Sabrin's not Hogan's hero

By Matt Friedman | June 27th, 2008 - 4:27pm

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Murray SabrinIt's almost a month after the primary, but former Republican Senate primary candidate Murray Sabrin's unorthodox campaign continues to produce reverberations.

James Hogan, who ran for the Republican congressional nomination on Sabrin's slate in the 6th District, wrote a blog blog entry
excoriating the campaign for its unusual strategy and press release blitzes, which he said ultimate hurt both Sabrin and his down-ballot candidates.

Hogan placed third in the primary with a little over 1,000 votes, behind Robert McLeod, the winner, and Peter Cerrato.

Still, Hogan professes no bitter feelings towards Sabrin - just a slight feeling of bamboozlement.

"I don't hold a grudge or blame him in any way for me not winning, because truth be told I'm a computer programmer," he said. "But at the same time, you don't get on a line with someone and expect them to be that ridiculous either."

Hogan wrote about his experience on Sabrin's line as part of his effort to document his congressional run - the first and probably last run Hogan made for public office.

Hogan, a Ron Paul for president supporter, had already planned to run for Congress by the time he was recruited by Sabrin's camp. He met Sabrin at an event, was impressed by his command of the issues, and signed on to his slate after Sabrin Communications Director George Ajjan offered him a spot.

But while Hogan said he never expected to even win the Republican primary in this safe Democratic district, he was taken aback by the tone of Sabrin's frequent press releases, which tended to antagonize mainstream Republicans and occasionally made claims many dubbed outlandish.

"At the same time I would hear Murray speak so eloquently about the issues, I would receive a "press release", sometimes two or three in a day, that was just over the top, ridiculous and some of the press releases were even slightly embarrassing as I wanted to be taken, somewhat, seriously and some of these press releases were just outright non-sense," wrote Hogan in the blog entry. "...If I knew Dick Zimmer would be referred to as a "liberal loser lobbyist", I might also have chosen to be on a different line, or no line."

Moreover, Hogan said, he was surprised to find an email sent out that claimed to be authored by him, although he never wrote it.

Still, despite the reservations expressed in Hogan's blog entry, he insists there are no bitter feelings.

"I actually had a lot of fun running my little campaign," he said. "I probably won't run for office again"

Neither Sabrin nor Ajjan could immediately be reached for comment.ALSO on PolitickerNJ.com:

Wilson investigation tracks phoney emails to Sabrin campaign

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The Sabrin/Paul campaigns of

Submitted by LiberalFascist on June 28, 2008 - 12:38am.

The Sabrin/Paul campaigns of 2007 were incredibly wacky and really wound up making them look like fools. Sabrin's crazy attempt at shaking up the NJGOP just made him look as nutty as his libertarian loser friends.

The never ending campaign

Submitted by theredyankee on June 28, 2008 - 10:00am.

The fact that Politicker still hasn't gotten over the press releases issued by George Ajjan, is a testament to the true effectiveness of the campaign he ran.

As the old saying goes, first they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you defeat them.

The only thing this continued negative campaign against Sabrin and Ajjan by the liberal Politicker demonstrates is that their cause is gaining traction.

No thought terrifies liberals more the the possibility of what Sabrin and Ajjan are advocating, a complete house cleaning of NJ GOP leadership, so to bring the end of business as usual, with a Republican party serving as a proper check upon liberal interests, instead of simply going along to get along, and taking whatever they can get.

Contrary to what Hogan says now, he knew exactly what he was signing up for, and the fact that he is saying the things he is now saying, demonstrates that the only thing he regrets is the outcome, and he was not true to the agenda of reform, and that he was a candidate for all the wrong reasons.

At this point, now it is time for the customary posting from Eric Sedler blasting George Ajjan. Eric Seldler is a very important power broker within the NJ GOP, within the alternate reality of his own creation.

Now that Sedler has closed down his Liberal Republican website Redjersey, and Juan Melli has now moved over to Politicker, maybe Sedler can catch on over at www.bluejersey.com and end his charade once and for all.

Eric Gallagher

www.redyankeepress.com

Sabrins potent 15 %

Submitted by bergenite on June 28, 2008 - 1:12pm.

Agree George Ajjan ran an effective campaign against the establishment. It is a pity however that he left the Republican Party without any of its outsider Pit Bulls. George needs to direct all his creative energy to help like minded local Republicans who are outside the stale GOP Gin and Tonic circle. As for Eric as a power broker ? dont think so. He backed the wrong horse in Bergen and he has a lot of explaining to do when the %^*% hits the fan there.