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| RINOs: Full of sound and fury signifying nothing... |
The New Jersey RINOcracy has a long history of telling conservatives to sit in the back of the bus and shut their traps. RINO after RINO has been paraded before us for statewide elections under the absurd premise that "conservatives" are unelectable and that only squishy rational moderate liberal GOP members of the permanent political class are electable in dark blue corruption-soaked New Jersey. There should be no surprise that this year the GOP permanent political class elites are attempting to do the same thing. They are pulling out all of the stops to demonize the character of a good man and political neophyte, Bader Qarmout, simply because he didn't get the memo that we are all supposed to fall down in adoration of the anointed RINO Kyrillos as he drives our US Senate hopes off the cliff of electoral failure once again.
This cycle is a maddening real life interpretation of the movie Groundhog Day where we go through the exact same motions cycle after cycle only to shockingly end up in the losers column every November.
Anyone believing in this deranged view of electoral success must also believe in unicorns given the history of New Jersey politics. Tom Kean and Christie Whitman were 2 exceptions to this rule but their electoral successes were hardly due to their statist tendencies. Kean had the good fortune of running during the Reagan years where people saw what embracing of the free market and reducing tax rates could really do for personal bottom lines. Whitman lost to Bill Bradley in her run for senate. She only managed a virtual tie victory over universally despised tax-raising liberal loon Jim Florio and barely won re-election over hapless rest-stop restroom enthusiast Jim McGreevey. (Her razor-thin re-election destroyed her national standing and pretty much ended her national ambitions unless you consider being a crazed left-wing green advocate/EPA Administrator for George W. Bush as a career high point.)
Even our current governor, the YouTube bully sensation Chris Christie, had the sense to run as a conservative in the gubernatorial election of 2009. Christie's bluster and lack of a political career with which to vet his rhetoric hoodwinked enough grassroots conservatives into believing that there wasn't much difference between the feisty U.S. Attorney and his only major conservative challenger Steve Lonegan. (If you are still under the delusion that Mr. Christie is a conservative, please take the time to read Andrew C. McCarthy's excellent piece on National Review Online or this previous blog entry.)
On the senate side, however, New Jersey hasn't elected a GOP senator since Clifford Case won re-election in 1972. Coincidentally, the NJ GOP hasn't run a conservative candidate since then. In recent years, Democrat superstars Frank Lautenberg, Bill Bradley, Jon Corzine and Robert Menendez have represented the state in the US Senate. Note that not a single one of them is to the right of Karl Marx.
During those 34 years of Democratic awesomeness, the Republicans have run:
1982: "Moderate" RINO Millicent Fenwick (lost to Frank Lautenberg in a blowout)
1984: "Moderate" establishment darling Mary V. Mochary (lost in blowout to Bill Bradley--FYI: Ronald Reagan won the state in the general election that year by a decisive margin.)
1988: "Moderate" Kean-endorsee Pete Dawkins (lost to Frank Lautenberg)
1990: RINOlicious Christie Whitman (lost to Bill Bradley)
1994: RINO establishment darling Chuck Haytaian (lost to Frank Lautenberg)
1996: RINO establishment darling Dick Zimmer (lost to Bob Torricelli)
2000: RINO darling Bob Franks (who famously trashed conservatives all throughout general election & lost to Jon Corzine)
2002: "Moderate" RINO Doug Forrester (lost to Frank Lautenberg returning from the old folks home at the last minute when it became clear that Mr. Torricelli, awash in scandals, was in danger of losing. NJ courts changed the law and allowed the last minute substitution to save Democratic one party rule. Even despite the public outcry at this spectacle the NJ voters still preferred a liberal dinosaur to a RINO squish.)
2006: RINOcracy darling Tom Kean Jr. (son of former governor) (lost to Robert Menendez)
2008: RINO repeat Dick Zimmer (lost to Frank Lautenberg)
Did you see a victory in there that I'm missing? How do the above results of 3 decades of electoral data prove that RINOs are electable?
Yet, in 2012, the GOP permanent political class is backing moderate Joe Kyrillos. Mr. Kyrillos is the definition of the establishment. He's been in the NJ State Senate since 1992. (During a time of fiscal calamity, monetary malfeasance and record-setting numbers of families fleeing the state's oppressive tax burden.)
