Democrats insist that Garrett is vulnerable

Like the one Anne Sumers released in 2002 that claimed she was "within two points" of Garrett.

If you take into consideration that they are competing to be the Democrat nominee against Scott Garrett, then here is how a more realistic article would have been written:

Irrelevants Insist That Garrett Is Vulnerable by Matt Friedman

The question seems to come up every two years: "Is incumbent 5th District Rep. Scott Garrett vulnerable to an Irrelevant challenge?"

Both of the Irrelevants vying to take him on say yes and both have released Irrelevant polls that they say proves it.

Sources say that the Irrelevant Congressional Campaign Committee has publicly taken an interest in Irrelevant's campaign, even if they will not offer any monetary support.

Irrelevant, who faces Irrelevant in the primary, has garnered some support but is trailing in fundraising.  An Irrelevant campaign press release claimed that Irrelevant enjoys a significant advantage in the June 3 Irrelevant primary.

In the Irrelevant poll, the people were read bios of Irrelevant and Irrelevant - both positive - and then asked voters who they would prefer.  After hearing the bios, 39% of respondents chose Irrelevant and 27% picked Irrelevant.

Fairleigh Ridiculous University pollster and political science professor Peter Woolley said, "You've got to ask yourself at some point: if Garrett is so vulnerable, why aren't there bigger-name Irrelevants getting into race?"

I don't care if its hype or not.

New Jersey needs to get rid of this clown ASAP to send a clear message that we're sick of what fiscal and non-fiscal conservatives are doing to our country.  Before we get more of the same junk coming out of the White House under McBush and his cronies in 2008-2012, we need to dump Garrett.

Who votes for this clown anyway? 

Scott Garrett is excellent at giving lip service to his constituents, especially regarding taxation, but he does little to actually do any good. He continually introduces legislation to reduce taxes, which could not even be passed by a Republican controlled Congress, while simultaneously voting for increased spending in Iraq, which does nothing more than increase our budget deficit and international debt. Residents of the Fifth District oppose the war and support fiscal responsibility, and Scott Garrett is a pro-war wasteful spender.

More importantly, his views on social issues are completely out of step with his constituents. In one of the best-educated districts in the country, he supports teaching Creationism in school to pander to the higher-ups of the Republican party in Washington.

The Democratic Party as a whole is more excited and better supported in this election than they have been in a long time because of the Presidential race and I think that that is going to translate into higher Democratic turnout in November. This year's election is the best opportunity that Dems have had in decades to retake the Fifth District.

Don't you expect that another Congressman would be just as responsive, as well as represent your political views on the House floor?

I am also one of Garrett's constituents, and while I'm sure that he would go to bat for me if I called on him for a specific issue, as any public servant should, I see from his voting record that day-in and day-out, he fails to support my interests in Congress.

It is time for the Fifth District to be represented by a Congressman who will cut military spending, balance the budget, and work towards paying off our national debt, rather than one who will vote for wasteful spending and make empty promises of tax cuts he can't afford.

Garrett stood up to the Bush spending machine and the George Soros sell the Dollar short campaign. Mark and the Dems want to flood NJ with Illegals and tax the rest of us accross the Mason Dixon line

When you say "Stood up to the Bush spending machine," are you referring to his consistent record of voting FOR Bush-supported appropriations?

Whatever your personal matter was that Rep. Garrett helped you with, I will gladly concede that he was helpful to you, but I will not outwardly praise a man for doing what he was elected to: aid his constituents. I'm sure that not all elected officials are as responsive as Garrett, but I have yet to meet any of them.

As for quoting me, feel free to, but make sure that you do it properly. I expect that any Representative in Congress would, as they should, help their constituents when needed. I'm sure that some do not, but I'm also sure that Dennis Shulman or Camille Abate would.

I agree with your sentiment. I'd suspect that a much higher profile group of candidates would take on Garrett if the DCCC really thought they could take that seat.  I would also expect to see the kind of financial committment to the 5th District race that marquee Dem candidates are getting in the 3rd and 7th District races.  That obviously has not happend here.

Regardless, if Democrats couldn't take out Garrett in '04 with an incredibly-unpopular Bush at the top of the ticket and '06 when anti-Republican sentiment was running wild, why would Democrats think they'd have a chance now?

I'm not saying Garrett doesn't have his shortcomings - he does - but he's far from being the wounded animal they depict here.

As the campaign heats up, I believe it will ultimately work out in Garrett's favor:

-Bush is not running; McCain will be at the top of the ticket and he has proven to be popular enough in New Jersey.  And while he's probably NOT popular enough to win the entire state, he's certainly popular in suburban-heavy North Bergen (not to mention North Passaic and Sussex Counties).

-The Democratic lead Congress has an approval ratings in the 20s - it may not be as widely reported as Bush's low-30s approval rating, but still a fact that almost nothing has gotten accomplished by this Congress.

-Infighting among Democrats on a state and national level are creating a lot of bad sentiment in the Party.   We have to see if the bad sentiments in a Lautenberg/Andrews pimary (a real north v. south fight) will shake things up.  But more than that seeing as Norcross's reach has now extended into Ferriero's backyard in Bergen County to aid Loretta Weinberg, there may more angles for him to exploit as the race heats up.

-The War in Iraq is still an issue, but seems to no longer be front & center as it was in the past - we don't seem to hear as much negative news coming out of there as in '06 - and will proabably play a much lesser role in this election.

-The economy will arguably be more of an issue now that we seem to be heading into a "recession" - but the high property taxes, rising unemployment rate, and overall economic dis-satisfaction will probably not play well when mixed with Dem Presidential candidates continually talking of raising taxes and rolling back tax cuts.  North Bergen is a pretty affulent area - and even affluent moderates like to hold onto their money longer; not sure if that message will play depending on how Shulman or Abate play it.

It's obviously not a slam dunk case, but honestly, it seems to me that the case aganist Garrett was much stronger in the past.

Just my two cents for what it's worth...

Veritas vos Liberabit
"Collecting more taxes than absolutely necessary is legalized robbery." - Calvin Coolidge