Fellow conservative activists:

As I see it, when you begin something, you should begin it as honestly as possible.  Your words should mean what they say.  That’s why I was so disheartened when I watched the video accompanying NJGOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt’s announcement that he is a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor.

A lot of what Doug said appealed to me, but then soured with phrases like “I’m not a politician, at all”.  Doug said that less than a minute into his campaign video and it’s not true.  By any definition Doug is a politician and has been for decades.

Doug has been the state party chairman for three years, absent a governor, he’s the top Republican politician in the state.  Instead of saying that, in his video, he says, “I’ve worked with conservative activists all across our state, we’ve built a Republican movement from the ground up.”  Doug has worked with some conservative activists but has disappointed many.  To be fair to Doug, those disappointments were often the result of the political handlers hired to represent him.  Maybe the same people responsible for this video.

Far too often, when the grassroots mobilizes, the state Republican Party is AWOL.  Maybe this wouldn’t be a concern if the core mission of the state party, which is to elect more Republicans, had been successful, but by any measure we have lost elected officials, congressional districts, and counties over the last three years.  Many of us don’t see this as satisfactory.

In his video, Doug claims to be “different” from “the same Trenton insider politicians who run for governor” when he is the quintessential Trenton insider, who built a law practice with a former governor, Democrat Jim Florio.  Their firm has deep connections with Democratic Party machines across New Jersey, the firm lobbies in Trenton, and has had millions in government contracts.

I am sure all of this can be explained, all of it justified.  This video doesn’t do that.  A few seconds later in this video, Doug says that the “closest I’ve come to the Trenton swamp” was serving as mayor of his hometown.  Who is he talking about?  Because it’s not him.  Instead of providing honest information, this video creates fog.

Doug goes on to attack every elected official in the state for being “part of the same club” that he’s a ranking member in, and for doing “the easy thing, for them”.  Does he include not being honest as “the easy thing”?

Doug finishes up the video by reminding viewers that he is “an outsider” (he is not) and that the “Trenton insiders” won’t like him (even though he is one of them).  If you know anything about Doug at all, this video isn’t believable.

As a pastor, I counsel people to accept the reality of the situation and then, with God’s help, to become better.  Doug Steinhardt is a political insider.  His insider perspective is a plus if he acknowledges it, identifies what is wrong, and then proposes how to correct it.  Insiders can be great agents of change.  They are sometimes referred to as “whistleblowers”.

Whoever convinced Doug Steinhardt to make this video thought dishonesty the easiest policy but they passed up a greater opportunity offered by honesty.  Let’s pray it is a lesson learned and that, from here forward, the candidate will be more comfortable with who he is.

Meanwhile, a lot of us “conservative activists” are engaged in battling the Democrats who want to pass S-3030 and A-4848, a radical pro-abortion, pro-human trafficking bill also known as “The Reproductive Freedom Act”.  The NJGOP has been silent on it.  Maybe now we can get some help.

Sincerely,

Pastor Philip Rizzo,

President of AriseNJ