Many of my Republican friends keep on pointing out that in her gubernatorial campaign, Mikie Sherrill is making this 'all about President Donald Trump and has not offered specific plans'.

Uh, yeah.

Trump should be a HUGE part of the campaign for governor ----for many reasons.

Trump has been very unpredictable as to federal funds for New Jersey. He has threatened to cut off funds for transporation, infrastructure, envirionmental issues, and threatened to send military troops to our cities. His policies have caused the arrest of two of our elected officials, cancelled the Gateway Tunnel Project, and imminently opening a 3000 capacity immigrant incarceration center at Fort Dix.

These are enough issues to keep ANY governor involved in solving for more than their first year!

So, yup----you bet I am glad  Mikie Sherrill is focused on these issues involving Donald Trump!

But, wait, here's more...

Listen, Republicans keep whining that Mikie Sherrill is making this "all about Trump" and not offering "specific plans." Yeah? YEAH? Let me tell you something about specific plans – how about the very specific plan of keeping your state from getting financially kneecapped by a guy who treats federal funding like he's playing three-card monte with your tax dollars?

The Gateway Tunnel: A Love Story

So Trump literally said the Gateway Tunnel Project is "terminated" – just like that, billions of dollars, TERMINATED – like he's the Schwarzenegger of infrastructure policy. They froze $18 billion in October because apparently the tunnels weren't diverse enough or something – yeah, that's the excuse, DEI concerns about TUNNELS.

This is a $16 billion project that hundreds of thousands of people use every day to get through century-old tunnels that are basically held together with duct tape and prayers at this point. But sure, let's make the gubernatorial race about... what exactly? Property taxes? Cool, cool – you know what really helps with property taxes? HAVING A FUNCTIONING ECONOMY BECAUSE YOUR TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE DIDN'T COLLAPSE INTO THE HUDSON RIVER.

Oh, and if this thing shuts down? That's $16 billion in economic losses over four years, and – wait for it – $445 billion through 2060. But yeah, Trump shouldn't be part of the conversation. Makes total sense.

When Federal Officials Start Arresting Mayors – Just Normal Stuff, Right?

Here's a fun Tuesday activity: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka got arrested in May at an ICE facility. Just arrested. A mayor. In his own city. And get this – court records show the Deputy Attorney General personally ordered the arrest, like it's a pizza delivery.

Then they dropped the charges after a federal judge basically called them incompetent, using phrases like "worrisome misstep" and "hasty arrest" – which is judge-speak for "what the hell were you thinking?"

Oh, and they also indicted a U.S. Representative, LaMonica McIver, over the same incident. So now any New Jersey governor has to worry about whether their elected officials are going to get randomly arrested for doing their jobs. But sure, this has NOTHING to do with governing the state. Nothing at all.

Welcome to Fort Dix: Now With 100% More Detention Centers!

Trump decided to turn Fort Dix into a detention center that can hold up to 3,000 people. You know, Fort Dix – the military base. For the military. This is AFTER they opened Delaney Hall in Newark, which multiplied New Jersey's detention capacity by FOUR TIMES.

Civil rights groups are comparing this to Japanese internment camps – you know, that thing we all agree was a massive mistake and a stain on American history? Yeah, we're doing the sequel, apparently. They're worried about people not being able to see lawyers or their families because, hey, it's a military base.

So now New Jersey has to deal with massive federal detention operations on its soil, but telling voters "I'll push back on this" is somehow NOT a specific plan? What do they want, a PowerPoint presentation?

"I'm Going to Use Your Cities as Military Training Grounds" – An Actual Quote from Trump, himself.

In September, Trump stood in front of military leaders at Quantico and said American cities should be "training grounds" for troops. He specifically name-dropped Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, and Washington. Training grounds. For the military. IN AMERICAN CITIES.

He's deployed or threatened to deploy National Guard troops to more than half a dozen cities, claiming they're crime-ridden hellholes, even though – and this is hilarious – crime has actually been going DOWN in most of these places.

Sherrill said she'll sue if he tries this in New Jersey. But Republicans are like, "Why is she talking about Trump so much?" I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE BECAUSE HE'S THREATENING TO TURN NEWARK INTO FALLUJAH?

"But She Doesn't Have Specific Plans!"

Oh really? REALLY? She's got positions on affordability, property taxes, climate change, reproductive rights, and criminal justice reform. The debates have been about property taxes, energy costs, state governance, AND Trump.

But here's the thing – and I want you to really hear this – YOU CAN'T LOWER PROPERTY TAXES IF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS BANKRUPTING YOUR STATE BY CANCELING INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS AND ARRESTING YOUR MAYORS.

The Bottom Line (Because Apparently We Need One)

Trump has created unprecedented federal-state tensions that any New Jersey governor is going to have to deal with – frozen infrastructure money, immigration crackdowns, potential military deployments. Sherrill is explicitly running on fighting Trump policies that hurt New Jerseyans through tariffs, Medicaid cuts, and infrastructure funding freezes.

So yeah, you bet Trump should be a HUGE part of this campaign. The guy is actively screwing with New Jersey's ability to function as a state. Political experts literally said Sherrill's banking on the fact that people will "crawl over broken glass to vote against Donald Trump" – and you know what?

When the alternative is watching your infrastructure crumble, your elected officials get arrested, and your military bases turned into detention centers while someone lectures you about "specific plans," crawling over broken glass starts to sound pretty reasonable.

Any questions?