By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
I had the pleasure of visiting with the Burlington County Young Republicans on Tuesday night in Evesham, Save Jerseyans, where young leaders from Burlco’s myriad of school boards, municipal committees and town councils mix and meet with freeholders, legislators and party leaders (while washing all of that politics down with some Chicago-style pizza and cold beer).
The Phillies’ game was naturally streaming on a flat screen in the background, too, but a healthy dose of candidate speeches marked by appeals for campaign volunteerism are the hallmark of any respectable party gathering.
Among Tuesday evening’s special guests was Tom MacArthur, candidate for the House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District.
At first blush, the almost disarmingly-chill MacArthur’s strongest contrast with primary opponent Steve Lonegan isn’t ideological but stylistic; unlike the notoriously blustery and unapologetically intense former mayor of Bogota, MacArthur exudes a quiet charisma that kept the audience of 50+ attendees fixated as he talked about he and his wife’s decision to “choose life” when they learned that their daughter would be born with severe handicaps, the need to repeal Obamacare in its entirety, and ways to make the tax code fairer for employers struggling to maintain or expand their payrolls.
We’re grateful that Tom sat down for a chat with Save Jersey before the rest of the YRs arrived…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHYvOn_RQ60
Tom MacArthur is a decent candidate, Matt is a great blogger, but they both need to work on the message delivery style. The interview could put a cup of coffee to sleep. That said, I do appreciate a chance for a first-hand impression.
MacArthur looks and sounds like a winner to me. It’s time to give a fresh face a chance!
It was a true pleasure to talk to BOTH Matt and MacArthur the other night. MacArthur IS the real deal and completely ego-driven like his opponent.
“completely ego-driven like his opponent” – ??? Well, if THAT isn’t a back-handed compliment.
What does he have to say? His personal story seems admirable – but “created thousands of jobs”?? Henry Silverman, of Petersen, Howell, and Heather, (aka Cendant Mortgage, etc.), created thousands of jobs…thousands of W2 full-time employees. Tom, if you created thousands of jobs, HOW? Where? Will you share that information with the voters?
There is a story of Lyndon B. Johnson walking through the assembly facility for the Saturn 1B rocket at Cape Canaveral/Kennedy. He came across an older gentleman, sweeping up with a broom and dustpan. Johnson and his entourage stopped, and the President shook his hand. Johnson asked “What are you doing here?” The man proudly replied “Helping put a man on the moon”.
The company that MacArthur worked for and ran has nowhere NEAR thousands of employees, and does not appear to have licensing to work in NJ. (Neither he nor the company appear as licensees on the NJDOBI web site. I checked, because I was on there in the insurance section at one time.(still am, in another capacity).
What did they really do there? Cendant/PHH is one of, if not the, largest employers in Burlington County, (Lockheed Martin and the US Military are possibly larger in-County.
I would think that someone who created ” thousands of jobs” could point to them. Am I missing something, here?
I am no Lonegan apologist, by ANY means, but you can bet he will be asking exactly those questions. The smartest thing MacArthur can do is stay away from debate, until the primary is over, at least – and even then, it may be well that he not do so, because, under a filing with the FCC, Aimee may not be the only one he has to debate.
“Disarmingly “Chill” neans??? It doesn’t mean there is any substance behind it – reference, if you will, Cory Booker.
What does MacArthur plan to DO if he is elected…actually DO? We don’t need another automaton party-line voter. We need someone who will assess each vote and make an intelligent decision, not based on anything other than the best interests of the VOTERS in his district – not his DONORS. Another Gilmore puppet? Not a good idea.
Aimee Norcross, er, Belgarde, (intentional mistake) is, without a doubt, completely in the thrall of George Norcross, so I would consider on that basis alone voting for a philodendron, first. The Republican and Democrat voters alike are constantly asked to hold their collective noses and vote for the puppet-of-the-month. Trouble is, while Lone-goon is in no way beholden to the local R machinery, it is apparent that he, too, is a vassal – worse, still, of Americans for Prosperity and the Koch brothers, who are his source of funds.
The combined population of the two towns these two gentlemen were considered mildly adequate mayors of is less than 3/8ths of the UNAFFLIATED Voters in Toms River, alone. What does it say about the R machine (not the rank and file) when they had to reach over an hour-and-a-half OUTSIDE the district to come up with a viable candidate…and that, only weakly. I am sure Tom is a “nice guy”. I know many “nice guys” who are not in any way prepared for Washington. The impression of the few folks I spoke with in phone interviews, (working the lists for data in Randolph for the upcoming race in Tom’s home district) seemed to indicate ambivalence as to MacArthur’s abilities. Consensus was that he has reached his maximum level of competency. Tom, it’s “Adult Swim” in Washington, and setting rubbish pick-up schedules and arranging for others to fill in pot-holes is far from adequate preparation.
I know an AMWAY distributor who claims to have created “thousands of jobs”, too.
Tom, you need to have a clear and concise policy position on each of the important issues – a message that’s not just “I’m not Steve Lonegan”. Guess what? Neither am I.
If you win, I look forward to our debates. If you lose, based on your comments on Steve Lonegan and Belgarde, I look forward to your endorsement.
“Stand for what’s right, or settle for what’s left” – FJL2014
Remember, Matt – you’re going all in on this guy. Your reputation rides on how truthful he is, and how strong a candidate he is.
Did I make an endorsement and miss it?
I’ll work harder to hold your attention next time, Max! But in all seriousness, your second point re: impressions is spot on; I do my best to avoid getting down into the muck like other new media personalities and beat up on my own team for easy web traffic. CD3 primary voters know Steve fairly well. I wanted to give them 15 minutes to meet Tom, a guy who they’re just starting to know. We’ll continue to delve deeper over the next two months.
Matt, the problem mostly comes down to two things.
One is the conservation topics. If all the listeners wanted were the candidate presenting the issues they’d just go to his website. Let him throw in a zinger, a personal anecdote or two, heck maybe even a favorite joke. We already have a candidate with his heart in the right place who is a “walking message”, so let us see something else.
The other is sound quality. I know you’re a blogger and not a cable studio but a bad mike and some sound reverberation makes the difference between lively speech and droning. Listening as if through a tunnel doesn’t help one’s perception.
“You’re” referring to party leadership, MATT ROONEY endorsement is to be coveted, indeed. Party bosses…less so.
Regarding point one, that’s fine, you’re entitled to your opinion, but we’ll agree to disagree. I’m not trying to produce a “zinger” moment. That’s not how I roll. I’m trying to help one of two choices in a GOP primary say his first “hello” to our large CD3 readership. We’ll check back with him over the next two months as issues emerge. I’m not a journalist; I’m a conservative blogger who tries to help conservatives interface with each other online. I also have limited time, and no one wants to watch a 45 minute video. If people want to hear whether a candidate prefers boxers or briefs, they’ll have to go elsewhere.
And re: point #2, sure, I could sit every candidate down in a studio and use advanced equipment, but the nature of blogging is that we’re traveling to diners, meeting halls, or even parking lots (often on short notice) to find candidates in their element. This particular interview went down at a noisy Pizza Uno. PolitickerNJ’s videos are often very raw, too. It’s just the nature of the beast!
“Stand for what’s right, or settle for what’s left.” – Absolutely love the quote.
Crony Capitalist of the GOP machine. Talks conservative but governs from the left. Look at his record it speaks for itself. Loves to raise taxes!