Don’t Be A Sore Loser

Paul Dilks

Paul Dilks

I had a completely different post written for today, but then Paul Dilks took to social media.

Losing sucks! There’s no way other way to put it. So, I’ll say it again, losing sucks!

It’s what we do after losing that’s important.

For starters, do NOT be a sore loser. It helps no one.

After losing, GOP congressional Candidate Paul Dilks, took to social media to attack a county chairman today.

Dilks.JPG

Full disclosure: I consulted to the CCGOP this cycle, Dilks will likely talk trash about me, AGAIN, after reading this post. Honestly, I no longer care what he says because the election is over, therefore I no longer have to play nice in the sandbox with him.

Dilks is a nice guy, I voted for him, but he was very bad at taking advice from those who tried to help him. I’m not even talking about advice from me that he completely ignored. I know for a fact Dilks was given very sound advice from CCGOP Political Director Tom Crone that fell on deaf ears. I spoke with others who gave sound advice to Dilks, only to see him do the opposite.

Case in point, Dilks had this “foolproof plan” to win the election. His plan was to win the Catholic vote. He talked about it everywhere, “I’m the Catholic candidate,” he would say. It didn’t matter if he was in front of a group of Evangelical preachers or a group of Jewish voters, it was the same message for months. He was told, “know your audience” by many. He didn’t listen.

Dilks was advised by party officials to stay away from Vincent Squire. One of Squire’s former running mates advised Dilks to stay away. Some Pennsauken Republicans advised Dilks to stay away from Squire. Did he listen? No! Dilks did the opposite and went with Squire to try to stop the installation of a plaque honoring the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. To add insult to injury, the plaque had already been installed.

Now, after losing what was a tough election to try and win in the first place, Dilks is out attacking a party chairman. Even worse, his attacks are B.S.

CCGOP Chairman Rich Ambrosino searched high and low for an affordable headquarters, someone willing to give a short-term lease. Never mind the fact that getting a business owner to lease to Republicans in Camden County is difficult, anything affordable, was completely unacceptable. One building, upon inspection, was discovered to have a bathroom that was missing walls, a toilet and a sink and had a huge pile of trash in the middle of the main floor.

As for Dilks implying that Ambrosino didn’t offer assistance in Haddon Heights, the municipal chairman was offered help more than once and responded with, “I think we’re okay.”

It is ashamed Dilks lost. He worked hard, he put his heart and soul into his campaign. I genuinely felt sympathy for the guy, but that sympathy went out the window when I saw his unwarranted attacks on Ambrosino.

Here at The Bob & Steve Show we did what we could to support Dilks. We had him on the show twice. We ignored his missteps, unusual for us. Unfortunately, attacking a party chairman who did try to help him is unacceptable.

Trust me, with all the fights I’ve had with party leadership over the years, I would be the first guy to join Dilks if he was right. On this, he is wrong. Ambrosino tried to help him. Others tried to help Dilks.

And, at the end of the day, party chairs aren’t responsible for the congressional campaigns, they have their municipal candidates and county candidates to worry about. Ambrosino worked with those candidates. The municipal chair in Haddon Heights refused that help. Pennsauken, Clementon and Voorhees, to name a few accepted party assistance. In Audubon Park they held the Republican mayor and gained a Republican council seat.

Next time you attack a party chairman, get your facts straight and don’t be a sore loser.

Happy Election Eve, Thanks For Running For Office

Kush’s Dog Abby

Kush’s Dog Abby

Election Day is tomorrow and every candidate on the ballot deserves a thank you. Yes, even those candidates we would never cast a vote for.

Putting your name on the ballot isn’t always an easy thing. Long days. Late nights. Time away from family. Friends became enemies, simply because of the party you are in. You’ve made new friends along the way, too.

