ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS - After giving standing ovations to U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) and U.S. Rep Frank Pallone (D-6) at the Shore Casino on Saturday, Monmouth County Democrats greeted their young contender in the 4th congressional district with a polite pitter-patter of hands.
Of the 4th, "I don’t know if its going to be contested or not but we do have someone here," Party Chairman Victor Scudiery said in his introduction of Zeitz, a 34-year old American History professor at Rutgers University from Bordentown who has taken a leave of absence this year to challenge the formidable U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4).
In his remarks to the crowd, Zeitz said he intends to mount an aggressive campaign against Smith, a moderate Republican with significant labor support.
"He has an aura of invincibility about him but he’s a beatable incumbent," said the candidate, who will hammer Smith on his "yes" vote on the War in Iraq and attempt to deliver what he described Saturday as a message of "hope, change and possibility."
"I will work hard to confirm the support you place in my candidacy," Zeitz told the crowd.
After hearing the candidate speak, Scudiery was a little more upbeat in his assessment of his campaign. "He’s already raised over $100,000 and you’re looking at a lot of newly registered Democrats in the 4th district," said the chairman.
Campaign spokesman Steve D’Amico said his candidate had raised the same amount of money to this point that Assemblywoman Linda Stender raised in the same time period for her 2006 congressional run.
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Tell me
Please tell me this guy has a shot. Give me a good laugh today. I think the "polite pitter-patter" of applause from his own party organization says it all.
Pitter-schmitter
The pitter-patter has more to do with the fact that the Monmouth County Dems tend not to identify with Smith's district. Ask any of them who their congressman is, and they'll tell you Pallone. So it's a little unfair to both the poster and the reporter to read more than that into the pitter-patter.
Judging by the still-detiorating condition of the Congressional Republicans, up to and including the surprise defeat of a Republican in the special election for Speaker Hastert's formerly reliable district, this "young man" has picked an excellent year in which to run.
Who?
I think that is the resounding question people ask when the ask who this kid is. Doesn't matter really. He has zero shot to win. And the Hastert seat was due to a few issues - one Pascoe ran the campaign and two, the Hastert-backed candidate is a multi-time loser in elections. He has been rejected in the past and was again dismissed. Hastert did not like the other candidate and the blame ultimately lies at his feet. November is just a short time away and a new candidate will take back the seat.
When All Is Said and Done
All little Joshy will have to show is a sore heine from the spanking he will get.
Why would anyone want to vote for a total unqualified, no experienced hack regardles of how many bucks Norcross is putting out?
Josh is just the sacrifical lamb looking for a cozy job when he loses this election.
How come those pesky dems will never understand that unlike the sheep many of them are the vast majority ALWAYS vote for the person and NOT their party.
IMHO that is what makes those voters intelligent and educated, not like those who follow like sheeple,
More Cowbell Please !!
Carnage ahead
I'd hold off on prognosticating an electoral shift for the Dems this year until the Clinton/Obama/Clinton battle royale plays out. Hillary's not dropping out and Obama isn't going to be her Veep. If the top of the ticket remains in a state of chaos through the convention and a "winner" emerges with more scars than John Rambo, I wouldn't be so quick to conclude this will be a stellar year for Dems. It may well turn out to be just the opposite.
Yawn.....
.....well, maybe that nut-job MartinOne will post saying that Zeitz is more in touch with the district than Smith.....I love getting a good laugh!
Hold Him Accountable, Zeitz
I've been inspired by Dr. Zeitz's work in NJ-04 and his aggressive challenge to Smith. If Van Drew-LoBiondo doesn't materialize, it isn't out of the realm of possibility that DCCC would put some funds forward for Zeitz. And make no mistake: A University professor like Zeitz (he even taught at Cambridge, which would be a dream of mine), knows that he faces very tough odds.
