RUTHFULLY YOURS

SCOTT SIPPRELLE FOR CONGRESS IN NEW JERSEY DISTRICT 12: ELECTIONS ARE COMING….SEE NOTE PLEASE

Posted By Ruth King on October 11th, 2010

ON JUNE23,2010 HE WAS FEATURED ON RUTHFULLY BUT HE WAS A LONG SHOT…..NOW HE IS WITHIN STRIKING DISTANCE ….SEE THIS COLUMN BY JENNIFER RUBIN….

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/category/contentions

The New Jersey 12th is a traditionally Democratic district. Only in a wave election would the GOP contender have a shot, but this is such a year. If Democratic old-guarders like Rep. John Dingell are at risk, no seat is safe. And, in fact, RealClearPolitics currently lists the seat as just “leans Democratic.”

The Democratic incumbent is Rush Holt, a seven-termer who’s been on the defensive over his record on Israel. The Republican Scott Sipprelle, a venture-capital investor who’s never run for political office before, is campaigning as a full-throated fiscal conservative. But he made it clear that his differences with the administration and his opponent aren’t limited to domestic policy. I asked what he thought of the president’s approach to Iran. He replied: “The administration has succeeded neither in isolating Iran, slowing its nuclear ambitions, nor deflating its dangerous rhetoric. So I conclude that their approach has been a failure. Iran must understand that if it continues on this reckless path, the consequences will be unambiguously painful in terms of crippling economic sanctions and ‘effective isolation’ that will threaten the regime’s survival. America’s leadership is at stake on this issue.” And if Israel is forced to act unilaterally to prevent Iran from going nuclear? “The U.S. should stand with Israel,” he answers matter-of-factly.

Sipprelle didn’t mince words when it came to his opponent, who was a signatory on the Gaza 54 letter. “The enthusiastic endorsement of Mr. Holt by J Street and his apparent desire to cling to their warm embrace and their money will be a factor that voters consider when casting their ballots in November.” But he added that his opponent’s questionable funders extend beyond the Soros Street crowd, saying that voters should also consider “Mr. Holt’s unwillingness to repudiate Charlie Rangel [or to] return his large campaign donations to Mr. Holt’s campaign.”

Sipprelle is a businessman, not a politician, who sees an opening for outsiders not immersed in Beltway squabbling. While he aggressively criticizes Obama’s policies (”We should start over [on ObamaCare],” he argues), he plainly is appealing to independent and Democratic voters who, he contends, are turned off by hyperpartisanship. At a recent fundraiser in his state, Obama asserted that a GOP-controlled House would bring on “hand to hand combat.” Sipprelle observes: “We need problem-solving in America, not rigid partisanship. I have criticized Mr. Holt for his blind party politics, voting with Nancy Pelosi 99 percent of the time, making him just a cog in the partisan machine that is tearing the country apart. He is not exercising wisdom, principle, or good judgment. And he is not putting his country first.”

In an ordinary year, the New Jersey 12th district would not be in play. But in this extraordinary election year, Holt not only has a rotten economic record to defend but the baggage of an increasingly unpopular president and a toxic J Street. We’ll see in a few weeks if, even in one of the Bluest states, that’s too big a handicap in 2010.

SCOTT SIPPRELLE FOR CONGRESS IN NEW JERSEY DISTRICT 12:ELECTIONS ARE COMING

By Ruth King June 23rd, 2010

For New Jersey 12th District incumbent Democratic Representative Rush Holt, the most alarming moment of his reelection campaign had to be last week endorsement by super-lawyer Alan Dershowitz of Republican challenger Joel Pollak against Illinois incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.  It was reportedly the first time Dershowitz has ever publicly endorsed a Republican candidate for the U.S.  House of Representatives.

Schakowsky is the darling of J Street, an ultra-liberal Jewish organization which claims to be pro-Israel but consistently attacks Israeli anti-terrorism efforts and defense policies and defends every effort of President Barack Obama to pressure Israel into making high risk concessions.

The darling of J Street in New Jersey is none other than Rush Holt.  He was a member of the J Street October 27, 2009 first annual Gala Dinner Honorary Host Committee.  It should be noted that the three leading Democratic supporters of Israel in the New Jersey U.S. House of Representatives delegation, to wit, Rob Andrews, John Adler, and Steve Rothman all refused to serve on this J Street committee.

Obama, of course, is the darling of J Street in the White House. He is without question less supportive of Israel than any previous American President, even less supportive than Jimmy Carter. His approval rating in polls of the Israeli electorate has at times failed to exceed a single digit.

J Street was established to counter the efforts of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a bipartisan organization which has for more than a half century most effectively represented the interests of the Israeli-American alliance in the Congress and White House.  After the recent Gaza flotilla crisis, J Street tried to thwart AIPAC efforts to get members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to sign letters supporting Israel in this matter.  To date, 307 members of the House of Representatives and 85 Senators have signed these letters.

Dershowitz is a staunch liberal Democrat and, until recently, actually defended Obama overall record on Israel.  The super lawyer pro-Israel credentials are impeccable, however.  Regarding J Street, Dershowitz has said “I reject J Street because it spends more time criticizing Israel than supporting it.  They shouldn’t call themselves pro-Israel.”

Accordingly, it was no surprise that Dershowitz endorsed his former student at Harvard Law School Joel Pollak against Schakowsky, a J Street icon.  Now one must ask whether Dershowitz and other prominent Democratic Jewish critics of J Street will endorse Republican challenger Scott Sipprelle against Rush Holt in the 2010 New Jersey 12th Congressional District race.

The only two candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey endorsed by J Street PAC are Rush Holt and Don Payne.  The action of Holt which most endeared him to J Street was his signing of a letter in January, 2010 to President Obama which harshly criticized Israel for its blockade of Gaza.  The letter was signed by 54 members of the House of Representatives.

Holt knows he is in political hot water in his reelection effort because of his signing of the aforesaid January, 2010 letter.  His J Street endorsement is now a political albatross.

As a matter of political damage control, Holt last week signed the aforesaid AIPAC  endorsed letter which supported Israel in the Gaza flotilla incident.  He has never, however, withdrawn his previous harsh criticism of the Israeli blockade of Gaza.  Nor has he repudiated his J Street endorsement.

Key members of the New Jersey pro-Israel community are saying that Rush Holt is now running away from J Street as far as he can get.  The problem for Holt with regard to J Street, however, is that while he can run, he can’t hide.

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