Love it or hate it, Save Jerseyans, the State Legislature’s recent endorsement of a judicial pension constitutional amendment question on this November’s ballot constitutes another significant victory for Governor Chris Christie.
Incumbent U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) agrees with this analysis and is allegedly pretty pissed at his fellow New Jersey Democrats for going alone with it!
In fact, on Sunday, The Auditor reported that Menendez threw a bona fide hissy fit and hopped on the telephone to vent his displeasure:
Menendez called Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) to complain, The Auditor was told, although the details of the conversations were sketchy.
Lesniak and Sweeney declined to comment. Michael Soliman, Menendez’s campaign manager, would not confirm the calls and, in a statement, played down the role that the ballot question will have in the election.
“This is a presidential year, with the highest voter turnout in the election cycle,” Soliman said. “Any ballot question would have, at best, an extremely minor impact on which voters and how many voters come out to the polls.”
Then why did he call if it’s no big deal?
Paranoid much, Bob???
Menendez, who faces a reelection fight this fall, is still below 50% in virtually every public poll. That’s usually a reason for concern, but he’s still up 8-points among likely voters over his Republican opponent, State Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth). The money gap is even more pronounced, but the less-known Kyrillos continues to highlight his opponent’s pathetic job approval ratings as a reason for real optimism. I guess it’s starting to get under Menendez’s skin?
Kyrillos also voted for the judicial pension bill that so aggrieved Menendez, and he responded directly to The Auditor story by issuing a letter directly to the incumbent:
Senator Menendez:
Americans are hurting. Unemployment is rising. We need leaders who care about the challenges we face as a country, and not about winning their next election. That’s why I was troubled to read about your objection to a resolution that I supported, which would allow voters to decide whether our state judges should pay the same amount as other state employees toward their health and pension benefits. This resolution would save our State a lot of money that could go towards other worthwhile investments like improving education and protecting our environment. New Jerseryans deserve an explanation as to why you oppose such a commonsense reform. On behalf of all of them I will ask you, Why? We await your response.
Yeah… why, Bob?
This might be the most convincing evidence yet of Joe Kyrillos’s competitiveness, Save Jerseyans. Or Bob Menendez’s paranoia. Or some combination of the two, most likely. I’m still enjoying it!
Love to see Menendez lose.