Why The National Organization For Women Endorsed Rush Holt

Tuesday is election day in New Jersey-- not the general election, which is in November, but the special election primary for the open Senate seat. Wall Street has been successful in creating the conventional wisdom that their puppet, Cory Booker, can't be stopped. But a late summer special election primary is really about turning out voters more than anything else. Cory Booker may be a TV celebrity but he has a putrid record of failure and a sleazy relationship with Big Business special interests. That's why I was so buoyed to see the National Organization for Women endorse Rush Holt, the progressive alternative to Booker over the weekend.

This is as strong a case from a third-party validator as anyone has gotten heading into the final days of this election. I suppose the CEOs and lobbyists from JPMorgan and BankAmerica could send something like this for Booker, but that might confuse his low-info backers. Jennifer Armiger is the chairwoman of NOW-NJ PAC and the case she makes about why her organization decided to back Rush, instead of the front-runner or even instead of a prominent woman also running in the race, is very compelling.

I’ve spent the last month diving into the records of every candidate in Tuesday’s Senate election, working on behalf of the National Organization for Women’s New Jersey PAC. I studied their votes and public statements, and I reached out to each candidate for an in-person meeting.

I came away absolutely convinced that Rush Holt is the best candidate to uphold former Senator Frank Lautenberg’s legacy in support of women’s rights, progressive issues, and equality for all.

Earlier this week, the National Organization for Women’s PAC endorsed Rush Holt for Senate...

Rush has a record of leadership on women’s and progressive issues-- in sharp contrast to some of the other candidates in the primary race. He has been willing to stand up and defend the rights of women, the LGBTQI community, and the hardworking voters in his district, even when it has meant challenging the political status quo.

While I was able to schedule interviews with three of the candidates in this race, Mayor Cory Booker’s campaign was entirely unresponsive to the NOW-NJ PAC requests for interview, despite repeated attempts to contact his offices by phone, email, and other means. For this reason, the PAC could not consider a recommendation for endorsement of Booker’s candidacy.

Feminists and progressive allies will not simply hand over a Senate seat in the face of the pressure of public celebrity...

My difficulties with the Booker campaign speak plainly to the broad concerns about his bid for office and the running of his Senate campaign-- that he is strong on style and ideas, but weak and unproven on the issues. He is unresponsive to his constituency and has produced little in terms of real outcomes that improve the lives of residents and voters in the city of Newark, most especially women and the underserved.

Not so with Rush Holt. A longtime member of the board of Planned Parenthood of Mercer County, Rush supports and will continue to defend abortion rights and reproductive freedom. He supports the Equal Rights Amendment, pay equity for women, marriage equality, labor rights and public sector workers' rights, environmental protection, and single-payer health insurance. Rush also strongly defends civil liberties, and he is unwilling to bargain away workers' rights and protections, as well as United States industry and sovereignty, in the name of free trade.

New Jersey voters deserve a candidate who will have their best interests at heart. That candidate is Rush Holt. I ask for your help in sending him to the United States Senate.

With appreciation,
Jennifer Armiger
Chair,
NOW-NJ PAC

Blue America has endorsed Rush Holt as well, not because he's a Democrat-- there are plenty of worthless Democrats running for Senate seats we would never consider endorsing-- but because he's a proven progressive. Here's our full Senate list so far.



UPDATE: And The Corruption

Cory Booker is not just unworthy of Democratic votes in Tuesday's primary because he's bad on the issues-- which he is-- and because he's a pathetic Wall Street puppet-- which he is-- but also because he's a ticking time bomb liable to explode before the general election and saddle New Jersey with some kind of rightwng lunatic senator like that Lonegan character. Today's NY Post reported that he was taking "condidential" payoffs from his former law firm while serving as mayor of Newark.

Cory Booker pocketed “confidential” annual payouts from his former law firm while serving as Newark mayor.

Booker, the front-runner in New Jersey’s Senate race, received five checks from the Trenk DiPasquale law firm from 2007 until 2011. During that time, the firm raked in more than $2 million in fees from local agencies over which Booker has influence.

...Booker did not list Trenk DiPasquale as a source of income on the financial-disclosure report he filed as a Senate candidate in May. One part asks for a listing of compensation of more than $5,000 paid by one source for services provided from 2011 to 2013.

If you live in New Jersey, please vote for Rush Holt Tuesday.