April 11, 2008 - 8:51am
Marks issues debate challenge in 7th District
By Max Pizarro
Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks
Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks today sent a letter to his opponents in the Republican 7th Congressional District Primary, challenging them to a series of four debates.
Marks said he wants four candidate debates, one each in Union, Hunterdon, Middlesex, and Somerset counties.
"With less than two months remaining until the primary, I believe it is imperative for the voters of the 7th District to see their Republican candidates for U.S. Congress together, discussing the important issues that working families face each day," Marks said.
Marks is running in the primary against state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon), businesswoman Kate Whitman, former Summit Councilwoman Kelly Hatfield, Iraq War veteran Thomas Roughneen of Watchung, finance professor A.D. Amar of Warren, and Darren Young of Summit.
Having won none of the organizational lines in the pre-primary contests, the socially conservative Marks said he has been in talks with pro-life groups and Jewish organizations as he tries to raise money for his campaign.
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July 4, 2008
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
-Declaration of Independence, 07/04/1776
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Bob Torricelli is Mad at the Big, 'Mean' Bergen Record― THE MEDIA MOB
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NJ Economic Growth chief leaves office― Gary Rose
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Ex-city official should give all of it back― Star-Ledger
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Can we say desperate?
Marks hasn't figured out that the pro-life and gay marriage issues aren't the defining concerns. The concern is having a Republican that can win in November.
Outside of those stubborn rightwing issues, his platform is rather solid for most conservative spectrums. And, we hold the important 1% in the middle ground.
I respect his personal "morality" but that isn't going to win us the election.
Marks a Conservative?
Marks may be a social conservative but while he has been in office as mayor of Scotch Plains, the town that I live in, taxes have reached a record high. He also has proposed an "improvement" of the downtown area which first of all should be done by the businesses themselves and secondly imposes a new tax on those businesses to finance the work. As a mayor you don't have the opportunities to flaunt your social conservative beliefs because you don't deal with issues that would allow you to do so but as far as fiscal conservatism I have my doubts about Mayor Marks.
Sean Colon,
Editor, NJ Libertarian News, www.njlibertariannews.com
Marks is Getting Desperate by the Day
Marty Marks is running a campaign that may fly in Kansas or Alabama but not in New Jersey. The average New Jerseyan is NOT sitting around worried about abortion and gay marriage everyday. Marks is running a campaign appealing to a very small segment of the population and hopes to use that to win. What he forgets is he will not be able to move to the center in a general election with Stender after taking this far right wing position in the primary. Stender will paint him as the flip flopper he would be and she'd be rightly so. And Marks will alienate the vast majority of 7th CD Republican voters with his out of touch message in this primary.
While Marks may think that he's in touch with the 7th CD Republicans with his campaign centering solely on anti abortion and anti gay marriage issues, he is not. Marks is living in an alternate universe if he thinks this will get him elected.
desperate?
A candidate is calling for debates and you are calling him desperate? If you have seen this guy in public you would understand why he is calling for debates. He puts the others (including Lance and Whitman) to shame when it comes to speaking ability. Write him off at your own potential embarrassment. You know that it is the the right wing conservatives that get motivated for these Republican primaries........See Ferguson 2000 and Pappas 1996. Oh, and by the way, both of these right wing social conservatives did just fine in their respective general elections.
Brilliant!
ChrissyJackman Yes, challenge Lance to a debate. Expose him for what he is. Let everyone know he doesn't know a thing about government, has no clue about New Jersey or the US government, can't put two sentences together and has never held a job. In fact, according to the Star Ledger article he just sits around the house, chases sticks and chews on bones. Oh wait, that article was about Lance's dog. On second though, I guess Leonard probably does know more about government than most people, including sitting Congressmen, is atriculate, honest, a quick study, and has a record of actually representing the people who elect him and isn't affraid to take on his own party when necessary. Hmmm. On second thought, I'm not sure anyone should want to debate Leonard Lance. But his dog might beat Kate in a debate.
summiteer
Yes desparate. After the 2006 election and the narrow spread, the district has changed.
I agree that Marks is excellent on the stump. I'm with him until the "searching my heart" stuff comes up. He'll cream the opponents on debates but hasn't chance for the General Election. If he wins the Primary, we're dead in the water with the growth of centerists and right of center in the district.
I'd rather win than be right. Good over perfection.