How the Democrats turnout their people to vote.

2013 should have been a blow-out for the Democrats.  Republican Governor Chris Christie romped to victory by an impressive twenty-point margin.  And yet, the Democrats were able to hold on to their legislative majorities and Republicans failed to pick up a single seat in either the Senate or Assembly. 

The following year -- this time in Pennsylvania -- Republicans pulled off a similar feat, capturing 12 legislative seats from the Democrats while the Democrat candidate for Governor was coasting to a ten-point win.  How did they do it?

For some insight into how the Democrats held the Legislature in 2013 and to what Republicans should be doing this year with the possibility of a 2013 in reverse, we need only look to Legislative District 38 and how the Democrats held this seat in the wake of the 2013 Christie landslide.  In a February 2014 article written for Campaigns & Elections magazine, an associate with the political consulting firm, The Campaign Group, explained how they prevented SRM and ARV from capitalizing on the Christie landslide.

The Campaign Group is a Philadelphia-based media firm that has run advertising campaigns for Commerce Bank of New Jersey, Cooper University Hospital, Comcast, Rob Andrews for Congress, and John Adler for Congress.  The article sets the scene:

"In 2011, incumbent state Sen. Bob Gordon eked out the narrowest victory of any state senator, and 2013 promised to be even more competitive, particularly after Christie singled out Gordon for criticism. Voters in each New Jersey legislative district elect one state senator and two assembly members district wide, and both Democrats running for state Assembly in this district were relatively untested: Paramus Borough Council President Joe Lagana and first-term incumbent Assemblyman Tim Eustace, the first openly-gay person elected to an open seat in New Jersey. So it was clear that all three races would be hotly-contested."

The article goes on to helpfully explain that the Democrats  "were rightly concerned the lackluster campaign of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Barbara Buono could lead to decreased Democratic turnout that would sink their candidates."  So they resolved to do something about it by going back to their base:

"They convened focus groups in LD38 of Democrats who were not certain to vote in November’s election. If we could find out what would motivate them to turn out, despite the lack of a competitive gubernatorial campaign, we’d have a real shot at altering the turnout dynamic."

They launched an effort "independent of what the candidates were doing."  The field campaign connected with more than 11,000 voters and generated 803 vote-by-mail applications.  The article continues:

"Field Strategies identified a list of 2,300 households with voters believed to contain only rock-ribbed Democrats. These voters didn’t need to see our ads criticizing the Republican candidates, because there was no way there would vote for a Republican. But many of these voters were not particularly likely to vote in the November elections, so we wanted to build on the existing GOTV messages and use our TV buy to motivate them to get off their behinds and vote."

The trend in New Jersey over the last two decades has been to target fewer and fewer "likely" voters.  You've all heard those references to 4 of 4 voters and 3 of 4, and so on.  What these  Democrats did was to reach out to their "unlikely" voters and persuade them to "change their habits" and come out to vote.  It is what the Republican legislative campaign did in 2014 to produce a pick-up of 12 seats that year in the face of a gubernatorial defeat.

All this happened in 2013 and 2014.  Pennsylvania Republicans used it again in 2016 to pad that "blue" state's Republican legislative majorities -- giving them a 34 to 16 Republican majority in the State Senate, and a 121 to 82 Republican majority in the State House of Representatives.  In contrast, New Jersey Republicans ignored their conservative base in 2015 -- and lost legislative seats.

This year marks yet another in which the lessons of 2013 have not been applied.  Movement conservatives were not called upon until very late in the campaign and at this point, with less than two weeks to election day, have still not been fully mobilized.  In contrast, in 2013 the Democrats had all their base's issues groups activated and with marching orders to begin their voter turnout operation nine weeks prior to election day. 

In Pennsylvania, conservative grassroots activists are part of the party's bloodstream and issues groups form a sharp-pointed "irregular" militia working in general concert with the GOP "regulars."  This has been resisted in New Jersey and, sadly, the prospects for 2017 appear headed for a repeat of 2013 and 2015 -- except with the added sadness that the gubernatorial campaign may be blamed and no lessons learned.

But fight on while the fight is still going.  There is time enough still.

42 child sex traffickers arrested in NJ and still no word from Senator Bob Gordon on S-2928

Yesterday, the FBI announced that it had uncovered and arrested 42 child sex traffickers in New Jersey -- the Star-Ledger reported that the 42 were arrested as part of an FBI-led investigation into human trafficking.  The charges against them included sex trafficking, child exploitation and prostitution.

The FBI declined to give a breakdown of the towns in which the arrests occurred, but said that six were made in North Jersey, three in Central Jersey and 33 in South Jersey.  Officials said they did not want to provide the towns to "avoid criminal activity moving to another town."  A total of 84 children were rescued during the operation.

Human Trafficking is modern day slavery.  It is happening TODAY -- in the HERE and NOW! 

