Bill Spadea Should Stop Attacking Republicans (it only helps Murphy)
/By Joshua Sotomayor-Einstein
Whomever wins the GOP Gubernatorial nominations, the party, and most importantly the grassroots, will need to rally behind that person to defeat Phil Murphy. This candidate will have to both energize the base (including Trump lovers such as myself) and reach Independents and moderate Democrats (such as many of my family and friends) to take the governor’s mansion and start our state down the right path.
While a primary campaign is a great way to show the policy and stylistic differences between candidates for our party’s nomination, it need stop at personal attacks and the unloading of decades of vendetta’s if the GOP is going to grow after the primary and expand its voter base to win the general election. Failing to do so fundamentally hurts Republican odds of winning against Governor Feckless Phil Murphy.
Bill Spadea recently published an op-ed entitled “Why the NJ Republican Party Continues to Fail.” It begins as it pretends to be, as an unbiased analysis of the long-term problems of the NJ GOP (of which there is no shortage). However, any good the letter might have done quickly dissipates as it becomes a transparent hit piece on one gubernatorial primary candidate in particular - Jack Ciattarelli.
Of course, what Spadea fails to mention anytime he is attacking Ciattarelli is that his axe to grind began years ago in 2012 when Spadea failed to get GOP county committee support in New Jersey Legislative District 16 for a special appointment which would have made him future running mates with then Assemblyman Ciattarelli.
Spadea also fails to define his terms. He claims to be “very critical of the GOP establishment” but by virtue of the fact that he was once National Chairman of the College Republicans, worked in the re-election campaign for President Bush (Sr), a candidate for Congress, a candidate for Assembly, and a long-time media commentator on all things GOP, is he not part of the very GOP establishment he now bemoans? Spadea may try to paint himself as such, but he is anything other than an outsider.
As a consistent critic of complacency with the GOP and of those who hold party positions and titles just to have them (as if they were the Grand Poobah of a social club), I understand the frustration my fellow grassroots Republicans have with GOP party institutions. I did not run for New Jersey Republican State Committeeman from Hudson County off the county line roughly 4 years ago because I was satisfied with the status quo. I did it to amplify the voices of grassroots Republicans of all types who want to expand the big tent by preaching our values in areas where they have not heard from Republicans in years, take on the insane policies of the left that have for too long hurt our state, and defend our constitutional rights.
Regardless of which ever candidate one supports, calling a candidate “a shill” with no evidence does not help the GOP. Calling a successful record of leadership “useless” despite the fact that Ciattarelli’s history shows he earned support not only of Republicans, but Independents and moderate Democrats – exactly what whomever wins the nomination will need to do, is inane. Positing a primary candidate, as Spadea does regarding Ciattarelli, is the establishment and then pretending Ciattarelli was defeated in a past primary because of something other than the establishment lining up against him, is just plain dishonest.
All three of the gubernatorial primary candidates have positives and negatives, areas of improvement, and different strengths. All want to revive the economy and defend our freedoms for all, not just those connected to the Machine Democrats that run our state. All three would be leaps and bounds better than Governor Feckless Phil Murpy. Hopefully Spadea can see this. Regardless, after the primary, if we are to save our state we must rally behind the nominee and until then all of us, Spadea included, should keep the primary campaign about policy differences, not personal attacks."
Joshua Sotomayor-Einstein currently serves as a Member of the Republican State Committee representing Hudson County.
Note: Bill Spadea doesn’t hide his long-term plan to run for Governor of New Jersey. At minute 9 second 9 in the video above, he discusses this. At minute 19 second 44 (this video is set to open at this point) he tells people not to vote for a Republican gubernatorial candidate just because he is better than Phil Murphy, but to wait until the “right person” appears.
Presumably, that person is Bill Spadea.
NOTE: We invite Bill Spadea, as well as anyone else mentioned here, to write their own column (separately or in response to this column) and we will publish it.
“If you’re voting for a Republican just because he’s better than Murphy, don’t bother. Don’t bother. Vote for the right person.”
Bill Spadea
