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Lonegan Should Challenge Pallone

Lonegan PC presserSteve Lonegan is not going to win the GOP nomination to replace the retiring Congressman Jon Runyan in New Jersey’s third congressional district.

The party bosses in Ocean and Burlington Counties that comprise the district have settled on endorsing former Randolph Mayor Tom MacArthur.  Ocean County Republicans with the stones to defy Chairman George Gilmore are lining up behind Toms  River Councilman Maurice Hill, a retired Navy rear admiral.  If Lonegan continues to compete for the nomination in the party conventions, he’s likely to come in third in Ocean and second in Burlington.  Lonegan does not have an organization to compete with the Ocean and Burlington Republican organization should he run a primary race against MacArthur.

Lonegan should stop fighting fellow Republicans in Ocean and Burlington and come north to Monmouth and Middlesex where we need his considerable talent.  If Monmouth GOP Chairman John Bennett and Middlesex GOP Chairman Sam Thompson have not been on the phone pleading with Lonegan to take on ObamaCare author Frank Pallone in the 6th Congressional district, they are missing an opportunity.

It is understandable that the lure of winning an open seat in a Republican leaning district prompted Lonegan to pull a Brett Farve and end his short retirement after making a race of the Special U.S. Senate Election against Cory Booker last October.   But competing for an open seat is a waste of the scrappy underdog’s political talent. Lonegan is a Don Quixote who takes on impossible tasks and makes a dent.  His relative success against Booker last year, an 11 point loss when most expected a Booker blowout, is one of the things that has kept well know Republicans from challenging Booker this year.  Those with far less courage than Lonegan are affraid of that a loss of greater than 11 points against Booker would do to their future careers, as if there is a future for Republicans in the post-Christie era in New Jersey.

Lonegan is at his best with an opponent.  In Pallone, Lonegan would have an opponent who couldn’t hide from him the way Booker did last year.  In Pallone, Lonegan would have issues with which to attack Pallone that will resonate with the 6th district voters.  ObamaCare is a better issue for Lonegan this year than it was last year. From Fort Monmouth to Fort Hancock to RREM and FEMA, Pallone has a miserable record of representing the interests of 6th District voters in Washington.

It would be a heavy lift for sure.  Not a slam dunk like the 3rd district race would be had he won the nomination. But Lonegan is a fighter and a patriot.  Defeating or bloodying Frank Pallone would be a great service to America.

Pallone, while formidable, is wounded.  He spent 75% of his campaign war chest in his own race against Booker last year.  Even Nancy Pelosi has lost confidence in Pallone.

Lonegan has at least one more general election in him.  It won’t be in the 3rd congressional district of New Jersey.  Come to where your needed, Steve.  Give Pallone a fight he can’t imagine.

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Posted: March 4th, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: 2014 Congressional Races, Frank Pallone, Opinion, Steve Lonegan | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments »

11 Comments on “Lonegan Should Challenge Pallone”

  1. Bob English said at 9:15 am on March 4th, 2014:

    Did Lonegan close on the house in Lavallette yet?

  2. Jim Granelli said at 10:19 am on March 4th, 2014:

    Considering the kind of race Lonegan ran against Booker, yeah; I would like to see him really challenge Pallone in the same manner.

    What say you Bayshore Bulldog, or is he too not good enough for you?

  3. Lonegan Should Challenge Pallone | The Save Jersey Blog said at 11:56 am on March 4th, 2014:

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  4. Optimistic_ Skeptic said at 12:52 pm on March 4th, 2014:

    Which would be tougher, to beat Pallone in the General? Or to beat the evil Republicans?

  5. @ optimistic: said at 1:45 pm on March 4th, 2014:

    you make a pretty valid point, hence the slogan: “God save us from fellow Republicans!”..trial by that fire, can at least prepare one for a rough general election!..would love to see Steve take on Frank, and expose him for his lib-weenie ways and votes, that have cost us so much in time, treasure, and liberties for far too long!.. and, who cares where he lives?.. if he wins, he moves there into the district..we need a name, and a person with courage and some fundraising ability..and, if the stars were aligned properly, he would sure be a breath of fresh air, in that bloody building!

  6. @Optimistic said at 1:52 pm on March 4th, 2014:

    Why such a scornful comment?

    You should be gleeful at anyone stepping up against Pallone. No one has, nor will anyone likely at this point. Instead, you lay out a divisive firebomb.

    Again, Bayshore Bulldog, are you ready?

  7. The Bayshore Bulldog said at 5:44 pm on March 4th, 2014:

    Lonegan is fine with me. But he has to pass Tea Party muster first. He needs to get the approval of the Bayshore Tea Party Group. Without their active support, the same political shock troops who put Anna Little over the top in 2010 and 2012, and helped Leigh Ann Bellew with her Tea Party ticket put a real scare into the RINO bosses last year, Lonegan doesn’t have a chance. He’ll simply embarrass himself and his cause.

  8. @ Bulldog said at 6:38 pm on March 4th, 2014:

    ROFLMAO You are an idiot.

    You stupid morons at the BSTPG will look even more foolish if they endorse Lonegan for Congress because what few of you there are didn’t lift a hand last year when it Lonegan needed you.

    And if you think Missy Bellew put a scare into the County last year, you are certainly delusional and devoid of any intellectual capacity. That’s why your blog is a failure.

  9. The Bayshore Bulldog said at 7:05 pm on March 4th, 2014:

    @@Bulldog: Leigh Ann Bellew and the BSTPG ticket had RINO bosses sweating bullets right up until election night. That is why they ran an unprecedented campaign of smear and innuendo. Disgraceful.

    You know the saying, first they ignore you (well the RINOs tried that at first), then they laugh at you (that didn’t work either), then they try to destroy you (we certainly know that) and then you win. OK, the BSTPG ticket did not win, but they came close enough. The next time around, who knows?

  10. @ the Bayshore Bulldog said at 9:52 pm on March 4th, 2014:

    I know Leigh Ann Bellew and I knew she was not capable of having anyone sweat bullets. Leigh Ann Bellew was her own worst enemy and she destroyed herself.

    I assure you it was NOT smear and innuendo. I experienced it.

    And I knew that no one in the county was shaking in their boots.

    As to what you perceive as coming close, you really need to get a new gauge. Anna Little did a good job the first time she ran for Congress, but that wasn’t coming close.

    As for the next time? You’ve all got a long way to go as far as campaign school.

    Jim Granelli.

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