But many Democrats don't want to admit that it is happening, because too many are in hock to contributions from special interests who benefit from the massive profits generated by everything from goods made with indentured labor to Internet porn.  Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, second to drug dealing and tied with arms dealing.

Some Democrats have chosen to ignore modern day slavery and -- in order to change the subject and appear virtuous while doing so -- they focus on the slavery of the middle 19th century and on monuments and other "symbols" of an institution that was happily eradicated long before radio, the telephone, or refrigeration were invented.  Meanwhile, modern technology is rapidly expanding the means by which human beings are ensnared and  trapped into modern slavery and then trafficked as though they were meat.  Some recent stories:

"A 3-month-old girl and her 5-year-old sister were rescued in Colorado last week from a child predator, who was offering to sell the children for sex, the FBI said Wednesday."

Read more...

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/18/sex-trafficking-ring-colorado-children-rescued/

"FBI and local authorities say they recovered 17 children in Colorado and Wyoming as part of a national operation that recovered 84 children and teenagers who were being sexually exploited across the country."

Read more...

http://kgab.com/trafficking-sting-recovers-17-kids-in-colorado-wyoming/

Child trafficking is a $32 billion-a-year industry and is on the rise in all 50 states, according to the U.S. government.  4.5 Million of trafficked persons have been sexually exploited and nearly 300,000 Americans under 18 have been lured into the commercial sex trade.  The National Human Trafficking Hotline reported that in 2016, human trafficking in the United States increased by 35.7% -- in one year!

So why isn't Senator Bob Gordon on board with the Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Prevention Act (S-2928)?  A number of his colleagues are -- including some prominent Democrats -- but not Senator Gordon.  Why hasn't Bob Gordon stepped up?

It is time to do more than just talk about pulling down statues or passing resolutions.  It is time to address the problem of modern slavery that we face TODAY. 

It is time to become aware of just who labors to produce the products we buy and the clothes we wear and the services we receive.  It is time to be sure by buying American, buying union-made products, insisting on border controls which stop human trafficking, insisting that state and local police work with ICE to ask questions of undocumented individuals who may be victims of modern slavery, and by saying NO to sanctuary cities and states that are the allies of human traffickers.

And it is time for wealthy one-percenters like rich guy Senator Bob Gordon to step up and squarely oppose the slavery that we face TODAY.  How about it?

Will you join your bi-partisan colleagues who care enough to sponsor the Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Prevention Act (S-2928)?  We're waiting for your answer.

Why won't Bob Gordon stand up for trafficked children?

Human Trafficking is modern day slavery.  It is happening TODAY -- in the HERE and NOW! 

But many Democrats don't want to admit that it is happening, because too many are in hock to contributions from special interests who benefit from the massive profits generated by everything from goods made with indentured labor to Internet porn.  Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, second to drug dealing and tied with arms dealing.

Some Democrats have chosen to ignore modern day slavery and -- in order to change the subject and appear virtuous while doing so -- they focus on the slavery of the middle 19th century and on monuments and other "symbols" of an institution that was happily eradicated long before radio, the telephone, or refrigeration were invented.  Meanwhile, modern technology is rapidly expanding the means by which human beings are ensnared and  trapped into modern slavery and then trafficked as though they were meat.  Some recent stories:

"A 3-month-old girl and her 5-year-old sister were rescued in Colorado last week from a child predator, who was offering to sell the children for sex, the FBI said Wednesday."

Read more...

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/18/sex-trafficking-ring-colorado-children-rescued/

"FBI and local authorities say they recovered 17 children in Colorado and Wyoming as part of a national operation that recovered 84 children and teenagers who were being sexually exploited across the country."

Read more...

http://kgab.com/trafficking-sting-recovers-17-kids-in-colorado-wyoming/

Child trafficking is a $32 billion-a-year industry and is on the rise in all 50 states, according to the U.S. government.  4.5 Million of trafficked persons have been sexually exploited and nearly 300,000 Americans under 18 have been lured into the commercial sex trade.  The National Human Trafficking Hotline reported that in 2016, human trafficking in the United States increased by 35.7% -- in one year!

So why isn't Senator Bob Gordon on board with the Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Prevention Act (S-2928)?  A number of his colleagues are -- including some prominent Democrats -- but not Senator Gordon.  Why hasn't Bob Gordon stepped up?

It is time to do more than just talk about pulling down statues or passing resolutions.  It is time to address the problem of modern slavery that we face TODAY. 

It is time to become aware of just who labors to produce the products we buy and the clothes we wear and the services we receive.  It is time to be sure by buying American, buying union-made products, insisting on border controls which stop human trafficking, insisting that state and local police work with ICE to ask questions of undocumented individuals who may be victims of modern slavery, and by saying NO to sanctuary cities and states that are the allies of human traffickers.

And it is time for wealthy one-percenters like rich guy Senator Bob Gordon to step up and squarely oppose the slavery that we face TODAY.  How about it?

Will you join your bi-partisan colleagues who care enough to sponsor the Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Prevention Act (S-2928)?  We're waiting for your answer.

