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Tag: District 2

Democrats Panicking in District 1, Divert Resources From Whelan to Van Drew

Oct. 24 Featured 2 comments

The recent ELEC filings show that Democrats are panicking over District 1, as they are now diverting a significant amount of funds to incumbent Jeff Van Drew to the detriment of JIm Whelan in District 2.

Filings show that the Van Drew ticket on its own only raised $201,000 to the $209,000 raised by the DeWeese ticket, and that Democrat State Committees had to throw a desperate Van Drew $185,000 which literally went out the door the same day towards a hastily thrown together radio & TV campaign.

A little background.

The Van Drew campaign this cycle has made amatuer hour look like a Broadway production. They have no volunteer operation, no one making phone calls or knocking on doors. I’m not kidding. Go to their website and Facebook page. There are no invitations/notices telling anyone where and when they can volunteer. They have no headquarters or place to make calls from. All they have is an address where people can mail checks to. The ticket actually skipped the only major candidates forum in Cumberland County they had agreed to attend WITH NO NOTICE OR EXPLANATION! The only real campaigning they had done were radio ads with Harry Hurley and very expensive TV advertising on ESPN and TBS during the baseball playoffs. And those ads focused heavily on Matt Milam while Van Drew and Nelson Albano were afterthoughts. In the past, the trio always campaigned on Van Drew’s name.

This is in stark contrast to the DeWeese campaign, which has been aggressive and effective. Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr, in a sit down with Save Jersey, specifically praised the campaign (it’s at the end of the video), saying ”DeWeese is doing an extraordinary job.” And they have been. Their aggressive style has resulted in a message that has gained traction and press. They have been agressively advertising in papers, purchasing full page color ads for the past few weeks (for those of you who do not know District 1, newspapers are not on the decline here due to the demographics of the district). They launched a strong mailer effort, as well. They have produced several impactful web videos which have gone viral (here, here and here). They have launched an aggressive cable TV ad campaign. And they have put together a top-notch grassroots volunteer effort based out of 3 different locations that has made tens of thousands of phone calls and knocked on thousands of doors. Oh, and Governor Christie just gave them a huge fundraising boost.

So when State Democrats took a break from spending big dollars to help Jim Whelan throw mud to protect one seat and take a look at District 1, they were horrified to discover that they were in real danger of losing three seats!

Now State Democrats found themselves between a rock and a hard place. They have less cash on hand than State Republicans. Polistina has more cash than Whelan. DeWeese has more cash Van Drew. Their resources are so depleted and low for state races that writing a check to one candidate denies another candidate funds. They do not have enough funds for the races they planned on supporting, let alone now having to support Van Drew, too.

So they made a painful, desperate decision. They diverted a much needed $185,000 from Jim Whelan’s campaign, which is also in desperation mode, to Van Drew for a last minute, desperation radio & TV counter offensive. This just started last week, and, just like the campaign so far, has been weak, and the CapeGOP has already effectivly countered it.

The counter offensive centers focuses on calling Dave DeWeese a liar and the Beesley’s Point Bridge.  While this issue will be the topic of an upcoming analysis, the high level of it is Van Drew went out and got the Republican Cape May County Freeholder (who is so reviled in Cape May he chose not to run for re-election because he knew he would be lucky to get 5 votes) he conned into buying the bridge to come out and say that the 100% correct DeWeese mailers were 100% wrong. In response, 50 elected Cape May County officials have called out Van Drew on his lying in a full page ad in the Cape May County Herald.

The $185,000 is already spent, and the campaign it bought has already been exposed as BS. They just wasted it all.

Democrats now have to choose between diverting more funds they don’t have from a desperate Jim Whelan to a desperate Jeff Van Drew. They only have $1.5 million left. Another $150K to Van Drew would represent 15% of the kitty. And every dollar they give to Van Drew is a dollar they have to deny to Whelan.

What’s a panicky Democrat to do?

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Polistina Sweeps Endorsemen​ts from Small Biz, Pro-Growth Orgs

Oct. 18 Uncategorized no comments

State Assemblyman Vince Polistina (R-2) announced today that he won endorsements from NEW JOBS (Business PAC of NJ), the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and the Private Enterprise PAC (PENPAC) as the candidate for Senate best equipped to deal with the economic crisis facing the state and Atlantic County.
 
