will be very interesting.
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