It takes a lot for anonymous PoliticsNJ editor Wally Edge to criticize campaign staffers. In fact, he's had a "long-standing...tradition of not bashing staffers". But this week he took the gloves off on Republican Mercer County Executive candidate Janice Mitchell Mintz's campaign manager Bob McHugh, calling him "abrasive, rude, politically incorrect, offensive, and often inappropriate."
One of the reasons? Sources say that last week, McHugh made an inappropriate and horrific comment about gays to Wally Edge.
Edge's conversations with operatives, insiders, and activists are famously off the record, notoriously juicy, and always 100% confidential, which is why the actual joke itself is not now a matter of public record. But perhaps this latest incident should make us all wonder why, next time he issues his power rankings, Edge himself is not right up top.
Today, PoliticsNJ released its much-anticipated list of New Jersey's top 100 political power-brokers, and none other than our very own Juan Melli was named the 17th most politically influential personality in the state.
The anti-machine liberal blogger has emerged as the Pied Piper of the progressive wing of the New Jersey Democratic Party, with no hesitation of criticizing fellow Democrats if he thinks they've wandered off his reservation.
Of course, Juan is numero uno in our book. But, hey - considering BlueJersey.com has not yet celebrated our 2nd Birthday - 17th is none-too-shabby.
Congratulations to our favorite Politician of the Year, and to our many friends and, er, acquaintances on the list.
I know what I'm about to say probably isn't a very popular sentiment, but I don't want that to be mistaken for justifying the unjustifiable.
I don't have a dog in the 31st district Senate race between Sandra Bolden Cunningham and Lou Manzo, but the so-called "sex offender scandal" has gotten way out of control. Sandra Cunningham has a convicted sex offender volunteering on her campaign and PoliticsNJ.com apparently finds this incredibly newsworthy.
PoliticsNJ first wrote about it on May 18, the same day as a Jersey Journal article. Three days later, a piece by Max Pizarro included a captioned photo of Cunningham with the campaign volunteer in an otherwise unrelated post. That same day, Pizarro wrote a short piece about someone having no comment on the situation. Today, their editorial cartoonist Rob Tornoe made this the topic of this week's cartoon.
It doesn't need to be said that these crimes are horrific, but our society has judged - rightly or wrongly - that this man has done his time and paid his due to society. He served four years in jail, is now on parole and "as required by the law, has reported to the office every year." The prosecutor's office found that he was not a "compulsive sexual offender" and he's also gone through Jersey City's "Second Chance Program."
Other than the one Jersey Journal article, which itself was not newsworthy, the dead tree media has been surprisingly quiet on this. The overreaction has come largely from PoliticsNJ, which is disappointing. They get deep in the weeds of politics, which is great, but I've never seen them be this gratuitous about what I think should be a non-issue. But it paid off - today they got their scalp. The volunteer quit.
I really am not justifying this man's crimes, but doesn't this set a bad standard about who can and can't participate in civics and politics? Do we expect everyone with a crime in their past to become hermits or do we accept them back into society once they have paid for their crimes? This is purely a hypothetical, but based on the blurry line that's been drawn to separate the acceptable from unacceptable, is it reasonable now to expect that someone will investigate Lou Manzo's campaign to see if any of his volunteers have ever been convicted of a DUI?
Over at PoliticsNJ, new blogger Christie Whitman has a doozy of a post attacking Speaker Pelosi for her trip to Syria. Her pointless, oddball sucking up to the Bush GOP is a few weeks late and about a thousand dollars short.
Despite her compromising rhetoric, Speaker Pelosi's visit to Syria and meeting with President Bashar al-Assad are a clear display of disunity in America¹s foreign policy. Her mistake-laden representation of Israel¹s position on negotiating with Lebanon did not help, either.
Sorry Madam Governor, but this is total partisan BS. What about Darrell Issa, David Hobson, Frank Wolf, Joe Pitts, and Robert Aderholt? These Republican Congressmen have all travelled recently to engage Syria exactly as Speaker Pelosi did, and yet Christie left them out of her smear piece. Does Christie even realize that Republicans have been visiting Damascus recently? It probably wasn't included in the Karl Rove talking points for anti-Pelosi op-eds, so I guess we can't really blame her for not knowing.
And as for Christie's claim that the Speaker misrepresented Israel's position on negotiating with Lebanon, that's another stupid wing-nut myth. Israel's position is that they'll talk to Syria when they stop supporting terror. Pelosi indicated that her mission "conveyed to [President Assad] Prime Minister's Olmert's overture for peace talks when Syria openly takes steps to stop supporting terrorism." The Speaker was the victim of bad journalism, not bad foreign policy judgement. Just because Matt Drudge and the rest of the Republican talking heads repeat something doesn't make it true, Christie.
