It Took A While But The First Hard Punch Has Been Thrown In CD2

The CD2 primary is heating up and the first hard punches have been thrown by a guy we at The Bob and Steve Show admittedly like to make fun of, congressional candidate Bob ‘Trojan Man’ Patterson. You may recall Patterson is the guy who once wrote about the remarkable chemicals found in semen and Bob and I, with our sometimes juvenile sense of humor, just can’t let it go.

Anyway, there was a shot launched at fellow Republican congressional candidate David Richter in Breitbart yesterday and it has Patterson’s sticky fingers all over it.

I have no issue with the Breitbart piece, there is no new information in it, at least nothing I didn’t already know. I don’t even have an issue with Patterson taking the shot, as messy as it was. Honestly, I’m a little proud of Patterson for taking a shot because I love to watch a good fight.

But here’s the deal, having someone write an article that complains Richter didn’t support candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 primary is stupid. There are many Republicans who didn’t support candidate Trump. That happens in primaries!

If not supporting candidate Trump in the 2016 primary is a disqualifier then I should get zero clients. I freely admit I was not a candidate Trump supporter. In fact, I didn’t settle on him until October 31, 2016 when I filled out my mail-in ballot. I even posted it on Facebook:

Since then I have been an ardent supporter of President Trump and I like him more the longer he’s in office.

I’m not the only political operative who didn’t back candidate Trump. Seth Grossman’s political consultant, Rick Shaftan, was a big supporter of then-candidate Ted Cruz. Shaftan headed a group that sent anti-Trump robocalls to 180,000 Republicans in South Carolina during the 2016 primary. Today, as best I can tell, Shaftan is a big supporter of President Trump.

My point is people take sides in a primary, sometimes the wrong side. After the primary we get together and support the winner. That’s what’s supposed to happen!

Another point in the attack on Richter is he donated to Democrats in the past. That’s what folks in big business do. If a business owner donating to Democrats is a disqualifier then I’m going to have to rethink my support of President Trump because he gave to Democrats, a lot.

Now, before anyone suggests I’m writing a defense of Richter, not all of the punches Patterson threw in the Breitbart piece were bad. The part about Richter having “strong business ties to James Biden, Joe Biden’s brother,” is fair game and, frankly, an attack I’ve been waiting to see. I’ve personally discussed the issue with Richter, he has a good answer, but that discussion was not for this blog so he’s going to have to answer any questions about Biden’s brother himself.

I am surprised to see the attack came from Patterson. If you doubt it was him consider that Patterson, before landing a job a the Trump administration, wrote for Breitbart. There’s also the fact that Brian Fitzherbert is not mentioned in the Breitbart article. The article says:

As New Jersey Republicans consider whom to vote for in the Republican primary for the state’s second congressional district, Republicans can choose between the more establishment-minded Richter and the more populist Bob Patterson.

I’m not going to argue who the “populist” is, nor is it my intent to defend any candidate, I’m just pointing out the that the attack came from Patterson and that Fitzherbert was left out of the first real fight in CD2.

The only other thing I see from this attack is Patterson just kicked the door wide open for Seth Grossman to get into the race.

If Grossman, who has been making noises on social media, does get in the race then Patterson will have succeeded in leaving his stain on this race.

Winegar Leaving State Party To Manage Kean’s Campaign

Theresa Winegar (stolen from Twitter)

Last night, at 8:03PM a press release landed in the inbox. The subject line was “NJGOP Chairman Announces New State Party Executive Director.” I flipped open my laptop with the intention of posting the release, but I got sidetracked and rather than post the release I sent a text to current Executive Director Theresa Winegar congratulating her on the new gig as the campaign manager of Tom Kean’s congressional campaign. Naturally, I threw in a little bit of the “colorful language” that my mother hates and many folks know me for:

It’s no secret we play favorites at The Bob & Steve Show and the Executive Director of the NJGOP is a favorite of mine. Theresa Winegar is one of the very few 2009 Chris Christie alums I’ve managed to stay in touch with since working that campaign as his South Jersey Regional Political Director. I have nothing but respect for her – she doesn’t talk trash behind anyone’s back, has the courage to say what she means, does her job extremely well and has bigger cojones than many of the men I’ve come across over the years in this business – Chairman Doug Steinhardt is losing a valuable asset who will be extremely difficult to replace. Tom Kean picked well!

Even better, my mayor likes her, and anybody good enough for Greenwich Township (the Gloucester County Greenwich) Mayor George W. Shivery, Jr. is good enough for me.

If not for Winegar I would probably still be railing against the party establishment. Only Theresa Winegar could have put my county chair, Gloucester County Chairwoman Jacci Vigilante and I into the same room and help us develop the working relationship we now have. Trust me, I was ready for a fight at that first meeting, Mayor Shivery was my second, today Vigilante and I laugh about it.

Winegar is the one who sold me on Chairman Doug Steinhardt. I’m glad she did because as I’ve said on the radio show he is the best state chairman our party has had since the days of Tom Wilson.

Bottom line: Winegar is a pro. I’m sure she’ll do well.

Tom Kean couldn’t have picked a better campaign manager. Congratulations on a great pick Senator. And, congratulations Theresa, now go kick some ass, I know you will!

REPORT: Turkavage Leaving GOP

Bob Turkavage

InsiderNJ is out with a report this morning that former congressional candidate in CD2 Bob Turkavage is leaving the Republican party. According to the report:

Robert “Turk” Turkavage, the retired special agent with the FBI who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in the 2nd District in 2018 as an anti-Trump Republican, this morning said he’s done with the GOP, driven from the party by the President.

Good! Get out! Leave! Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out.

Turkavage is a chronic whiner who blames his problems on others. Remember when he tried to blame Cumberland County Chairman (and now state Senator too) Michael Testa for his own failure to file paperwork on time? I defended Testa and a radio show host on another station had to apologize to Testa for believing Turkavage’s story.

When defending Testa I wrote about Turkavage having a history of not filing paperwork on time:

It is and always has been the candidate’s responsibility to make certain all necessary forms are filed appropriately and on time. It was the Turkavage campaign’s responsibility to file and his campaign should have been in constant communication with Testa to be certain things were moving along as they should. On top of that, this wasn’t the first time Turkavege didn’t file paperwork on time. He was going to run for U.S. Senate in 2014 but didn’t file his paperwork because of traffic problems. My point? Turkavage already had a history of screwing up when it came to filing paperwork on time, and like the first time, he refused to accept responsibility. Testa did things properly.

Bob Turkavage whined as a congressional candidate and has cried since dropping out of that race. He refused to follow the lead of former Assemblyman Sam Fiocchi and Brian Fitzherbert and do the right thing last year and back the primary election winner in CD2, Seth Grossman, over Jeff Van Drew. Instead, Turkavage called on Grossman to drop out.

I’m happy to see you leave Turk, you’ll fit in well with all the other snowflakes on the left side of the aisle.