Polistina said his background as a successful small businessman, and proven legislative record of supporting policies that promote private sector job growth, were the difference in him earning the endorsement over incumbent Senator Jim Whelan.
 
“I am honored to sweep all the endorsements for State Senate from organizations whose primary focus is improving the economy and promoting private sector job creation,” said Polistina, who was awarded NFIB’s “Guardian of Small Business Award” for standing with small business owners 100% of the time on critical issues in Trenton.   “My background as a small businessman makes me uniquely equipped to address the economic and jobs crisis facing New Jersey, and particularly, Atlantic County and Atlantic City.  As Senator, I will continue to lead the fight for policies that cut taxes, reduce spending and shrink the size of government so we can improve our economy and create good-paying jobs.”

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What Should “Pulling a Whelan” Mean?

Oct. 13 Featured 84 comments

So far during this campaign, Jim Whelan has pulled/been revealed to have pulled three crazy stunts that are so brazen, so crazy, so stupid, so unique that if I did just one of them, it would immediately be known as “pulling a Fletcher.” And Jim Whelan has done THREE of those things.

So Save Jerseyans: which unbelievable, “you have got to be kidding me” action should now – until the end of time – be forever known as “pulling a Whelan?”

1- Creating a no-show job for yourself to pad your pension?

2- Getting the cops to cover up a car accident for you?

3- Creating fake Facebook profiles so your campaign can personally attack your opponents wife?

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Tax Report Cards Are In! South Jersey Dems Fail, GOPers Ace It!

Oct. 12 Uncategorized no comments

Tax Reports Cards are in, Save Jerseyans. The independent New Jersey Tax Payers Alliance just issued its 2011 legislative score card for the Senate and Assembly. Here’s how the legislators in my neck of the woods did (ranked by score).

Vince Polistina (R D2) – 100%
John Amodeo (R D2) – 100%
Matt Milam (D D1) – 71%
Jeff Van Drew (D D1) – 63%
Jim Whelan (D D2) – 57%
Nelson Albano (D D1) - 57%

Wow. When I was in high school and college, anything below a 70% was an F.

So we got Polistina & Amodeo acing it, scoring a perfect 100% when it comes to fighting for tax reform. Meanwhile, the Democrats in the area managed one D- and three Fs.

All four of these Democrats have been trying to portray themselves as fiscal conservatives. These miserable scores prove otherwise.

And a big thank you to Assemblymen Amodeo & Polistina for continuing to look out for us!

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Whelan Campaign Creates Fake “Tea Party” Facebook Profiles to Insult Polistina’s Wife

Oct. 12 Featured 8 comments

Users of Facebook are familiar with fake profiles. Most of the time, it’s some creep trying to trick users and steal thier identities. Other times, it’s a marketing gimmick for porn sites.

And in Atlantic County,  Jim Whelan’s campaign is creating fake Tea Partier Facebook profiles to trash his opponent, Vince Polistina, on Polistina’s Facebook page, while building Whelan up. It’s the Facebook version of Peter DeStefano. Then Whelan crossed the line by using these false profiles to personally attack Polistina’s wife.

A little background.

Both candidates have Facebook pages. In the spirit of social media, the Polisitina campaign allows anyone to post on their Facebook wall to allow discourse on the race. Polistina even directly answers questions posed by Facebook users. In the spirit of Big Brother, Jim Whelan doesn’t allow anyone to post on his Facebook wall.

Over the past few weeks, however, some strange posts have been made on the Polistina wall. Users with no friends, no pictures and who only “like” tea party Facebook pages started posting Whelan talking points, word for word, on Polistina’s Facebook page. It was obvious that these were fake profiles, created for the sole purpose of making it look like Polistina’s base didn’t support him. Pathetic.

I first dismissed it as an overzealous (and lonely) Whelan supporter. After the Peter DeStefano debacle in 2010, where the DNC supported a fake Tea Party candidate to siphon votes from Jon Runyan, I didn’t think any Democratic candidate would be arrogant enough to try something like that again. So I watched with amusement as the fake profiles repeated Whelan’s lies.