You know, I love PoliticsNJ, but Wally really ought to dump the politician/bloggers Torricelli and Whitman. They're both really terrible, phoning in total crap and calling it "commentary", and it just keeps getting worse.
Joining Bob Toricelli and Christie Whitman, PoliticsNJ today announced Steve Lonegan as their newest blogger. While Lonegan himself is a vocal foe of anything that's not white and straight, PoliticsNJ sees value in embracing diversity, and for that they should be commended. Maybe Lonegan can learn by example.
There's some bugs being worked out, but I think the new site looks really nice.
PoliticsNJ.com was sold to the Observer Media Group, owners of the New York Observer. They're going to have two reporters, plus columns from Christie Whitman and Bob Toricelli. Wally Edge will continue to write the Inside Edge blog and will advise the PoliticsNJ.com team.
The following is posted intact and verbatim, redacted only to protect identities, where appropriate, such as in email headers. I do so because this was provided to me on background and I intend to honor that commitment.
The gentle reader is welcome to come to whatever conclusion, in this matter, that makes them comfortable.
Congrats to Blue Jersey founder Juan Melli on being named PoliticsNJ's Politician of the year. It is very much deserved. Check this line out...
It's not easy to balance an aggressive activist bent with the ability to work with the established politicos, but Melli and the folks at Blue Jersey, the progressive blog he started, have been able to do it. The online presence is often caustic and pointed, and willing to take on powerful Democrats like Sen. Bob Menendez after his fall vote to authorize wiretaps without warrants, or to ridicule Governor Jon Corzine for flip-flopping on property tax reform. But Melli is able to tap fellow Blue Jersey bloggers and his own real world network to get podcast interviews with these same politicos -- including Menendez -- and get them to give blunt assessments on the record. The reason is that Melli is always fair and unwilling to go after someone unless it is deserved, and politics watchers, from the most radical activist to the most entrenched politicos, know it.
Great job Juan and thanks for all your hard work! And for the Jill Hazelbaker's of the world who believe you can't believe whats on blogs, a blogger just won politician of the year. How bout dem apples?
The biggest news here is that Republicans confirm that their internal polls show the race tightening. From Wally Edge:
Democratic and Republican sources say that internal polling from both sides show the race for Congress in New Jersey's seventh congressional district to be tightening. That confirms a Majority Watch independent poll that has GOP Congressman Michael Ferguson leading Democratic Assemblywoman Linda Stender by a 46%-43% margin -- a statistical dead heat. Stender, who has raised $1.8 million and has won endorsements from the Star-Ledger, the New York Times, the Courier-News and the Hunterdon County Democrat, is also touting a new endorsement from actor Michael J. Fox. According, PoliticsNJ.com has moved this race -- for at least the next 48 hours -- into the Toss Up column, although the presence of Thomas H. Kean, Jr., who represents part of the district in the State Senate, could (ironically) be to Ferguson's benefit.
This could be decided by whoever has the best ground game. To volunteer for Linda Stender's campaign, call them at 908-322-1996.
I'm feeling inspired by both huntsu's call to action and a bit of confusion, as evidenced by my title.
When I first became increasingly in tune with state politics, PoliticsNJ.com was always the first site I turned to; for some time, it was the only site I referenced for insights, updates, etc. about the happenings of New Jersey politics. Suffice it to say that that I was upset when Steve Kornacki departed for greener pastures at Roll Call. I always felt like I was a step ahead of the masses after reading his columns, and that I had my metaphorical finger on the pulse of all things political occurring between Ramsey and Pennsville.
Despite my concerns, I continued my readership of PoliticsNJ.com unabated as Bill Albers took the helm. While I mixed in BlueJersey in equal measure, I never failed to return to what was tried and true for me. At first, there wasn't a significant difference between Albers and Kornacki, but at this point, readers are lucky to get one original column a week. Recently, the site has posted spinning press releases from both the Kean and Menendez campaigns right up on the front page where those columns used to be, and right now, you can find the text of some remarks Bob Menendez made at the 2000 convention in praise of Joe Lieberman. I almost wish to take over the job, even if it were pro bono - my interest and passion for state politics is that great.
I was hoping that perhaps someone could shed light on the recent inactivity of PoliticsNJ.com? While the weekly posts of David Rebovich and daily (but only occasionaly relevant) entries of Wally Edge are informative, they always leave me wanting for the glory days of the past. I welcome empathetic comments, as well as potential insights.
