CD3 GOP Primary Has Turned Into A Steel Cage Match

I’ve not written much, if anything, about the Republican primary in CD3 because I have friends on both sides of this battle. Seriously, why risk getting one of my limited number of friends mad at me? But the Republican primary between Kate Gibbs and David Richter has become a brawl and I do enjoy watching a good fight.

Truth be told, back in the days we were allowed out of the house to gather with other people, I figured Kate Gibbs winning the backing of the Ocean County screening committee was the end for Richter.

Thanks to an opposition research dump that led to Richter’s now infamous, or famous depending on your point of view, Snooki ad Richter was able to overcome the screening committee’s recommendation and win the Ocean County line. Richter landed some solid punches.

Suddenly, I was thinking maybe it was the end for Gibbs.

Not so fast, it turns out Gibbs is a ferocious counter puncher.

She whacked Richter on his ties to Joe Biden’s brother. Gibbs hit Richter on cost increases related to school construction and her campaign manager has said, “Richter got pushed out of his own company” and that, “David paid himself a fortune and lavished himself with perks, while the business lost millions and shareholders watched the stock price tank.” Gibbs punched her way out of the corner like a champ.

Gibbs’ counter punching even led to a Facebook fight between Richter and Gibbs.

More recently Richter has countered with a positive TV ad. A pro-Gibbs super PAC hit Richter hard with a mail piece accusing him “of taking  “blood money” in a business partnership with the Muammar Gaddafi.” To counter Richter’s money advantage the Gibbs campaign has launched a negative website, Richie Richter.

It looks like there is no end to the punch-counter-punch. This fight is going to be won on points because both candidates have solid jaws. No way this doesn’t go the full 15 rounds!

And, these two have agreed to debates. Get the popcorn, it’s going to be fun to watch.

I respect the fact that the combatants in this primary stand behind their attacks. They don’t hide behind social media trolls like some of the candidates in other races.

If there is a moral to this story it is: don’t pick a fight with a girl or you might come out as bloody as Sgt. Slaughter after a steel cage match with Bob Backlund.

Stay tuned! I think this one is going to get uglier before it is over.

CD2 Action: Patterson Reminded Us There Is A Primary And He Isn’t Going Down Without A Fight

Bob Patterson (source: Facebook)

I forgot there is an actual primary election on the Republican side in CD2. A Bob Patterson Facebook post quickly reminded me that he is still waging an uphill battle against incumbent Congressman Jeff Van Drew. Patterson has launched a hard-hitting TV ad.

I suppose I forgot there is a primary in CD2 because the Bob & Steve Show isn’t on the Patterson campaign’s press list. No doubt. the reason we aren’t on his press list is that Patterson doesn’t like me very much. That’s fine, he’s part of a long list and it’s not like I’m going to lose any sleep over it.

To be fair, I’ve been pretty hard on Patterson. I just can’t help it, I do have a sometimes, well most-of-the-time, juvenile sense of humor and when a dude has written about semen in the past I have to mention it. For example, I can’t escape writing a blog post about him without mentioning the fact that Patterson once wrote that “semen-exposed women have better cognitive skills” and that “condom use deprives women of the remarkable chemicals in semen.”

Patterson, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “referenced a 2004 study that suggested birth-control pills weakened a woman's "natural sense of attraction to men who would be a good biological match and enable her to conceive easily and bear healthy children."

The jokes just write themselves! So, yeah maybe Patterson does have a good reason to leave us off his press list.

Juvenile sense of humor aside, I do always try my best to be fair and fairness dictates that I admit Patterson’s ad is a pretty good hard-hitting piece.

I think, given all the writing of semen, condoms and birth-control pills I’ll call the ad “Patterson’s Money Shot:”

PRESS RELEASE: U.S. Senate Frontrunner Rik Mehta Launches ‘Made in America’ Medicines Campaign

Republican US Senate candidate Rik Mehta announced, via press release, he’s launching his “‘Made in America’ medicines campaign.” The campaign’s press release follows:

Dr. Rik Mehta, the frontrunner to take on Cory Booker in 2020, lays out plan to bring drug manufacturing back to America; calls for drug labels to include their country of origin.

"Today, I am launching my 'Made in America' medicines campaign that will require companies to disclose the country of origin of their prescription drugs. Americans have a right to know where their medicine comes from especially when nearly all other products are labeled with the country it was made in," Mehta said. "I can look at products on my body, like my shirt and shoes and know exactly where it was made, but the same doesn't hold true for things that go in our body, like our prescription drugs. That makes no sense. "Americans have a right to know whether their medicine was 'Made in America' or 'Made in China' and should be labeled as such."

Contamination problems stemming from China continue to plague the American medical supply chain resulting in unnecessary deaths. In the midst of the pandemic, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is also struggling with multiple drug recalls due to their contamination with a cancer-causing chemical called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA); a single dose of less than one milligram could mutate cells and cause cancer. In previous years, the FDA has dealt with tainted infant formula poisoning American babies, contaminated blood-thinners causing multiple deaths and other counterfeit drug issues all linked to Chinese drug manufacturing. 

Currently, the FDA does not require a drug's label to include the country where the ingredients originated from to make the drug. "Take a look in your own medicine cabinet and you won't find a 'Made in' label on your bottle. I know because I'm a pharmacist and I can't find this information easily," said Mehta. "A bottle of ibuprofen might say 'Madison, NJ' on it, yet there is no manufacturing plant located there. So where was it made?"

Mehta pointed out that, currently, if the majority of the ingredients that go into making a drug come from China, but a secondary step was taken to mix or package the drug in another country, then the country where it was mixed or packaged (or in some cases the principal place of business), could be placed on the label even though China was the source of the ingredients. 

"These bizarre and conflicting laws and regulations that govern how to label products with their country of origin has allowed companies to profit from foreign drug manufacturing while hiding their supply chain from the American people for too long," said Mehta. 

"American doctors and pharmacists should be able to inform patients on not only what ingredients are in their drugs, but where those ingredients were made," said Mehta.

Mehta noted that Chinese manufacturing of American drugs have nearly doubled while many American-based manufacturing plants shuttered, moving the manufacturing of essential medicines, like antibiotics, to foreign countries. "It's offensive to me that politicians like Cory Booker continue to defend China and its Communist propaganda by placing the wants and needs of China above the safety and needs of the American people. Under my 'Made in America' medicines plan, we will bring thousands of manufacturing jobs back to America, provide transparency in the medical supply chain, reduce the price of our prescription drugs and more importantly save lives," concluded Mehta.