Alan Steinberg's blog

Two weeks ago, I heard Dick Morris address the 2009 Patriot’s Forum of the Notre Dame Club of Central New Jersey at the Friend Center at Princeton University.  The focus of Morris’s lecture was his core belief that President Obama’s popularity is headed for a meltdown, due to 1) the worsening condition of the economy: 2) the forthcoming increase in utility bills resulting from the Democrat climate change/energy package; and 3) the Obama health care proposals, which will transform American health care into the failed Canadian system.

During the question and answer period, I asked Morris how soon his predicted implosion of Obama’s popularity would occur, noting that Jon Corzine cannot be reelected as New Jersey’s governor without significant assistance from a popular Obama.  His stunning reply was that “by October, no New Jersey Democrat will want Obama to come into the state – that’s how low his popularity will be.”

The legendary sports journalist, Jimmy Cannon of the now defunct New York Journal-American said of Howard Cosell: “His real name is Howard Cohen, he wears a toupee, and he claims to tell it like it is.”

Of Leonard Lance, it may similarly be said:  He voted as a state Senator to reappoint Deborah Poritz as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he voted as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the Democrat cap-and-trade proposal on greenhouse gases, and he claims to be a mainstream Republican.

In Virginia, the most popular drama of 2009 may well be Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.  

No, I am not referring to the 1936 movie starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur for which director Frank Capra received an Oscar.  Instead, I am writing about Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds, who last week won a come-from-behind Democratic gubernatorial primary election victory by a 2 to1 margin over former State Delegate Brian Moran and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe.  Deeds now emerges also as a rival to New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine for the political affections of President Barack Obama.

There are eight key findings in the Quinnipiac Poll of the gubernatorial race released yesterday:

1.  Chris Christie is running very strong in his base areas of the Northwest Quadrant (Morris, Sussex, Somerset, Warren, and Hunterdon) and the Shore (Ocean, Monmouth, and Atlantic).

2.  Jon Corzine has lost South Jersey as a base area - he actually trails Christie in that region by eight points.  His base is now limited to the urban counties of Essex and Hudson, and if he does not regain South Jersey as a base area, the ball game is over for him.

Chris Christie starts off the 2009 New Jersey gubernatorial general election campaign as the favorite against unpopular incumbent Jon Corzine.  The key to a Christie victory will be for him to 1) obtain a huge turnout from the Republican base by sticking to the conservative positions taken by him in the primary;  and 2) appeal to independents on the issue of New Jersey’s economy, where Corzine has a record of  abject failure predating the onset of the current recession.

In the June, 2005 primary election, New Jersey Republicans selected as their candidate for governor Douglas Forrester, a nominee who, on the abortion issue, was an outspoken pro-choice advocate, opposed school vouchers, and refused to support President George W. Bush’s appointment of strict constructionist Justice Samuel Alito to the United States Supreme Court. Four years later, on Tuesday, June 2, 2009, barring a totally unforeseen event, New Jersey Republicans will nominate as its gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie, a candidate who opposes abortion, favors school vouchers, and advocates the appointment of conservative strict constructionist jurists to the federal and New Jersey courts.

For the Jewish community of New Jersey, Ron Paul is a most disturbing individual. His fervent campaign against the American-Israel alliance is a direct contradiction of the political conservatism of Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp, for whom support for Israel was at the core of their foreign policy positions.

In my columns on PolitickerNJ.com, I have made no secret of my admiration for Chris Christie. His record as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey was outstanding in all respects, including his conviction rate, his courage in pursuing corrupt officials of both political parties, and his absolutely unimpeachable ethics, despite all efforts by detractors and political adversaries to distort his record. He is a person of encyclopedic intellect, with the judgment skills necessary to be a wise decision maker, one of the two most important skills a governor must possess, the other being leadership quality, which Christie has in great abundance.

I grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.  The first time I ever saw the name "Jack Kemp" was when my father took me to a Pittsburgh Steelers football game at the late, lamented Forbes Field in 1957 against the Green Bay Packers. 

Kemp was listed in the program that day as the third string quarterback behind the starter, Earl Morrall and his backup, the Steelers' first round draft pick, Len Dawson.  Prior to reading the program, I did not even know that the Steelers had a third string quarterback.

I actually remember that game, because it was the first National Football League game I ever saw in person, and the two teams, the pre-Lombardi Packers and the hapless "same old Steelers" of the 1950s were exemplars of futility on the gridiron.  Also, the Packers' first round draft pick out of Notre Dame, Paul Hornung was then playing fullback, rather than his later Packer halfback position, and was injured in the game.  Ultimately, however, the real significance of that game to me was my first awareness of Jack Kemp, a man whose vision and ideas did so much to change the course of American history for the better.

Last Tuesday, April 21, the voters of New Jersey approved 74 percent of all school budgets.  The obvious meaning of the vote is that New Jersey voters are, for the most part pleased with their public schools and are willing to pay the high price necessary for their continued standards in terms of teachers' salaries, facilities, and programmatic materials, including textbooks and computers.   New Jersey has the highest level of public school spending per pupil in the nation, and Garden State voters seem to like it that way.