Ideas you thought were brilliant, people called stupid. The ideas of your opponent you thought were stupid, people called brilliant. The joke you shared on social media nearly 10 years ago became the subject of an attack mailer. Now your neighbor thinks you’re a jerk, even though he told you a similar joke a week before that mailer landed in mailboxes.

You opened yourself up to being attacked by political opponents with negative mailers, radio, TV and web ads. The old media and new media, including us, may have said or written unkind words about you. Now you’re afraid your dog might hate you too. Don’t worry, the dog still loves you, dogs love unconditionally.

Your character has been questioned, often times by people you’ve never met. Augh! The social media trolls.

First time candidates just spent an entire electoral campaign getting the best civics lesson money couldn’t buy.

If you’ve held office before, or a position of authority, then every single thing you’ve ever said or done has been scrutinized AGAIN, and it still sucks.

All this happened because no matter what office you chose to run for, or currently hold, you are asking people to trust you with millions of tax dollars. That alone means you are held to a higher standard, as should every person seeking or holding elected office, because should you win your election every decision you make affects many people, some of whom didn’t vote for you.

It’s hard to put your name out there. We know it, we’ve both held public positions and have both been attacked. Now we host a radio show and author a blog about politics, we still get attacked. Since July we’ve been called liars, racists and words we can’t say on radio. It’s part of the process. Politics requires a thick skin.

The one thing we ask is that if you lose, don’t take your ball and go home. Stay involved. You cared enough to get involved, some now consider you a leader in your community. If you lose, stay involved and become that leader, but understand there will still be people out there talking trash about you. It’s not easy, but ignore it, because for every person talking trash, there are many more cheering you on.

We know it wasn’t easy. So, to every candidate, even the ones we aren’t voting for, The Bob & Steve Show thanks you for putting yourself out there.

And, if our most sincere thank you isn’t enough, remember the words of Gordon Gekko, “If you need a friend, get a dog.”

BREAKING NEWS: Legal Document Confirms Robert Gant “Intended To Engage In An Altercation” And “Falsified Reports Concerning The Incident Which Constitutes Conduct Unbecoming A Public Official”

Bob Gant

Bob Gant

Thanks to an Open Public Records Act request submitted by Salem County resident Katie Coleman forwarded to The Bob & Steve Show we can now confirm Salem County Sheriff candidate Robert Gant was indeed terminated “as a Corrections Officer within the Salem County Jail.

The document provided, Docket No. CSV 5577-91, is clear, “Appellant, Robert Gant, was terminated from his position as a Corrections Officer at the Salem County Jail as a result of charges that he assaulted an inmate, filed a false report and engaged in conduct unbecoming an officer.” The document continues, “In sum, these charges consisted of assault and battery on an inmate, filing of a false report, conduct unbecoming a public official and official misconduct.”

After reading the provided document I’m certain Gant supporters, who have frequently attacked The Bob & Steve Show as providing “fake news” with regard to Gant, are going to latch on to the portion of the document that states, “Inmate B.M., together with the other inmates in the holding cell, had been especially abusive to the guards during the course of the day.” The fact is, Bunyan Mills admitted on our radio show last week that he acted like a “knucklehead.”

Mills’ account of the event does ring true as the document states, “Officer Bradford was asked by appellant to pull B.M. out of the holding cell to see if, ‘he had anything to back up his mouth’. Prior to giving Officer Bradford this order, appellant had removed his shirt.”

The report is clear that Gant asked an officer to falsify a report, “Officer Bradford then related that he had been asked to falsify a report and that an inmate, B.M., had been intentionally assaulted by appellant.”

No matter how one reads this document the facts are clear, Gant assaulted an inmate and worked with others to cover it up and even attempted to intimidate another officer into sticking with the story (page 6 of the document). One can argue over exactly how big a “knucklehead” a 19-year-old Mills was, but one cannot argue that he deserved to be beaten to the point of unconsciousness.

The facts are The Bob & Steve Show did not provide “fake news” and Gant was what one would consider a bad cop back in the day.

You can view the entire document below: