April 7, 2008 - 7:10pm
Unanue in the race - and in New Jersey - says spokesman
By Max PizarroTRENTON - Hounded by questions over the weekend about whether their candidate would indeed materialize as a public figure running for the GOP nomination to the U.S. Senate, the fledgling campaign of Andy Unanue today said he’s definitely in the race.
"I just filed the petitions," Unanue spokesman Mark Duffy said this morning as he returned to State Republican Committee headquarters from the Division of Elections office.
While Unanue was unavailable to talk to the press or pose for pictures, Duffy said he had more good news.
"He’s in the state," Duffy announced.
Even as he remained a man publicly defined as a hard-partying nightclub owner without a New Jersey address, the millionaire businessman’s absence on a family trip to Vail did not prove a stumbling block to winning county support these last few weeks since Anne Evans Estabrook left the Republican primary race.
Surrogates spoke on Unanue’s behalf and he won the organizational line in seven counties, including Cape May, Atlantic, Monmouth and Ocean.
Looking to the days ahead, "He will keep an aggressive campaign schedule," Duffy said of his candidate.
Asked if any events have been scheduled, Duffy said, "none." Asked if Unanue has staked out a locale for a campaign headquarters, Duffy said to date he had not, but that in the coming days he would.
The fact that some Republican leaders asked Unanue to step aside to make way for businessman John Crowley proved a moot point when Crowley dropped his bid this weekend, citing business obligations.
Duffy doesn’t think his candidate his been damaged - even in the aftermath of news that a number of party chairs on Saturday were prepared to dump Unanue for Crowley.
"He’s in now," the campaign spokesman said in response to the Unanue story line.
But the question remains whether the candidate will be strong enough to shoulder a senate bid in the face of skepticism.
"The Republican leadership fell all over themselves getting behind this guy without knowing anything about him except that he’s got a ton of money," said Dr. Patrick Murray, director of polling at Monmouth University. "It was also a naive assumption that because he’s Hispanic he will get Hispanic votes. There’s no evidence to suggest that. The Republican Party looks very disheveled at this point."
The two other candidates in the Republican primary field digested news of the Unanue campaign’s petitions filing by cleaving to the respective messages they’ve been hammering out for weeks.
"I don’t know where Mr. Unanue stands on the issues," said Dr. Murray Sabrin, professor of economics at Ramapo College, who filed his petitions this afternoon.
"He doesn’t have a track record of speaking out on radio and TV as I have the past 20 years," said Sabrin.
The professor touted his own record of interpreting the U.S. Constitution and defending personal liberties and free market principles.
State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Morris) said the big money, self-funded candidates with no public statements about the issues America is confronting simply fuel an atmosphere of cynicism about politics.
"My candidacy is proof that the American dream is still alive," said the Monville dentist who filed his petitions this morning before heading to the Statehouse to participate in the session today.
"The party leadership have told me average Joe’s need not apply," Pennacchio said, "but I worked my butt off, took my case to rank and file Republicans and have won seven or eight county endorsements."
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Go Duffy!!
"He will keep an aggressive campaign schedule," Duffy said of his candidate.
Asked if any events have been scheduled, Duffy said, "none."
I see Duffy is on Top of his Game!!!
Lucky us!
Andy Unanue has arrived in NJ and filed his petition. What is next nobody knows, including Andy Unanue.
Hopefully, he know how to get back to NYC. In case he does not, I would advise him to drive towards the NJ Turnpike (that's I-95 for out of state residents) and then take North (that's N I-95). Follow the signs to NYC.
Duffy
so Duffy worked for Ann "my page is missing" Estabrook, and now Andy Unanue.
Nice track record. Who's next?
Pathetic
Hey Andy,
How about calling a press conferance to tell the voters why you are running?
Even people running for Class President know how to do that.
More Good News??
While Unanue was unavailable to talk to the press or pose for pictures, Duffy said he had more good news.
"He’s in the state," Duffy announced.
WOW!!.....now I can sleep tonight........I guess just being in the state qualifies him in some peoples eyes.....too bad.
One has to ponder how often are they going to be wondering....... Where ..Oh Where is Andy Unanue????
Manana
Asked if any events have been scheduled, Duffy said, "none." Asked if Unanue has staked out a locale for a campaign headquarters, Duffy said to date he had not, but that in the coming days he would.
