Is The N.J. State Senate GOP Executive Director Working For Christie
The storyline:
In an e-mail to an official of a rival campaign, Senate Republican Executive Director James Harkness says that gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan will lose his public financing because he did not disclose his affiliation with Americans for Prosperity, an anti-tax organization.
“AFP will not reveal their donors. They are obviously conservatives who like ‘convenient” transparency,’ wrote Harkness a former Chief Counsel to Gov. Donald DiFrancesco. “Lonegan will lose his public money.
Lonegan’s Campaign Responds:
Mr. James Harkness should have been at work at his state job when he read the newspaper story on which his e-mail was based. So here is a question for Mr. Harkness:
Did you use taxpayers’ facilities, taxpayers’ equipment, and taxpayers’ time to prepare and send your political memo to a political campaign?
Another question for Mr. Harkness: Does your boss, Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr., share your obvious distaste for conservative Republicans? A word of advice for Mr. Harkness Senator Kean Jr., and the Senate Republican Caucus over which they preside:
Instead of attacking conservatives for what you perceive as their “convenient” transparency, maybe you should target leftist groups with those kinds of questions.
Mr. Harkness should know these groups well after a career in which he has served as a poster-boy for the revolving door of the Trenton grease machine – an employee of the legislature, then a lobbyist pushing special interests to the legislature, then an employee again.
Before being appointed by Senator Kean Jr. to run the Senate’s Republican Caucus, lobbyist Harkness successfully worked to end the death penalty in New Jersey. He even was applauded for his efforts on a website devoted to convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu -Jamal. Need we say more?
Michael’s POV:
IF this story is true, this is a total disgrace on so many levels. First off, as the response from Team Lonegan implies, the hatred for Conservatives dating back to the Whitman & DiFrancesco era has not ceased at all.
While some other center-left leaning N.J. Republican blogs are wetting themselves calling for calmness and for everyone to hold hands and sing kumbaya, while the NJGOP RINO establishment is actively supporting the Chris Christie campaign by getting “dirt” on his opponents would be the last straw for ANY kind of working relationship between the “Establishment Suits” and the “Conservative Netroots.”
What did Senate Minority Tom Kean know about this episode and when did he know about it? Did he sign off on this?
This kind of BS backfired on the RNC and the NRSC when they supported Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey and Lincoln Chafee over Steve Laffey in GOP Primaries and it will backfire for the NJ GOP.
If true, Tom Kean needs to remove James Harkness from his post immediately, and get someone in there that focuses on their real job duties. This has nothing to do with his position as Executive Director of the NJ SENATE GOP caucus.
What is more disturbing to me about this than Harkness using taxpayer time to write the political email, is that he probably pitched the story in the first place.
The DiFrancesco/Franks campaign pulled the same BS with Schundler in 2001.
February 13th, 2009 at 8:32 pmI see you have chosen the continue to engage in destructive behavior option…
I’m shocked…
Anyway my post didn’t have a damn thing to do with that, it had everything to do with labels. This whole story is above my head, frankly it won’t make a damn difference in the primary since it’s all insider stuff.
February 13th, 2009 at 9:24 pmConservative “netroots”? You’re so arrogant! The audience for blogs like this is insignificant. No one cares about your point of view, because you can’t back it up with any persuasive power over voters! And Mr. Sedler is correct – no one cares about this insider crap except for insiders. You’re yelling at the wall Mikey.
AND even IF this story was true, I’m GLAD!!! Lonegan can’t win in November, but he can definitely screw it up for Christopher Christie. It’s good to see moderates like Kean and conservatives like Webber, Chris Smith, etc, all on the same page FOR CHRISTIE!!!!
Wake up, nutjob.
February 14th, 2009 at 11:27 amWow, Delusional. If only moderates like you were this aggressive toward liberal Democrats.
February 14th, 2009 at 12:18 pmAnd could you imagine if those same aggressive moderates could find enough intestinal fortitude to actually use their own name when posting?
If there is anything that I disdain, it is cowardly actions like hiding behind a screen name. Stand up and be a man (or woman) or STFU.
February 14th, 2009 at 12:40 pmDelusional,
First and foremost, you must realize that conservative voters vote on principles. This incident hurts not just Lonegan, but Christie and Republicans in general.
At some point in the near future, there will be a ruling about this matter. Maybe Lonegan will continue to get matching funds, maybe not. In any case, his supporters will be more fired up than ever. Some will donate more money, some will get more active in the campaign. He will still be running; still on the ballot; still getting donations; still putting out ads.
Unlike some candidate’s supporters, Lonegan’s are truly loyal. Should Lonegan not win in June, how many of them will refuse to come out in November for the candidates you support?
February 14th, 2009 at 12:52 pmIf the establishment keeps pulling shit like this, I can pretty much say that not many will vote for Christie in November, that’s for sure.
February 14th, 2009 at 1:12 pmI see you have chosen the continue to engage in destructive behavior option…
Eric, How am I engaging in destructive behavior?
By pointing out that a taxpayer employed NJ GOP Senate staffer is spending his time sending emails to favored campaigns over less desirable ones from the same party.
That he reports DIRECTLY to the man who is leading the campaign for that favored campaign?
And I’M engaging in destructive behavior?
You don’t see a problem with that?
February 15th, 2009 at 7:01 amLike I said, this story is above my head, as in all insider speak and too much speculation to even really raise an eyebrow.
