The Official NJ Republican Primary Results page

Based on what I know (and I probably would have researched the candidates more throughly if I was a NJ voter), I would have supported Assemblyman Rick Merkt in the primary. He's was the only Republican running who was pretty solid on the issues, had an excellent resume, and would be a fresh start for the NJGOP. Christie is too cozy with the GOP establishment, and Lonegan is damaged goods.

I don't see the point in voting for a conservative in the primary if they're got a long-time losing streak and some major baggage in their background that makes it extremely unlikely they'll beat the Dem. How does that help advance the cause of conservatism? Are we conservatives better off now in Illinois because Alan Keyes was at the top of our ticket 5 years ago? Lonegan had already lost THREE major campaigns in a low for higher office. I think if he was the nominee it might actually hurt the cause of conservatism in NJ, because the RINO establishment would blame his conservative values on the "reason" he lost and use it as an excuse to purge future conservatives (just as the ILGOP did following Keyes' loss), rather than the fact the candidate himself is unlikeable and a poor campaigner.

Note that Lonegan only got 42% in the primary, so Merkt can't be accused of being the spoiler in this race. Assuming Merkt had stayed out and ALL of his votes had gone to Lonegan (an unlikely scenario), Lonegan would have STILL lost to Christie by a comfortable margin. On the other hand, IF Lonegan had stayed out of the 2005 governor's race and not sucked away 8% of the vote from Bret Schundler, we would have had an good conservative as our nominee that year instead of RINO hack Doug Forrester. No matter how you slice it, Lonegan was just a poor candidate, period.

It's now gotten to the point where Lonegan has matched Jim Oberweis' track record in Illinois (Oberweis track record: U.S. Senator 2002 primary - LOST, U.S. Senator 2004 primary - LOST, Illinois Governor 2006 primary - LOST, U.S. Congress April 2008 Special Election - LOST, U.S. Congress Nov. 2008 General Election - LOST) compared to Longean track record: NJ State Senate 1997 General Election - LOST, U.S. Congress 1998 General Election - LOST, NJ Governor 2005 primary - LOST, NJ Governor 2009 primary - LOST) I hope and pray Lonegan reflects on this and decides not to run for any statewide office in the future. But like the Obie crowd, I fully expect that if Lonegan were to announce plans for a 2010 bid down the road, his supporters would immediately be out in force to demand every other conservative "get out of the way" and support Lonegan.

Just like the Oberweis supporters, the Lonegan supporters admittedly don't care how many times he's lost. Both have a cult-like following that will happily beat down the doors to campaign for their candidate, even if he loses the next 20 races.

As for Christie, based on what I know I'd probably hold my nose for him in November if he has a chance to take out Corzine. Aside from immigration, what issue is he really bad on? I'm not a single issue voter, and it's not like Corzine is any better on that issue. Mel Martinez sucks on immigration, but I still would vote for him over a communist RAT if those were the only options in a general election. The fact Christie is campaigning as pro-life (even if it's a Romney style flip-flop) is still infinitely better than anything we got of Christie Todd Whitman. It's unfortunate they share the name "Christie", but the only person with the same name who seems to be a clone of her on the issues is the "Whitman" they're out running in California.

"There are two Delawares, much like NJ. North and South."

Actually, it is not that simple in New Jersey. The most Republican parts of the state are actually in the NORTHwest (Morris, Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon and northern Somerset, to say nothing of the northern portions of Bergen and Passaic counties). The suburban counties facing Philly in South Jersey have been solidly Dem since the 1980s (Camden, Gloucester, Burlington, and Cumberland, the latter being in the far south, have not gone GOP in a presidential election since 1988). The only county in south Jersey that is reliably GOP is Cape May County, unless you consider Ocean County to be south Jersey (it is either south or central Jersey depending on who you talk to).

South Jersey was once rural, but the mindless morons who have migrated from Philly have turned it into a suburban version of the city they left.

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