Ciattarelli’s roadmap to victory: Keep following Gilmore’s lead

One of the great advantages of hosting the show with the largest audience in New Jersey is I hear direct feedback from listeners and stakeholders.

With another poll yesterday showing Jack losing, you can imagine that I'm hearing a lot.

The latest survey was from Rutgers-Eagleton Poll, and it was the fifth major poll in the past three weeks showing Mikie Sherrill at 50% or higher. That’s why, based on what is happening on the ground, we've been offering strategic and tactical advice to Jack Ciattarelli over the past week from what you, the listeners, are calling in to say.

From what you as first responders, teachers, and small business owners are texting and emailing me.

From what party leaders and elected officials are telling me.

We have been giving Jack Ciattarelli strategic advice because he needs to make up ground, and fast.

⚡What Jack Ciattarelli needs to hear

We told Jack, keep Sheriff Jim Gannon campaigning in Morris County because you need to post big numbers there. Looks like that is happening.

We told Jack, walk back your new weak immigration policy "pathway to recognition," whatever that means, so you can catch up to President Trump’s strong numbers in Middlesex County.

We told Jack, fix your terrible anti-cop comments Sherrill is advertising about by naming Senator Mike Testa to be your next Attorney General, not next year, but before the election.

We told Jack, follow Senator Jon Bramnick’s lead if you want to win there and protect two Republican assembly members in District 21.

And yes, we told Jack to bring President Trump to New Jersey, not for a conference call, but for a massive rally to get the turnout you need. Sherrill is running a smart campaign, no surprise, she just announced that Barack Obama is coming to New Jersey to campaign her.

So far, radio silence from Jack and the White House, while New Jersey Democrats will see Barack Obama. So far, all New Jersey Republicans can expect from Jack is to hear Donald Trump on a muted conference call line. Yikes.

All of these ideas come from a place of objective analysis and are intended to give Jack an opportunity to close the gap.

💪Ciattarelli’s turning point: The Lakewood Vaad endorsement

The next piece of advice won't be to do something different. Nope, the next piece of advice for Jack is to keep doing what he’s doing.

What do I mean? Well, Jack got a really important endorsement this week.

It came from the Lakewood Vaad, the small group of individuals who hold the key to massive numbers of votes in Lakewood’s Jewish community.

When Jack got the endorsement of the Vaad, it told me something very important: It told me that Jack is finally following the lead of the chairman of the state’s most powerful Republican organization.

🌊George Gilmore’s Ocean County machine could deliver huge gains

Chairman George Gilmore is his name.

Because George backed me in June’s Republican primary, and given Jack's history it was likely that Jack would hold that against George and try to run his own campaign in Ocean County. This would have been ridiculously petty and politically foolish of Jack, because after all, Chairman Gilmore’s Ocean County GOP just provided Donald Trump with the third largest plurality out of all counties nationwide.

That's right, New Jersey had a county in the top three of all counties across the country thanks to Gilmore.

So, when Jack got the endorsement of the Vaad, I knew Jack had finally mended fences with Chairman Gilmore, because that endorsement was not coming without George Gilmore putting his decades-worth of relationships on the line with the Vaad.

Remember, Jack sought the endorsement of the Vaad four years ago, but instead they backed Phil Murphy. This time, George Gilmore wasn’t letting Mikie Sherrill get that endorsement.

Insiders say the Vaad endorsement will immediately swing 15,000 votes Jack’s way. That’s no small thing when Jack lost by nearly 90,000 last time.

With Jack finally working with Chairman Gilmore, it tells me that Jack is in line to receive the huge margins that only Ocean County delivers.

🗳️A comeback built on alliances and timing

It’s funny, a lot of people think Monmouth County and Ocean County are in the same political class, but think about the power of the Ocean County Republican organization versus Monmouth County’s Republican organization.

Last year, Trump won Monmouth by 41,000 votes.

Not bad, right? I guess, until you see that Chairman Gilmore gave Donald Trump a margin of 122,000, three times Monmouth’s. So, by working with Chairman Gilmore, Jack is set to get a huge margin of victory in Ocean County, thanks to the power of what George has built in Ocean County.

Lastly, let’s not forget Jack’s recent disastrous night with his so-called "inner circle Muslim" and the antisemitic comments he made.

George delivering an endorsement from the state’s largest Jewish town could not have come at a better time for a politically wounded candidate like Jack.

All of this is big for Jack. And the advice is simple: keep doing what you’re doing in Ocean County.

Follow the lead of the guy who knows, better than any chairman in the state, how to win elections.

🗺 Spadea's roadmap to victory ✅

🔴 How Ciattarelli can smash Sherrill’s momentum and win the NJ election
🔴 Want to win, Jack? One call to Trump could decide Republican's fate in New Jersey
🔴 Ciattarelli's roadmap to victory: Keep following Gilmore’s lead
🔴 Spadea's roadmap for Ciattarelli: Gotta call Jon
🔴 Ciattarelli's roadmap to victory: Immigration
🔴 From peace deals to GOP excitement: Ciattarelli can't let Trump’s NJ moment slip away
🔴 Ciattarelli's roadmap to victory: Announce the attorney general pick right now

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Spadea. Any opinions expressed are Bill's own.

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