First, there’s not yet one bit of evidence to suggest he did this while he was at work. He could have done this on his own time.
Who’d he report too? There’s not one piece of evidence that suggests Christie, or his campaign, is involved in this at all. That’s pure speculation and unless the full story is known, it’s unfair to make presumptions.
I never said I don’t see a problem with the memo, I don’t think it was such a great idea seeing as how it caused a little bit of a stir within.
You and others engage in destructive behavior by painting the race as one side versus the other. Some members of the media do this as well. You’ve been after Christie since Day One and it wouldn’t matter if he came out with specifics to every single question ever, you’d still find a way to attack him. I understand, you want your guy to win and the best way to do that in your view is paint his opponent in a negative light.
I just hope it doesn’t come back and haunt us after the primary. By painting candidates as a certain way and assigning positions to them while pitting it as the “Establishment” versus “Grassroots” we are setting ourselves up for failure against the real target. Because by the time this primary is over, no matter who wins, there will need to be some mending of broken fences and we are almost guaranteeing that at least some diehard supporters of whichever candidate that loses either stays home or cross over.
February 15th, 2009 at 9:47 amYou’ve been after Christie since Day One and it wouldn’t matter if he came out with specifics to every single question ever, you’d still find a way to attack him.
But he hasn’t and that’s the point. He still to this day, “talks and walks”, never staying around for questions.
By painting candidates as a certain way and assigning positions to them while pitting it as the “Establishment” versus “Grassroots”
But it is. I owe NO ONE nothing, not my support, not my vote, not my loyalty, just because they have an (R) next to their name. Here’s an idea, when these type of candidates start following the GOP National Platform A-Z, I’ll start following the establishment playbook of supporting whoever wins, as long as they have an (R) next to their name.
February 15th, 2009 at 9:57 amIn response to post 7 by Michael… That makes a ton of sense. “Conservative Republicans” should not come out to support and work hard for the Republican candidate if it’s Chris Christie. I must be missing what a great job Corzine is doing for you NJ to take a powder on showing support. THIS is the exact problem I have with Lonegan and his base. For too long we Republicans have not made a collective effort in winning statewide battles. As a Christie supporter you can bet your ass that I’ll be 1000% behind Steve Lonegan if he wins the primary and is our nominee. Don’t lose sight of the ultimate goal this November: TO DUMP CORZINE!
February 16th, 2009 at 8:29 amChristie did do a fine job as US Attorney. He is just not suited to be Governor of NJ, not this year anyway.
As he was quoted in the Star-Ledger on 1/18/09 (http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-12/123225638542620.xml&coll=1), “”I would have really loved to stay as U.S. attorney and, if John McCain had won, I would have liked to pursue that option.” After McCain lost, Christie said he spoke with prospective employers and headhunters about job prospects, but in the end he realized the run for governor was what he really wanted.”
Clearly, from this statement, his desire to be Governor is not motivated by a drive to solve NJ’s problems. This is why he has avoided providing specific answers to questions and why he needs so many “advisors” thereby opening himself up to manipulation by them. The Governorship is just another job to bide his time. His passion, and what he has proven to do well, is prosecute criminals. The best place for him would be as Attorney General of NJ. There, he could continue the fine job he had been performing as US Attorney. The position would have instant respect and support. That was not the case with some of our recent AGs.
I frequently hear the comparison to Rudy Guiliani. I lived in NYC during Rudy’s time as Mayor and for many administrations before that. When Rudy took over, the number one issue by far was crime and its impact on the quality of life during the lawless Dinkins years. The city needed someone who would enforce the law, and Rudy had the right background to address that problem. NJ may have corruption problems that may lead to increased government costs. However, this is not the main problem faced in this state. Today’s NJ is similar to NYC after the Lindsay administration in the early 1970s. After years of expanding government and novel social programs, the city was near bankruptcy. As a result, the voters turned to Comptroller Beame as Mayor. I guess this is the logic used by supporters of Brian Levine.
Mr. Christie has never run anything but the subset of a bureaucracy. I would hate him to be proof of the Peter Principle where every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence. He should announce that he would like to be the NJ AG under any Republican Administration in 2010. I am sure the other candidates would be happy to have him as part of their administration. This would also go a long way to achieve party unity for the fall campaign. As NJ AG, he would continue to do what he loves to do while keeping his name in the public eye. He would be an excellent choice to face off against Menedez for Senate in 2012 where his anti-corruption message would be an excellent foil. Also, with his kids more grown, it may not be as much a hardship to spend more time in DC.
February 16th, 2009 at 9:14 am“Don’t lose sight of the ultimate goal this November: TO DUMP CORZINE!”
No! Emphatically, No.
Replacing Corzine with another Dem or RINO-Dem-lite will do NOTHING to fix New Jersey. The GOP is just as guilty of building bigger government and increasing spending.
The NJGOP no longer supports Family values, private enterprise nor smaller government.
February 16th, 2009 at 10:56 amLike replacing Lautenberg and Menedez with Collins and Snowe. Wouldn’t that make a difference in the lives of New Jerseyans?
February 16th, 2009 at 11:12 amDumping Corzine is not the problem. Putting a person with principles in the governor’s house is! We need a cure for the RINO Virus, and that cure is LONEGAN!
February 16th, 2009 at 8:45 pm