By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
It’s been a weird year for politics, Save Jerseyans. But as much as some things change, others things definitely do not. At all.
Let’s reflect briefly on the respective trajectories of two politicians: Bernie Sanders and Anthony Cappola.
Bernie is leading the Democrat field in New Hampshire and threatening Hillary Clinton in the other early states. The Left is fawning over him and treating the badly-worn and awkward New England socialist as some species sage for having regurgitated decades-old discredited ideas. “Incredibly charming” is just one of the many descriptions you’ll find on the liberal net.
Less charming? His 1972 essay for the Vermont Freeman on the subject of gang rape fantasies. “A man goes home and masturbates his typical fantasy. A woman on her knees, a woman tied up, a woman abused,” Sanders opined. “A woman enjoys intercourse with her man — as she fantasizes being raped by 3 men simultaneously.”
Yikes! Yet Democrat reactions have ranged from total disinterest to verbal shrugs.
At least New Jersey Assembly candidate Cappola was trying to be funny in his online published book Outrageous, a tome chock full of allegedly racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and objectively strange “satire.” But his youthful incident of presumably isolated idiocy ended in a resignation from the LD38 ticket reportedly at the prompting of GOP officials, not a liberal blogger story complimenting his “charming” novel, and the collapse of what should’ve been the GOP’s top 2015 target based on the 2013 results has reopened Republican wounded inside and outside of Bergen County.
The worst part: it was all so painfully avoidable. There isn’t a perfect person out there (saying “be smart” is easier said than done retroactively, right?), and with the media firmly lining up on the Democrat side of the aisle, Republican candidates will never be able to count on the kind of friendly cover that Senator Sanders enjoys. GOP candidates and campaigns can definitely make things worse for themselves by getting defensive when the best defense is almost invariably a good offense. LD18’s Synnove Bakke, a former Save Jersey contributor, responded to her own recent brush with the PC Police by squaring up and coming out firing. She’s better off for it, and Synn would do even more with it if our state had an opposition party with cash. Similarly, LD’1 Jim Sauro owned his factually correct comments about the state of race relations in America without blinking and came out of it OK; his opponents barely tried to touch it.
Cappola is trying to get back in the fight now, too, and reverse course with two weeks to go, but he never should’ve dropped in the first place.
Don’t believe me? Ask the Donald. I’m sure his reply will be worth the question. He’s going far by telling the media/academic establishment to piss off.
We’re already being badly outspent, a problem Trump doesn’t have. But there’s no excuse for being out-fought.
Relax. I’m not defending Anthony Cappola, or what he said, or the GOP vetting process. Not only do I not want to, but I also sure as hell shouldn’t have to. The Left never does it for their errant cast members.
What we should be able to agree on is the brutal fact that Republicans are never, ever, EVER going to start winning these hard races again unless we stop playing the other side’s games, by their rules, especially since the other side doesn’t follow their own rules. The rules weren’t designed to be fair to us. Why are we still expecting an equitable outcome, Save Jerseyans?
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The question was likely rhetorical but it actually has an answer: when they control the mass media, the academia, the public education, and the show biz.
When one of our’s screws up it is a hit for the entire party.. When one of their’s gaffes, it is an individual failing.
A rapist and a racist. True liberals.
I mean, “be smart” IS kind of easier retroactively…
But on the other hand sometimes you can see this shit coming a mile away.
We most be better with our words, there are less of us. We do this for the republic. Not for the party.
Awe pity the poor victims of the GOP….
Why would they? They’re all on the same side.
Are you kidding me? Cappola was not the best candudate (intentionally misspelled) before this. Then the book comes to light. He drops out, the party badly bungles it and now hes in to “clear his name.” I’m not the PC police but we can do so much better than Cappola and this mentality combined with the establishment’s stupidity is the reason for this party under-performing. Comparing Cappola’s book to what Trump or some of our other candidates for President say is not a good comparison. We need principled, optimistic conservatives who understand the 2015 world and how to run a campaign.
Someone with Anthony Cappola’s beliefs and values does not deserve to carry the Republican banner in the general election. There is absolutely no way to defend Cappola’s writings.
Have been asking that same question a lot lately Matt, when will the GOP begin to fight back or go on the offensive?
“Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules.” Saul Alinsky
LMAO! This is laughably bad, even for you, Matt!
My wife and I donate to Bernie every week, but would happily donate to him everyday if it means getting every last right wing nut job you worship out of power and keeping them out in order to repair the middle class in this country so we no longer have resort to Airbnb-ing our homes out to strangers and turning our personal vehicles into Uber jitney cabs in order to help pay for them.
Sharing economy = Reaganomics Fail
Always the evil, left-wing media. Except when the right-wing Fox Benghazi, CIA “expert” Wayne Simmons is exposed as a fraudulent liar.