Smith gets a free pass in many respects each election cycle, and he shouldn't. This is the same representative who sponsored the "Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act" as a way of trying to chip away Roe V. Wade and has repeatedly substituted fundamentalist ideology for sound science in his opposition to expanding embryonic stem cell research. Should we be surprised that this is someone who has received a 100% rating from Pat Robertson's fringe-right organization, The Christian Coalition? And don't even get me started on Smith and the N.J. Republicans blind support of the Bush administration for the unjust, resource-depleting Iraq War.
And speaking of "jokes," I found a thread from 2006 where SomersetRepublican is quoted as saying Kean Jr. had a "very good chance" of defeating Menendez.
You are the joke
The only joke here is Martian aka Alice. I, too, wish you would get a job at Cambridge. You would finally stop leeching off of the teat of the American taxpayer as an "educator." You want me to bring up former quotes? How about when you claimed that "Dennison has been called the best challenger to Allen in quite some time." By whom? You? That is the perfect example of a joke. You went spastic in your false allegations that Diane Allen had people stealing Dennison signs, then backtracked less than a week later when it was obvious you had stuck Dennison's foot in your mouth. I think I am going to believe the Prosecutor's office over you on this one. You also said Dennison had a "more than fair chance" of picking up the seat. Losing by 14 points is not even close. Also, you have been quoted as saying Fran Bodine was going to win. Gee, how did that go? I know you will retort that I claimed Ferguson was going to win by 9-15 points in May prior to the election. You won't be honest and say that a month before the election I said it was going to be much closer but he would win. Now did he? Chris in a landslide against Josh who?
Get Ready
Josh should get plenty of sleep and rest up because, once we get in the" red zone" we will start the Anaconda hold Baroni style. Josh has no experience at all in politics and he has no respect for Congressman Smith.Congressman Smith dedicated his life to public service and the needy in this great country.Josh should understand that his own party is throwing him to the wolfs.But in the end like other Democratic speed bumps he will get his job back at the tax payers expense at Rutgers.
Is Zeitz a MartinOne Dem??
Horror of horrors - Congressman Smith pushed legislation that would offer anathesia/pain relief for a baby being killed during a later-term abortion! He's so insenstive!
Folks like MartinOne who keep pushing their extreme pro-child killing agenda are so sad. It's one thing to say "abortion is a woman's choice." It's quite another to be for partial-birth abortions and against even providing anathesia for a human baby that is violently being sliced apart and dismembered by an abortionist while in its mother's womb!
And for the record, SCIENCE is now validating the need for expanding stem cell research involving placentas, umbilical cords, and other adult stem cell sources - which are proving to be medically valuable and very useful - and not those of embryos - which pose many problems and difficulties (with the science as well as the ethics) and have not led to one single human testing program or one single cure!
People should get their facts straight before they post the same old Christian vs. Science B.S. on things like abortion, stem cells and medical research.
I hope this Zeitz guy is a little more thoughtful and less knee-jerky liberal and pro-child killing than those rooting him on here. Even if, he'll probably lose to Chris Smith by double-digits. Most voters aren't single-issue and they have many reasons to vote for Chris Smith, from what I can tell.
Translation of Martin One aka Alice in Wonderland
You can be a highly educated person, but be as dense as they come when it pertains to common sense, Martin is that person.
Martin basically has said that Dems do NO wrong at NO time and they are always honest, ethical, smart, and have no ties to the same machines as the GOP do. And the scary thing is, he believes his own koolaide. His utter hatred for GOP only makes him a bigger fool.
My friend, the OC is correct when he states that Martin swore up and down that Dennison was going to win in a walk so was Bodine, Riley and Fifis. Zeitz is going down just like Dennison - he is just another punk who has nothing to offer and that is scary.
OH AND FOR THE RECORD MARTY:
What do yo think about your boy Spitzer?? Oh I FORGOT! SPITZER DID NOTHING WRONG RIGHT MARTY?? HE WAS FRAMED RIGHT MARTY??
More Cowbell Please !!