Uh...can we nominate this Republican to run for President?From Tom Moran's political column in New Jersey's Star-Ledger (registration required) comes this profile of Bogota Mayor, Steve Lonegan.
Steve Lonegan leaned back into a couch in his campaign headquarters and proceeded to claim full credit for the defeat of last week's referendum on stem cell research.
"We were absolutely critical," he said. "I had 2,000 real activists, and we rolled into action on this. That's how we were able to put up 15,000 signs in less than two weeks. If we had more money, we would have beaten the open space referendum, too."
Give the man his moment. Lonegan, the mayor of tiny Bogota borough in Bergen County, is about the only politician who saw that the polls were dead wrong and that voters were fed up with Trenton's promiscuous spending. While most Republicans were barely making a peep, he was out raising money and firing up the volunteers for battle.
And that, in a strange way, presents a problem for Republicans in Trenton. Yes, the stem cell vote showed that voters are in a conservative mood. And yes, Lonegan was the guy with boots on the ground. But now that Lonegan has earned a seat on the stage, the establishment Republicans have to deal with him. And many of them regard him as the party's crazy uncle who really should stay in the attic.
"He'd be a great governor of Alabama," says one GOP legislator who asked not to be named. "But he's terribly dangerous as the face of our party."
It's not just that Lonegan opposes abortion rights and gun control, like other social conservatives. He also believes New Jersey should repeal the income tax, a move that would push us into bankruptcy and widen the divide between rich and poor. He believes the state Supreme Court has veered off course so badly that the Legislature should feel free to ignore its rulings. So much for the rule of law.
He believes Democrats are trying to bring socialism to New Jersey. And he once even described Bret Schundler, a darling of the conservative movement, as a "Cuban-style socialist."...
"The guy is very New Jersey," says Tom Wilson, the party chairman. "He's blunt. He's opinionated. He doesn't mince words. Steve, and others like him, are touching something in the grassroots that often our leadership is not hearing."
Lonegan's next target is the governor's plan to "monetize" the state's toll roads. And on that issue, Lonegan's volunteers and the party establishment are one. So maybe this is a marriage that can work after all. And if so, the governor's loss on the stem cell issue will not be his last.
If you'd like to check out Mayor Lonegan's book, take a look at this page.
