By The Staff
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Winners
Bob Hugin
Yes, Bob Menendez unsurprisingly throws better punches (because he’s a nasty guy with a lot more practice), and Hugin missed some layups, but this race is largely a referendum on Menendez (at least for the people Republicans need to turn out or split the ticket), and the incumbent ducked and dodged all night on issues ranging from controlling spending and immigration to his own ethical failings. He felt… slick and insincere. Assuming any persuadable voters watched NJTV last night (?), they more than likely liked Hugin more. That’s what matters.
Doug Steinhardt
The charismatic NJGOP chair ran circles around his Democrat counterpart (who sounded half asleep).
Save Jersey
We dominated the debate Twitter conversation on Wednesday night. Don’t act so surprised.
Abraham Lopez
A former Westampton committeeman and GOP Hispanic operative, the personable and enthusiastic Lopez rode around the NJTV Newark studio building last night on a float, plastered with Hugin signs, trolling Menendez and his supporters by blaring the “Bad Boys” song of Cops fame. Watch it here. You won’t be sorry.
— Matt Rooney (@MattRooneyNJ) October 25, 2018
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Losers
Bob Menendez
See above. Also, arguably, Hugin has the momentum at the moment. This race is MUCH closer than it should be. So the incumbent’s supporters and professional staff would’ve really like Hugin to make a big mistake for attack ad inclusion over the final several days. Didn’t happen. Menendez wasn’t terrible on points, but he appeared a little less pulled together than usual. Perhaps all of this underage prostitution allegations talk is getting to him?
Michael Aron / NJTV
“But Matt, he’s a nice guy!” Maybe so. Don’t know him. But so what? Hardly the point. I’ve watched him for years like the rest of you New Jersey political junkies, and Aron’s age (and true colors) are showing. His questions were sloppy, uneven, and unlike the best debate moderators of the Tim Russert mold, he failed to push Menendez whenever the incumbent blatantly failed to answer a direct question. Several big topics — notably the wars concerning ISIS/Iraq/Afghanistan — were totally ignored, which is odd for a U.S. Senate debate where the incumbent is on the foreign relations committee. More time was spent on global warming than SALT! And then there was that horribly biased question concerning Hugin’s underage prostitute allegations ad.
Time to shake things up, NJTV. You’ve got some solid, younger talent waiting in the wings. Time to give’em a chance.
Menendez Supporter who threw Hugin lawn signs into oncoming Newark traffic
Click here to watch; it went beyond your garden variety campaign hijinks. Someone could’ve been seriously hurt. We hope the Newark PD are investigating.
As Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) talks about "civility" inside the #NJSenateDebate, check out what his supporters are doing OUTSIDE of the venue: https://t.co/43TKDgKdzD
— Save Jersey (@SaveJersey) October 25, 2018
The Star-Ledger
This is self-explanatorily awful:
The US Senate debate ended around 9:10 PM, but that's past curfew for the @starledger. Their story about the Menendez vs. Hugin face-off yesterday will won't appear in the newspaper until tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/00kLi2LC46
— David Wildstein (@wildstein) October 25, 2018
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