By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Thus far, the main pillar of Steve Lonegan’s CD3 primary campaign has involved impeaching the mayoral record of opponent Tom MacArthur. A recent Lonegan ad asserts that MacArthur’s time at the head of Randolph’s government earned him the designation “Republican in Name Only” or RINO.
The MacArthur campaign struck back on Thursday by launching an entire site – MayorLonegan.com – dedicated to Lonegan’s mayoral record in Bogota, one which it considers less-than-flattering.
Rather than describe the site as negative, MacArthur Campaign Manager Frank Luna said it’s simply a matter of setting the record straight and letting his candidate’s opponent speak for himself, including a particular focus on Lonegan’s tax proposals from past campaigns as well as the fact that he raised taxes 9-times in Bogota while receiving state aid to help balance his budgets, the latter fact being one that Lonegan’s camp deflects by pointing out that his increases were below the rate of inflation.
“You see, Tom MacArthur is no punching bag. Tom started this campaign positive, and continues to outline his vision for our country. But, when Mayor Lonegan started launching desperate attacks against him, there was no doubt that Tom would fight back. That’s exactly what we are doing with MayorLonegan.com.”
MacArthur’s retort has considerable force behind it as he seeks to make the most of a roughly $1.5 million cash-on-hand advantage over Lonegan as of April 1st. Lonegan says MacArthur’s almost entirely self-donated war chest proves he can’t compete, a charge echoed in a new radio spot; MacArthur counters that he focused on winning conventions instead, and that his self-funding activity proves both his ability to self-finance and remain his own man.
“I grew up in Waretown, NJ, and I know a fighter when I see one,” Luna continued. “Unfortunately, I also know a fraud when I see one. In this race we have a fighter and a fraud. You can be sure that Tom MacArthur is the fighter.”
Under six weeks to go…
You can click here to check it out the site for yourself.
If I were in CD3, MacArthur would lose me instantly over that website. Most attacks are from the left, and I did not find any details that would change my image of Steve Lonegan as personally abrasive but devoted defender of my individual rights and my wallet. Money buys you advertising, Mr. MacArthur, not respect.
If you think the Forbes/Armey style Flat Tax Steve Lonegan support is “a dangerous scheme” then by all means support progressive income tax advocate MacArthur.
But do understand you are in a minority of just 29 percent of Republicans nationally. Even the majority of Democrats support the Flat Tax.
Per Reason-Rupe (http://reason.com/assets/db/13964601337495.xlsx):
Would you favor or oppose changing the federal tax system to a flat tax, where everyone pays the same percentage of his or her income?
Total
Favor 62%
Oppose 33%
Republican
Favor 66%
Oppose 29%
Independent
Favor 68%
Oppose 29%
Democrat
Favor 52%
Oppose 43%
And I’m baffled that the false “lost five elections in a row” claim is repeated on this new website, when Frank Luna agreed with on twitter Monday that Steve has only lost one election in a row after winning a statewide U.S. Senate primary last year.
A sign of profound weakness, indeed.
The high ground is now lost by both, and the torch may well now have passed to the conservative independent*. Neither has a plan. Tom and Steve both bought “friends” and “followers” on facebook – but, as far as I am aware, Farmville is not in our district. MacArthur claims to have created thousands of jobs and to have donated 1600 wheelchairs – I can find evidence of neither. I might have believed “dozens”, or even “hundreds”, but “thousands”? Meanwhile, the company he was with is a third-party adjuster, hired by insurance companies to be the bad guy when denying valid claims in hopes the insured will simply give up and go away – and there are 42 pending suits against that company Nationwide that list RICO as a reason for the filing. They even tried to deny firefighters injured on the job in Phoenix, Az, compensation for medical care from fire-related injury because these volunteer firefighters “willingly entered a hazardous situation”. The guy is a parasite…and trotted out his dead daughter’s memory as a badge of honor over “1600 wheelchairs”. I’m not a buyer for that story, as it would have taken a full-time effort to acquire and distribute that many, and, if I were a charitable organization that wanted to make that claim, I would damned sure have at least 10% of that total in photos of recipients. He is a sham. 2 million raised in a loan, $ 1750 from actual donors. I spent more than his real funds on gas serving the 21 county clerks in “LaVergne v Lonegan”** (3 trips each). Lonegan was expected to go negative, hard and early. Mini-Me is in no way prepared for this job, and wasn’t all that respected in his own town, either – and in a Republican community. Statewide, the R’s are 18% of the registered voters. They trend higher in Ocean, but are actually fewer in number than the D’s in Burlington. Not surprisingly, INDEPENDENTS dominate in both counties, but the entrenched machines had carefully fended off the past, disorganized challenges. Now, they face a coherent, 12 district, 21 county effort, with qualified candidates in each race. They drove this through their corrupt action in each corner of the State – each with it’s own unique brand of thievery. Ritacco/Birdsall defines R politics at the LEADERSHIP level in Ocean, which is why they are all hanging together behind an outsider – none were clean enough to pass the smell test, even against a weak D like Belgard, who the Democrats are now kicking themselves for, as they thought it was to be a sacrificial race – they didn’t plan for or anticipate Runyan’s departure, any more than CD1 R leadership planned to handle Andrews’ exit. When a Republican Governor FOLLOWS THE LAW, for a change, and calls for a Special Election, does it not behoove one in the leadership of the R party in that district to inform their candidates – “Hey, you are going to need a second petition”. Both Partie’s leadership jumped too early, this year, and they’ve both hitched their wagons to a SCAR. Calling them like you see them is not going negative. Telling the truth is not going negative. Maybe me calling MAC “Mini-Me” is over the top, but I expect nothing better from the guy who rolled out MayorLonegan.com…
* Frederick John LaVergne, “Democratic-Republican” for Congress, NJ CD3, 2014
**the both might want to find out the implications of Lonegan’s far more important loss IN COURT last year than in the Senate Race. Mr. Rooney, I will enlighten you the day after the primary.