Then on Sunday, it was revealed that these fake profiles were created and administered by the Whelan campaign.

On Sunday, one of the fake profiles (Michael Clark, I believe) commented on a photo on the Polistina Facebook page. The Polistina page started to comment back, and there was a nice back and forth going between the two (the fake user has since been blocked, and per Facebook policy, all of his posts were deleted as a result). Then, all of a sudden, the Whelan Cooper & Tyner page responded as though they were Michael Clark! Whelan’s Facebook page posted the following when a campaign staffer thought they were still logged on as Michael Clark.

Honestly, because I have lived here my entire life and like most people from Atlantic County know Jim to be a man of great integrity. I have not always agreed with everything that he has done but I will never question his character. Now will you answer a voters question about these no bid contracts and a judge raising money for one of your candidates?”

The staffer in charge of the Whelan Facebook effort forgot to switch profiles before commenting and just revealed to the world Whelan was behind all the fake Tea Party profiles! Realizing that, the staffer immediately deleted their comment and thought they had covered it up, but we have an email directly from Facebook, Inc. that proves it existed (Redacted email addresses for privacy reason).

If the Whelan campaign allowed comments, however, then they’d know that the admin of the Facebook gets an email whenever someone leaves a comment that tells them who wrote and what they wrote. Save Jersey has obtained a copy of that email, and can verify that it was the official Whelan Cooper & Tyner Facebook page which made the post, and was behind all the fake profiles and comments.

So Jim Whelan’s campaign is creating fake Tea Party profiles to undermine his opponent AND claim that he is a man of integrity? Using lies and deceit to show he is honorable and trustworthy? Did he learn nothing from Adler & DeStefano? This complete lack of moral character on Whelan’s part shows just how desperate his campaign has become. It’s sad & pathetic.

But Whelan’s campaign was not satisfied just crossing that line. Oh no. This is Jim Whelan we’re talking about here, people. His campaigns make mud look clean. Jim Whelan decided to lap himself and cross the line a 2nd time.

On Friday, one of the fake Tea Party profiles created and controlled by the Whelan campaign posted a vicious personal attack against Vince Polistina’s wife on the Polistina Facebook page (it was immediately taken down). She is not a candidate, she is not running for anything, yet the official policy of Whelan’s campaign is to launch personal attacks on her! While pretending to be grassroots activists from her husband’s side, no less!

Congrats Senator. You managed to hit a new low, even for you. And considering how low you’ve gone before, that’s saying something.

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Star Ledger’s Politifact Calls Attacks on Polistina “Outrageous”

Oct. 10 Uncategorized no comments

The Polistina Campaign issued this today. Jim Whelan’s pants are on fire!

Egg Harbor Township, October 10, 2011 – Verifying what Vince Polistina and his campaign have been saying for months, the Star-Ledger’s Politifact “Truth-O-Meter” today called Democrat mailers smearing Polistina “outrageous” and said “targeting Polistina for something Whelan is doing” is “not only wrong – it’s hypocritical.”          
 
Polistina demanded Whelan publicly apologize for the ads and call on the Trenton Democrats to cease and desist from their dishonest attacks immediately.          
 
“Jim Whelan needs to be held accountable for the hypocritical smear campaign he and the Trenton Democrats are running against me,” said Polistina.  “Whelan’s refusal to even be interviewed by Politifact is consistent with how he’s conducted his entire campaign.  Whelan has purposely ducked legitimate questions about how he abused the state pension system in order to line his pockets at taxpayer expense, because he knows it’s all true.  Instead, he has gutlessly hid behind negative mailers and television ads that have now been proven false and misleading by an independent third party.  His campaign is a disgrace and his days in office are numbered.” 

Here is what the Star-Ledger’s Politifact “Truth-O-Meter” is saying about the smear campaign being run against Vince Polistina by the Democrats:
 
“not only wrong — it’s hypocritical”
“Whelan is doing what the Democrats wrongly accused Polistina of — collecting a government pension on top of “taxpayer-funded salaries.”
“they were targeting Polistina for something Whelan is doing” “The Democratic committee made the accusation against a Republican, despite their candidate collecting a pension on top of two government salaries. That makes the claim outrageous.”