With the sense of urgency this guy is showing, I can't imagine why his company dumped him!!
Andy, go back to Vail or NYC. This is not the game for you.
To Mr. Wilson -- in the future, how about holding a mirror up to the prospective candidate's nose to see if they are breathing (and watch out for the snorting).
STATE PARTY STANDARDS
It seems that our state party "leaders" look only for two qualities in a statewide candidate: 1) He must be rich, and 2) He must favor abortion rights.
GOP County Chairmen endorsed
GOP County Chairmen endorsed this guy and we still don't know what he stands for.
No thanks to Unanue.
George Ajjan Picture
Glad someone's having fun...
Duffy/Unanue...
Look I understand that people will criticize the candidate, Andy Unanue, but is it really necessary we criticize the campaign manager?
It seems pretty unnecessary and petty to be bashing someone's campaign manager, the guy's just doing his job.
I've worked with Mark Duffy in the past and he is a good campaign manager who knows what he is doing and he has a lot of experience in campaigns. It seems pretty low to me that people are resorting to attacking him when no other campaign managers have to face the same kind of heat.
I think some people can't get past silly little grudges and are just targeting him instead of worrying about the candidates in the race. You don't see any candidates or their campaigns attacking the campaign manager of another campaign. (yet, Murray's still got plenty of time...)
The bottom line is that the
The bottom line is that the only ones following this nonsense are us political junkies. The average voter doesn't give a hoot in hell about any of it and damned if they've even read about any of it in the papers.
I think political analyst, pundits and us junkies alike get so full of ourselves sometimes that we think we have an audience outside of ourselves.
"Political correctness is tyranny with manners." - Charlton Heston
Duffy Top Shelf
We as Republicans have to stop the negative nonsense and stick together.Mark Duffy has worked hard for the GOP and is a stand up guy.Mark Duffy had to deal with a situation that was out of his control and we should be defending him.Mark Duffy has a tough job and is always fighting in the trenches for the GOP.He is a true professional and is one of the best in the business .
Kennedy, Dodd...Unanue?
I suppose that being an underachieving, drunken son of the rich only disqualifies Republicans from Senate seats?
KUDOS..
to the County Chairmen who withheld endorsing anyone until they knew more about the candidates. County Committee members in counties that rushed judgement to endorse the richest candidate should question their leadership.
I've also worked with Mark Duffy in the past. He is a professional hired to do a very tough job and he is doing his best.
The real criticism belongs to the state party leadership. We need some better candidate recruitment and development efforts in this state. Bob Franks used to run candidate schools... why can't Tom Wilson?
Actually ....
I'm kind of getting a kick out of the stealth candidacy.
Lautenberg and Roberts can beat the heck out of each other, Dem party factions can go to war...its all good for the GOP.
Unanue's negatives (and they're not all that negative in the grand scheme) came out quickly and have already dissipated into the background. Yes of course he will engage, but why do it now when the other 2 candidates aren’t impressing anyone yet and the Ds are just warming up to shred each other. Additionally, in the short term, Pennachio's campaign is already in debt (not an encouraging sign) and Sabrin is simply a non-starter. Unanue can therefore afford to slow play it as long as he ...eventually.... comes out with a positive and productive message.
I find it funny that there is such a vocal contingent here who have already condemned the man and written off the candidacy even though they admit that they don't know where he stands. Wouldn't the rational play then be to defer judgment until you know more rather than attack and criticize sight unseen?
It's also foolish to criticize the county chairs and county committees. It's apparent that there were numerous phone conferences between them and the candidate and that based on those conversations, the leadership learned enough about him to be comfortable in offering their endorsement. None of that has changed.
I suspect that much of the negative energy comes from the infatuation with the concept of Crowley (also unclear where he would have stood on issues) and then the speculation that Unanue may have been considering withdrawal. The withdrawal stories appear to have been nothing but rumors. if you've noticed, about 2/3 of the rumors posted here in recent weeks have not come to fruition (See, like, every Crowley rumor).
Am I frustrated that I haven't heard more? Of course. I don't know if I'm going to support the guy. I'm not asking anyone else to support him either. Maybe he stays in and maybe someone substitutes into a vacancy. The only thing I'm going to do is wait and see what happens and hear what everybody has to say before I make a decision.