During his tenure as PoliticsNJ.com's primary beat reporter, I cannot remember Steve Kornacki ever taking a vacation. This doesn't mean that he never took one, but he probably timed them during slower periods in the political season.
Meanwhile, Bill Albers has been absent since June 30. I don't know how attractive the salary and benefits are over at PNJ, but considering the fact that Kornacki was able to parlay his tenure there into a gig over at Roll Call, one would think that even if it isn't a particularly lucrative gig, it is high profile enough for someone to take their job seriously.
So the reason you haven't had to read my ramblings of late is due to me and the lady signing up for the government subsidies handed out for people of the opposite sex promising to stay together until they die.
Now I didn't tell anyone at PoliticsNJ that I was getting married, but they gave me a gift anyway.
They used to have a link under "Reporter Blogs" to the oft-tosser Bob Ingle there. In honor of my wedding, they took it down! When I saw it, I thought one better would be to have Bob Ingle stop blogging. Alas t'was not to be. Anyway Kudos to PoliticsNJ. Ingle doesn't deserve to be put up there with real reporter bloggers like Snowflack and Jackson.
Speaking of Herb Jackson. Apparently, the DC media is so screwed up they can't even get the basics of reporting right. Go read how Herb Jackson edits George Will. Yes that George Will. The one that gets all that face time on TV. Pesky things those facts.
Anyway I will try not to let my newly acquired subsidies get in the way of my opinions on government.
Politics NJ’s count of how races are going to swing is up. Currently the U.S. Senate race is listed in the “Toss Up� category but with a chance of moving towards the “Leans Democratic� column.
After switching from Democratic to Republican parties candidate for East Hanover Town Council, Philip Maenza , is still not fully accepted as a true GOP member by sitting council members. They feel that Maenza is running on the Republican ticked, not because his values have changed, but because he has a better chance of winning as a Republican in Morris County.
Staunch environmentalist, Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ6), is calling for expedited cleaning of PCBs in the Raritan River that have been harming fish and have the potential to harm humans as well. PCBs were outlawed and are now classified as a possible carcinogen that can cause nervous system disorders.
The smoking ban went into effect at 12:01 this morning. No smoking in bars, racetracks, bowling alleys, clubs and concert halls are just some of the provisions of the ban. Sorry smokers, maybe now is a good time to quit, no?
Governor Corzine’s sales tax hike has hit a major speed bump. Legislators from both sides of the aisle are strongly opposing it, and now rumors have started that it may not have enough votes to pass through the State Senate.
(Update on Enlighten's further mendacity below. - promoted by huntsu)
Proving they don't have the intelligence to use a scroll bar, the right-wing site Enlighten NJ (enlightennj.blogspot.com/2006/03/linda-stender-retracts-politics-njcom.html) today accused PoliticsNJ.com of being in the pocket of Assemblywoman and Congressional candidate Linda Stender and the NJ Democrats.
You might remember the other day Politics NJ had an article by Bill Albers that began “Stender takes gloves off in race against Ferguson". What happened to the article?
...
The Albers piece quoting Stender has disappeared from the Politics NJ website and it’s obvious to us why this has happened. Politics NJ published the message Stender wanted to send to the Dump Mike and other extremist groups throughout New Jersey and the country. This “first thing I’ll do if elected message� is great for fund raising and whipping up support from those outside the congressional district. Two, now that the message has been received loud and clear by the target audience, Politics NJ has removed the article at Stender’s request. In other words, Politics NJ is helping Stender have it both ways.
...
Politics New Jersey.com is actively working to help Linda Stender and the Democrat Party in New Jersey.
In fact, the entire article is still there. Can you find it? Hint: It's located right in between the article published before it and the one published after it. I bet it was put in that order at the behest of the Stender campaign to throw everyone off.
We've known for a while that these smear-mongers have zero credibility and spread lies to suit their political purposes. Now we learn they're crazy conspiracy nuts who also make up their own lies to suit their political purposes. They also lack basic computer and fact-checking skills.
Either that, or they're desperate for a distraction.
UPDATE: The Enlighten folks have added an update to their story:
Update: The Politics NJ article by Bill Albers “Stender takes gloves off in race against Ferguson" is now on the website.
The Enlighten people are trying to hide the fact that they got the story wrong, and parsing language to get it done. The story is "now" on the website is true, but implies it was off at one point. The thing is, the story never left PoliticsNJ. It was always there.
Instead of just admitting they got it wrong and attacked for no reason other than their own inability to use a scroll-bar, they are pretending that their sluething forced Wally Edge to repost a story he was hiding.
Congrats to Blue Jersey founder Juan Melli on being named 
