Prior to the national wave of anti-incumbent, anti-establishment, Tea Party driven elections that took root with Scott Brown in Massachusetts and have spread to Utah, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and Kentucky, the conventional wisdom was that Frank Pallone could not be beat.
Pallone is entrenched and has a $4 million war chest. That is why Diane Gooch and not Mary Pat Angelini is the establishment choice to challenge Pallone this fall. Gooch's ability to self fund her campaign will force Pallone to spend down his war chest and weaken him, not in this race, but in a future statewide race for U.S. Senate should Frank Lautenberg retire or not seek another term.
Gooch says she thinks she can win, not, in her own words, because she is so great, but because Pallone is so bad. Very few others think so. Gooch is the establishment candidate because she can self-fund and also contribute to local and county races. She's not supposed to win. She's supposed to weaken Pallone and help local Republicans get elected.
It would have been a sensible plan if not for the Tea Party driven wave sweeping the country. There is a growing sense in the district that Frank Pallone can be beat. There is a very strong sentiment that he must be beat.
Governor Chris Christie's election last fall and the school budget elections last month, while not Tea Party driven, are a strong indication that the New Jersey electorate is ripe to participate in the Tea Party wave.
Anna Little is riding that wave and tapping that sentiment. With very little money, she has Gooch in a tight race for the nomination. Every move that Gooch makes, TV ads, fund raising letters and events and a rigorous schedule of retail campaigning is a testiment to Little's considerable appeal.
Many were surprised to receive Gooch's fundraising appeal in the mail last week. "If she is self funding, why is she asking me for money?" "I did not even open the letter" are the two comments I've heard most frequently. Gooch has a fund raiser tonight. A email went out yesterday with a discount offer for county committee members. Discounts for county committee is code for "we need to fill the room."
So here we are, 20 days before the primary and we have two candidates asking for money. Which one are you more likely to donate to? You can vote in the poll on the side bar and you can vote with your credit card here:
Help pay for Diane Gooch's TV ads
Help pay for Anna Little's radio ads
The Legacy of Thomas Lifson
21 hours ago
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12 comments:
Is Diane censoring her Facebook page? I'm pretty sure there were some comments removed today that were there yesterday.
Hmmm....
Frightened Ms. Gooch?
This blog is ludicrous. Diane working hard is a sign of weakness? So I suppose if she did nothing, you'd applaud her as a political genius. Ridiculous. When Diane Gooch wins by 45 points on June 8th, I expect every single idiot here to post a heartfelt "I was wrong."
Diane working hard is a sign of weakness?
Did I say that? Sorry, I thought I said it was a sign of Little's better than expected strength.
It is wonderful that Diane is working hard. Should she win the primary, by 45% or .45%, she will be a better general election candidate as a result of having competition in the primary.
How could Diane Gooch and her husband ask us for money as republicans ? They are billionaires and said they were self funding and now they are gonna ask for donations ? No way. They are worth hundreds of millions so let them pay.
apparently leftie Vin Gopal is putting Anna Little on his paper's cover next week with an endorsed column from RINO Mayor Fred Rast in Atlantic Highlands, while he bashes his newspaper rival, small business owner Diane Gooch in his apparently 'apolitical paper' which they're mailing to every home in Atlantic Highlands. Can anyone trust Little if she has the support of liberals like Gopal and Rast? I see he is a facebook supporter of hers too. Sad that Anna is willing to work with liberal socialist Democrats and RINOS just to win a primary.
anon 8.25
I doubt you were going to contribute either way-
Based on the polls Art is running this would appear to be a blogsite that is made up 2/3 plus of Little supporters and collectively they only raised $3,000 for Little in the 1st Q.
Meanwhile hundreds of Republicans have contributed well over a hundred thousand dollars to Gooch and Diane Gooch has promised to match the funds raised.
This blogsite, and your position anon 8.25- would not appear to represent the broader picture.
Anon at 4:20:00 AM
That's because Diane's phone bankers are lying to people they call and telling them that she is the only person running against Pallone. This is a fact.
Also, I've heard from numerous people that they gave to Gooch only because they didn't know Anna was running and now deeply regret doing so.
Doesn't matter. Those people and a large majority of Monmouth County will be voting for Anna Little. All the fundraising in the world won't mean squat when the curtains close on June 8th.
1:26: WHAT???.. when Diane is the one who's quietly pro-choice, with a lib hubby giving mega-bucks to D's??..and, half or more of the "officials" backing Diane are, frankly, left of conservative, or, yeah, even RINO, themselves!...so, huh?
"Based on the polls Art is running this would appear to be a blogsite that is made up 2/3 plus of Little supporters and collectively they only raised $3,000 for Little in the 1st Q."
And just like those polls, likewise is roughly the voter make-up of Monmouth County. You can get a pretty good idea of how the vote will go by Art's polls. They're actually pretty representative.
And again, Diane can raise all the money she wants. The point is that money, truly, does not buy votes. The 2/3 majority for Anna here is the same 2/3 majority who will vote for her in the primary.
Trust me; Diane knows this.
apparently leftie Vin Gopal is putting Anna Little on his paper's cover next week with an endorsed column from RINO Mayor Fred Rast in Atlantic Highlands, while he bashes his newspaper rival, small business owner Diane Gooch in his apparently 'apolitical paper' which they're mailing to every home in Atlantic Highlands. Can anyone trust Little if she has the support of liberals like Gopal and Rast? I see he is a facebook supporter of hers too. Sad that Anna is willing to work with liberal socialist Democrats and RINOS just to win a primary.
Friday, May 21, 2010 1:26:00 AM
I guess you don't know freddy. He is a right wing nut, not a left wing nut. You must be one of those people that don't know your right from your left. Now wonder you are supporting Dianne Goooooch.
Of course Ms. Gooch has a bountiful of cash from both her own personal funds and GOP establishment types.
Anna Little has volunteers out every single day with hordes out in the district on the weekends. Gooch pays for assistance but Anna's army is dedicated citizens'. The battle breaks down to merceneries vs grassroots volunteers. Why is that?
because that's unfortunatly, increasingly,what makes this world go round,today.. am tired of the monied, privileged in both parties, thinking only they know what's best for us poor "masses".. elitism, of the intellectual and economic varieties, has become a most pervasive,ongoing, pressing issue, and is broadening the cultural and political divide, to the point that appears to be coming to an explosive head, where who knows how it'll all shake out, come Nov., and beyond!
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