Partial list of what we’re up to…as though we had already been elected.
Article the First
Pension Reform
Ballot Reform
Election Reform
Farmland Preservation
Environmental Preservation
Change the Rules Pledge
State Constitutional Convention
Article Five Constitutional Convention
PERS restoration – funding
Support for Education and training for veterans
Student Aid opportunities – Student Loan Lending reform
Health Care Reform – ACA
Tax Reform – Fair Tax
Energy Policy
Brownfields Remediation
Prosecution of Utility slamming – Gloucester City slamming fraud
Education/Historic Preservation
Arts in Education
Gold Star Mothers – Madison Rising Concert to raise funds for the Mothers’ Memorial
Beach/Riparian Lands access
Judiciary Reform – Pensions, Terms, Vetting, Addressing misconduct.
Sandy investigation…but problem solving, first
Assistance to Affordable Housing
Community Advocacy Program
Immigration Pathways Program
Organ/Marrow/Blood donors promotion
Orphan Pharmaceuticals Funding / CHOP
ADA – in NJ, promote prompt access and tailored pay-out
Expedite Physician pay.
Do we revisit WPA/NRA/CCC?
If you would know more, visit http://Democratic-RepublicanParty.org regularly, or https://www.facebook.com/FrederickJohnLaVergneForCongress
FJL2014.org rolls out the day after the primary
What makes you think they bought followers? Not disagreeing, I’m genuinely curious. MacArthur has 2 million dollars and can afford to throw a couple grand on Facebook advertising, while Lonegan has been building a following for years. Again I’m open to it, I just hadn’t considered it.
Because, when challenged on-line about it, they killed their pages – which I screen shot with over 30K in expense for Lonegan, and more than double that for MacArthur. Lonegan’s top supporting location was the service he bought the “followers” from in San Antonio, Texas – just as MacArthur’s were from Jacksonville, Florida. You CAN see that. Organic Likes and Purchased Likes are not divvied up for public scrutiny, but the same geography tells the tale. I was also called repeatedly by these same services, offering the same sort of “results”. The drive with some of those shots is dead, but I still have a few. I won’t post them here, but you can just as easily see that even some they have NOW are purchased…more to the point, Lonegan changed the name of his past site, which had about 1600 ORGANIC likes Statewide or otherwise, for this race – and why shouldn’t he? MacArthur jumped to 40K plus “followers” in only 2 weeks. Do the math. They’re gone, now, as they are only rented in time. As to Lonegan’s following – it is a diaspora. There is not more than 100 CORE Loneganites (or, as others put it, “Lone-goons”) around the area – and most are from Tea Party Groups. He wraps himself in the Second Amendment, then gets the words wrong in a flyer sent to all the gun stores in the State…doh! (Not really his fault – he can’t “read” what his advisors signed off on. It’s not his eyesight that troubles me, however…it is his lack of vision).
I was actually AT Lonegan’s “press conference” at the median strip outside the MAFB Gate 9. Seven people other than he and I were there – I have photos. They were very upset when they found out why I wouldn’t sign HIS petition. Moreso, since I had taken pictures of the “Crowd”. I could have served everyone from a D/D Box o’ Joe and had coffee left over. Also, NO ONE ELSE THERE was from District 3, except Mr. and Mrs. L. There were two fellows supposedly from the military, gauging only by the “scrambled eggs” on their ball caps. I asked the older woman in the crowd, who, it turns out, was a Conservative but not a Lonegan-ite, and she told me that the men were from a Monmouth Co. VFW. His metrosexual aid was also their – the out of state fellow responsible for the Second Amendment boner.
Our Veterans’ Council has more people on the BALLOT then he has in his whole committee. Anyone who says otherwise might do well to be reminded – I have PHOTOS. I was THERE.
We are meeting our 12 District Candidates and some select Freeholders/Clerks, etc. next week to flesh out our platform on other issues not mentioned above. As each region has specific needs and goals, we are working together to insure that the best and brightest minds we can muster are attacking each issue like it was their job – because IT IS.
You haven’t elected us, and we’re already working for you. Know more.
.
Frederick John LaVergne, “Democratic-Republican” for Congress, NJ CD 3, 2014
“Stand for what’s right, or settle for what’s left” – FJL
“What’s right doesn’t change – who is in charge can be….” – EML, US Senate, 2014
The woman mentioned was from Asbury Park.
How did you see reports of likes? That’s very interesting. I’ll tell my CD3 friends about you.
Hmm, I went and looked and MacArthur’s most popular like source was Philadelphia… not quite CD3 or even New Jersey… Lonegan’s is Toms River. I think you might be on to something.
Also interesting is looking at senate hopeful Brian Goldberg’s page and seeing that one week he had 3,000 new likes and 3,000+ talking about this, but since then the graph lists 0 – zip, nada – new likes and he has suddenly retreated to ~60 talking about this. Not fishy at all.
Vous écrivez continuellement des articles intéressants
He did it again – new site for Belgard. Still trying to ignore the boogeyman under the bed (LaVergne)