Has Senator Gordon lost his mind? Or is it just fashion?

There was this silly headline run in the Star-Ledger (NJ.com) last week.  It read:  To N.J. congressmen: If you're not battling travel ban, you're backing bigotry. 

Accompanying the silly headline were the faces of two Republican Congressmen who, if the author had taken just 5 minutes to study them, would understand that they are as far removed from bigotry as human beings can be.  Congressman Chris Smith and Congressman Tom MacArthur... bigots???  Then you know not a thing about them, their families, or their good works.

The opinion column underneath that headline was written by a young "progressive" political consultant.  A nice enough young man, recently married, who is starting on his journey in life.  We don't know his character or if it will ever match that of the men he has so casually maligned.  

Of course, "progressive" these days is defined as establishmentarian, globalist, corporate, and politically somewhere between Hillary Clinton and Tony Blair.  This is what the Democratic Party's incumbent class is made of and to it must bend the knees of people like our young writer.

If this headline had been written by a member of the Tea Party -- about a couple of Democrats -- it would have read something like this:  To NJ congressmen:  If you're not backing travel ban, you're backing terrorism.

The hysteria of it.  Both headlines.  We can already see the campaigns that will be run -- the terrorists vs. the bigots!

And it will be all such bullshit and so unedifying.  But that is how we communicate to each other now -- via twitter or Facebook or even face-to-face.  Whether snarky or roaring, nowadays we speak "asshole" to each other. 

We speak "asshole" to each other because our knowledge is limited and our emotions unchecked.  We are scared shitless of something, so shitless and so lost for solutions that we act like so many cats stuffed into a sack, suffocating, clawing at each other in our darkness.  And so we get headlines like the ones above.

And talk about limited knowledge.  The nations engaged in the so-called War on Terror can't even agree on what a terrorist organization is.  The military wing of Hezbollah is a terrorist organization according to the European Union and the United Kingdom but not the United States.  The Muslim Brotherhood is recognized as an Islamic terrorist group in such Islamic countries as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates -- but not in the United States. 

Our Department of Homeland Security understands so little that they processed the visa of a woman using the name of a male jihadist, with a false address, and a plethora of red flags concerning her social media.  She ended up participating in the 2015 massacre of 14 people (22 others were seriously wounded) in San Bernardino, California.  And this happened a decade and a half after student visa-holder Hani Hasan Hanjour flew American Airlines flight 77 into the Pentagon, killing 184 people, including everyone on the flight.

Our knowledge is flawed, our process faulty, but the deaths and injuries are very real.  If we don't want more and possibly a lot worse, we need to accept that we don't know, place the emotion and name-calling to one side, stop speaking in "asshole" and start communicating to each other so that we can -- together -- work the problem.

Fritz Kuhn, that old Nazi who led the German American Bund back in the 1930's clothed his organization in the red, white, and blue too.  Kuhn used accusations of "bigotry" towards those who attempted to close down his organization.  The ACLU defended him too.  A Democrat State Senator even spoke at one of his rallies, held at a Nazi camp in Andover Township, Sussex County. 

Now Senator Bob Gordon and others are attempting to interfere in the federal government's work to keep us safe from terrorist attack.  Legislation Gordon is sponsoring, S-3006, would prohibit personnel of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from providing "any aid, resources, assistance, or support to any federal employee or representative in enforcing the provisions of a United States Executive Order issued on January 27, 2017 regarding Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, nor may any resources or facilities of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey be used for such purpose."

Wow, imagine if the State Legislature in Alabama had passed such a law affecting the Alabama National Guard in 1963.  Remember your history and remember well that it was the federalized Alabama Guard led by General Henry Graham that affected the end to Governor George Wallace's "schoolhouse door" blockade of African-American students attempting to register for classes at the University of Alabama. 

Senator Gordon should be careful of the precedent he is setting, for he might just be taking a major step in turning our federal Republic into something akin to the Wild West.  Has the Senator thought this through, or is he simply caught up in the "be-in" surrounding the opposition to all things Trump?  Is this helping or is it merely a fashion statement?

Last year, Gordon supported legislation that directed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to take extra-measures, above and beyond those of the federal government, to prevent hunting trophies from coming through the transportation facilities (airports, etc.) controlled by the Port Authority.  This too was a reaction to something that had gone viral on Facebook.   

The language of last year's legislation couldn't be more direct:  "Any Port Authority agent or Port Authority police officer shall have authority to enforce the prohibition in subsection b. of this section and, where necessary, to apply for and execute any warrant to search for and seize..."

It is a question of language and of priorities.  Representing counties in a state that suffered so much death and misery at the hands of terrorists, why is there no similar language regarding the vigilance against terrorism in S-3006?  Where is the insistence that no more innocent victims suffer death or maiming?

It's not there, because it's not "trending" on Facebook.  Not at the moment, anyway.  But legislators like Senator Gordon must be keeping their fingers crossed.