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Where Do Whelan & Van Drew Stand on Obama’s Stimulus Package?

Oct. 10 Featured no comments

Senators Jeff Van Drew and Jim Whelan have been silent on President Obama’s newest stimulus package, and it is time we hear where they stand on it.

Now I know what you’re thinking: these two aren’t Washington insiders, they’re Trenton insiders, does it matter what they think? Yes, for two reasons.

1-Their master, Senate President Steve Sweeney, came out and praised the plan on his own and 2-the stimulus package contains a tax on turbine (read: propeller) flights that could do serious injury to both Districts 1 & 2 and cost jobs instead of create them.

Thier opponents have wasted no time in coming out against it. Here is District 1′s Dave DeWeese.

“We need a stable economy so people can get back to work, not a massive government spending spree that will raise $1.5 trillion in taxes over the next decade that will only create temporary jobs so that entrenched politicians can try to save their own in the polls. Senator Van Drew should renounce this wasteful economic gimmick that failed once and will fail again.”

And here is Assemblyman Vince Polistina in District 2

“The President’s proposed user fees for turbine aircraft flights would devastate the aviation industry in New Jersey which is just beginning to take flight. With the promise of thousands of quality, high-paying jobs very much a reality with the expansion of our state’s aviation industry, including the development of the NextGen Air Transportation System, we have a golden opportunity for economic growth in South Jersey. This fee would severely ground our efforts.”

“[Assemblyman] John [Amodeo] and I have been working diligently to develop the aviation industry in New Jersey and particularly in our region as it is ripe with job creation opportunities and other economic benefits. Imposing a per flight tax for users of air traffic services will deal a significant blow to these efforts as the industry is currently experiencing tremendous economic difficulties.”

Obama’s proposed turbine flight tax would do a lot of damage to South Jersey’s economy.

In District 1, it would adversely impact the summer tourist industry. Many businesses advertise via sky banners. You’ve all seen them, little single seater airplanes towing a banner over crowded beaches. This tax would directly raise the price of advertising for small shore businesses who are already treading water. And raise the costs of Air Shows. And decrease business at the municipal airports in the district.

This is why one reason why DeWeese has come out against it. Van Drew seems to be ok with all that happening.

In District 2, efforts are being made to make Atlantic County an aviation R&D Mecca, bringing jobs and dollars to the region. This tax would kill that effort. Also, just like in District 1, Atlantic County also has a strong sky banner trade that this tax would hurt, and increase costs for small businesses. Again, this stimulus package will cost jobs in the district.

That’s why Polistina has come out against it. Whelan seems to be ok with all that happening.

So Senators, are you going to come out for or against Obama’s stimulus package? Whhat is more important to you? Saving jobs in your district, or serving your Masters Obama and Sweeney?

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Jim Whelan Rear-Ends Tourists, Absecon Police Cover it Up?

Sep. 30 Featured 5 comments

Save Jerseyans, yesterday on his radio show Harry Hurley, whom really knows Atlantic County politics, reported that on July 3, 2011, Senator Jim Whelan rear-ended a tourists couple car so hard that the driver was unable to work for six weeks after the accident, and that the Absecon police department covered it up for him.

There was no news story about this incident. Hurley reports that no ticket was issued to Whelan by the police, even though a rear-ending is automatically the fault of the rear-ender, in this case, Whelan. The incident report, according to Hurley, had no written indication of what caused the accident or placing any blame on Whelan. No ticket issued or blame placed means that the couple that was hit will have a hard time collecting insurance, as the first thing insurance companies look for is that on a police report.

If Hurley is right, it sounds like the Absecon Police Department covered this up for him. They gave him special treatment and made sure he wouldn’t be blamed for an accident that was his fault. They then put a lid on it, didn’t report in the police blotter, and hushed up it up so the press wouldn’t report about it and know the truth. Oh, and the couple that got hit, the driver who missed six weeks of work, got thrown under the bus.

This is wrong, and leads to a host of quesitons that needs to be answered. Was Whelan drunk when it happened? Did Whelan ask for special treatment? Did he request the cover up? Did the police cover it up on their own? Did the cover up come from the top?

Will we even get these answers?

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