If you peruse Mr. Kyrillos' website, you will see his "issues" section is a glaringly sparse and pithy page of 167 words highlighting 3 political issues. The "Kyrillos Plan" consists of "Balancing the Budget" "Repealing Obamacare" and "Meaningful Tax Reform." All sound just dreamy. The specifics are not quite worked out just yet, however. Which is odd given that Mr. Kyrillos has been in elected office since 1988. You would think that he's had time to formulate some kind of opinion about something in nearly a quarter century of residence among the permanent political class. None of Mr. Kyrillos' "positions" transcend beyond boilerplate conservative talking points. He promises to replace Obamacare with "common-sense solutions" without giving a single example. His meaningful tax reform is to"simplify, streamline, and lower" taxes without a specific detail of his plan.
What you won't see on Mr. Kyrillos' website is just as telling. There isn't a single mention of abortion. This is because Mr. Kyrillos once tried to portray himself as pro-life, but now proudly boasts of being pro-choice. He also has been weak on second amendment issues. Mr. Kyrillos won't offer specifics because he intends to run the same RINOlicious campaign that other candidates have tried and failed with. He will offer a timid defense of some conservative principles while demonizing other mainstream conservative positions in an attempt to assure people that he's not one of those Constitution-reading right-wing nut-jobs. Mr. Kyrillos also is attempting through surrogates to demonize his primary opponent Mr. Qarmout on the issue of immigration. And yet, YouTube videos of Mr. Kyrillos show him calling for a "responsible and sensitive" response to the immigration crisis that would include at least parts of the DREAM act. What parts? A true member of the RINOcracy, Mr. Kyrillos declines to say.
Profiles in political courage he is not.
He also astonishingly says NOTHING on his campaign site about foreign policy. We live in a dangerous world with potential threats from radical nations like Iran, unchecked terrorist organizations around the globe, and the near-total financial collapse of Europe and Mr. Kyrillos says nothing on the matter.
Nothing.
In fact, despite the fact that Mr. Kyrillos has been in office since the end of the Reagan administration, it's very hard to pin down any specific policy positions.
A campaign of bold colors and real common sense Constitutional solutions is what is needed to win this election. Mr. Kyrillos has given every indication that he intends to ride the permanent political class of the left-wing GOP machine to the nomination and certain defeat in November. NJ conservatives should back candidates that intend to fight and win rather than the surrender monkeys of the GOP elite.
The GOP elite abandoned conservatives in 2001 when conservative darling Bret Schundler defeated the establishment to win the GOP nomination for governor. The establishment offered tepid lip service support to Schundler in the fall, refusing to use the machine to voter turnout and advertising.
Mr. Qarmout, by contrast, may be a political neophyte, but he has a much more specific 1,954 word policy-based agenda of common sense Constitutional reform across the board. His website boasts a much more comprehensive issues section covering every major issue along with specific policy prescriptions for each. Mr. Qarmout has shown a willingness to debate the issues in a candid way and does not appear to be seeking office to curry favor with party bosses or special interests. He has challenged Mr. Kyrillos to public debates, but true to the RINO way, Mr. Kyrillos opts to hide among the elites on the cocktail circuit.
One has to ask: What is Mr. Kyrillos so afraid of? Why is he afraid to take positions on top political issues on his website? Why does he refuse to give the voters of NJ a fair chance to see their two choices in action? Why does he have a seemingly frightening lack of opinion about any number of political issues?
It's unclear as to whether Mr. Kyrillos will be unveiling his platform prior to the November election or hiding behind smoke and mirrors until the votes are cast. This is, however, a very troubling display of political cowardice and rank opportunism. Mr. Kyrillos may be a good man but he represents all that is wrong with the NJ Republican party. And while Mr. Kyrillos would be a vast improvement over left-wing loon Senator Robert Menendez, he is not a solid conservative choice. While NJ hasn't elected a Republican senator since 1972, we have many examples nationally of candidates just like Kyrillos who give faint lip service to some conservative ideas only to hop into the hot tub of the permanent political class and forget all their ideological worries once they arrive in Washington. Career politicians more concerned with lining their own pockets than respecting the will of the people have had their day. It's time for new ideas and new fighters in Washington. It's time to start electing folks who value principles and Constitutional government over personal finances and power.
The NJ conservative voters have a chance to nominate a real conservative in Mr. Qarmout on June 5. Mr. Qarmout has run a campaign based on bold conservative ideas and he deserves attention. Go to his website, check his Facebook page and watch some of the YouTube videos of his speeches. Help spread the word that there is a choice in this primary. Do your due diligence and find out just where the two candidates stand on issues that matter.
It's time to break the cycle of endless electoral RINO losses in November. NJ voters deserve better than the lesser of two evils. It's a time for choosing indeed.