CLIFTON - "The left is running on hate for Donald Trump."

So said Justin Murphy, the Republican challenging Cory Booker at a "town hall" Tuesday evening in the heart of Passaic County.

In many ways, Murphy is right. But he avoided the second part of his observation.

Hating Trump works.

The president's approval ratings are sinking, gas is more than $4 a gallon and the economy has not really improved.

By most accounts, Mikie Sherrill's easy win last year over Jack Ciattarelli was keyed by voter animus toward the president.

Murphy acknowledged that in a conversation afterwards, noting that running against Trump motivates the Democrats' base.

The Senate candidate is a former councilman from Tabernacle, Burlington County. He is under no illusions. He knows his candidacy is an uphill climb.

Undaunted, Murphy is holding town halls in all 21 counties.

An earlier meeting with voters in Morris County brought Murphy some unwanted attention. That's when he answered a question about an alleged Muslim problem.

Murphy recounted that someone said to him the other day that, "We ought to get rid of all the Arabs."

Murphy said he responded:

"‘Why? We can’t get rid of all of them. Some of them are Christian.

Some of them have the faith and belief and tenets that our country was built on."

Those comments and others prompted condemnations from Booker and other Dems.

Murphy crafted a social media post a few days later that said in part:

"Very unfortunately, a gross misrepresentation has been circulating on social media platforms, which was commenced by a mistaken interpretation by a member of the press. I was responding to a question that was phrased initially as ‘radical Islam’, and by the end of the statement and question, the questioner ended with referring to Islam, not radical Islam."

On Tuesday, no one asked about Muslims. About 40 people attended the town hall in the city's Athenia section.

Getting back to Trump, some GOP candidates are trying to distance themselves from the president. Not Murphy.

He said he wants to encourage one in four Trump voters - those who just vote for president - to get involved in the midterms.

A problem, he said, is apathy. This is actually a very bipartisan concern. Turnout is never all that good in midterm elections.

Murphy says Republicans need to be on offense to excite their voters.

To that end, he said that under Joe Biden, inflation reached about 9 percent and gas was $5 a gallon. That's true, but $5 gas was in June,

2022 when "normal life" resumed after the pandemic.

Reality suggests that people filling up today are not focusing on gas prices four years ago. They're focusing on the fact gas was about a dollar a gallon cheaper before Trump started a war with Iran.

So this is a tough argument for Murphy to make.

Murphy's views are classically conservative on many issues. For example, he advocates abolishing the IRS and instituting a flat tax of

10 to 12 percent.

As is often the case at such gatherings, Murphy was asked questions about state issues - vote-by-mail, gun laws and high costs.

He patiently explained that the next statewide election is 2027 when the Legislature is up. Democrats, he said, now have strong majorities in both houses.

If Republicans want to change that, there's only one way to do it.

"We have to win elections," Murphy said. That comment pertains to 2026 as well.