Speedbump on the Jersey Turnpike

Today's semi-local political story is the New Jersey special senate race to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Senator Frank Lautenberg. While the polls vary widely, they all indicate that Steve Lonegan is merely a speedbump which will barely slow down the Booker juggernaut. While Booker may be characterized as a pro-business conservative Democrat, Lonegan is a flat-out teabagging lunatic.

I've long been aware of Lonegan's lunacy because the guy has had a lot of radio ad buys in the NYC metro area over the years as a Koch shill (he was New Jersey's director for Americans for Prosperity. He's a typical teabagger, the sort of guy who says that government is the problem, running ads with that tagline even as an unpopular government shutdown is occurring. Lonegan was also upfront is stating that he would have opposed Hurricane Sandy relief. Lonegan opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest. Lonegan doesn't even believe in the "Free Market" principles he claims to espouse, opposing a Spanish language billboard in his Spanish-named town of Bogota, New Jersey. Perhaps Lonegan's sleaziest act in his losing campaign was making insinuations about Corey Booker's sexuality:





Booker, refreshingly, has stated that he has no problem with people believing that he is gay:





Now, I know that Booker has taken corporate money, and is a bit too friendly to big business, but the alternative candidate is a monster. Luckily, Lonegan is nothing more than a speedbump that will barely slow down Booker's momentum.