In CD-7 Debate, Kean Appears, only to get Berated by Altman for Being Clinically Absent
At one point during Sunday’s CD-7 debate, Sue Altman said of her opponent – Thomas H. Kean Jr.:
“Your absence has created a vacuum and we’re filling it with leadership.”
She was talking about Kean’s habit of avoiding unfiltered interactions with the press and public.
Kean responded that the “vast majority of people in this district prefer I come to them.”
He spoke of telephone town halls, but in truth, his answer made little sense.
What Kean did do – time and time again – was label Altman as a far-left extremist, who backs legalizing all drugs and letting cop killers out of jail.
She said he was totally wrong.
Kean said that has been the position of the Working Families Party, for which Altman once worked.
Altman said none of that is her position.
The race in CD-7, which covers at least parts of Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren counties, is the most interesting in New Jersey this year.
The district tilts Republican, but Team Altman is talking about a pair of internal polls that have the candidates a mere two points apart.
The debate, which was sponsored by the New Jersey Globe, On New Jersey, and the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, was the only one of the campaign.
That may seem surprising, but given Kean’s aversion to public sparring, perhaps not.
There was some common ground here, but not much.
For instance, in a seemingly light-hearted “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” portion of the debate, both candidates said they believed there are “extraterrestrials” living somewhere in the universe.
Talk about illegal aliens
Back on Earth, both Altman and Kean had a central goal. Simply stated, the other guy, or gal, is just out of step with the affluent, mostly suburban, district.
Altman attacked Kean for his support of Donald Trump and the MAGA-agenda. She said Kean calls himself a moderate, but he twice has had Speaker Mike Johnson in the district to help him raise money.
“You seem like a really nice guy, but right now, what we need is political courage,” Altman said.
Kean, repeatedly, said Altman would be unable to shed her political roots, claiming that she has – and will always – support increased spending, more taxes and “defunding the police.”
Altman did offer a tweet during the aftermath of the George Floyd murder about defunding the police. She now says that was a mistake and has apologized for it.
The candidates were asked if they supported Trump’s goal to immediately deport illegal immigrants.
Altman said “no.”
Kean said one would need to start with those who have committed crimes.
Altman responded:
“Congressman, you just dodged the question.”
Another somewhat substantive exchange was about energy and the environment.
Kean condemned Altman’s support for the “Green New Deal” and said America needs to be “energy independent again.”
Just for the record, the United States is producing about 13.2 million barrels of oil a day, the most in its history.
Kean brought up the Green New Deal more than once, prompting Altman to crack:
“I don’t even know if you can name what’s in the Green New Deal.”
She added that there is nothing radical about investing in public transportation or saving land from development.
In fact, she said many New Jersey Republicans of the past, including Christie Whitman and “your father” backed strong environmental protection.
True. But it’s a very different Republican Party these days.
The moderators said afterwards that there was so much back and forth that they could not get to all of the planned questions.
Altman said she’s ready for another debate.
Don’t bet on it.
Altman just isn’t right for this district. She is a wannabe AOC who sounds about as genuine as all of those corrupt politicians she claims to be fighting when she said she does not support defunding the police. Does that sound right for a suburban and rural district that has a history of electing moderates from both parties? No. Altman is no Malinowski. How the NJDems thought she would be a good successor to Malinowski’s legacy is baffling. Swing voters and moderates have no choice but to vote for Kean this year.
So you think moderates have no choice but to support a candidate who is a rubber stamp for a president who refuses to respect democracy and leads an attack on Congress because he’s too vain to admit defeat?
Altman.is a far left extremeist! I’d rather has a congressman who follows the programs of Donald Trump, than one who follows the programs of Biden/ Harris! Good Lord, one AOC is enough, the country doesn’t need another one!
It seems some get afraid of a woman with energy. Listen to her ideas and plans. She looks for answers to solve problems. She understands the issues and what real people need. Kean hides out. He does seem nice enough, he just hasn’t ever had to fight for anything. And nothing says he will now. New Jersey and our country need someone willing to stand up for us and to fight for our future.
I’ve met Sue twice and she’s a listener who prioritizes what matters to New Jersey first -. She’s stood up to corruption in her own party as well. She leans left but with her own convictions and makes anyone in her town halls feel welcome. She’s no rubber stamp politician.
HOW has she stood against corruption?! What did she do to get Menendez out?! Nothing! DEMS always bow to whoever the master behind the curtain is….the one who gets every D parroting the same phrase if the day
Rule of thumb: If the politician is purposely lying about his opponent or spreading fake news, vote for the other person. Anything is better than normalizing this behavior.
Malinowski took the high road and the voters bought Kean and GOP’s fake news about California crimes. Now Altman is getting the fake news treatment by this lovely group of cynical Kean operatives. The GOP PAC that put the mailers together even has a fake fact checking” website set up to refute their fake news! No accountability.
Soulless operatives including Roger Stone and the other dark GOP players got Gov. Tom Kean into office back in the 80s; that’s barely even embarrassing compared to being a Beta to Trump, himself an amusing Beta to genuine bullies like Putin. Yuck. We need real moderate Republicans who care about “The Environment” and don’t tolerate bullies. Kean could have at last pulled this much off.
Sue Altman supports the Biden Administration and would vote 100% with the Kabala Kamala Administration. Sue Altman would vote to keep the borders open and continue to allow the invasion of illegal aliens, violent murderers, rapists and terrorists into our nation. She hasn’t addressed how she would stop it. She can’t. Because she is one player in the Democrat-Communist Party.
Sue Altman would vote to keep raising taxes and destroying the tax base and economy in this country. She would vote to close the oil and natural gas (and fracking) industry, which would destroy the tax base and destroy the economy.
Altman would allow criminals to go free on “no bail” and allow them to continue using illegal firearms while disarming the law-abiding population with restrictive gun control, that would lead to total gun confiscation and ultimately the deaths of more innocent Americans. Every country that recently banned firearms (Australia, New Zealand, Venezuela, U.K.) has seen massive spikes in all kinds of violent crimes, including violent gun assaults, murder, rape and robbery. Even people in those countries are buying “black market” firearms for self-defense.
Sue Altman is part of the Democrat-Communist Party of Death and Destruction. We have no more room for idiots like her and of her ilk. Time to vote out the Democrat-Communists and get back to common sense.
fill in the blank with any country you like, including the United States:
An egg from the book “why nations fail”
In fact, ______ is poor precisely because it has been ruled by a narrow elite that have organized society for their own benefit at the expense of the vast mass of people.
Voting for the lesser of two evils isn’t always a clear choice, but nonetheless one voters must make in order to have the best possible outcome.
If you want the United States to fail, vote for elite, billionaires supported by more elite, billionaires, whose policies clearly appear to be an attempt to subjugate the population to ensure there are plenty of cowed chattel to do their bidding.
Thomas Jefferson?! He’s rolling in his grave.
Sue Altman was FANTASTIC in that debate! I actually felt sorry for TK Jr even though he so INEFFECTIVE and STILL has not done what we’ve been asking him to do for 2 years! A simple mailbox replacement. It’s all we want… SO LET’S GET SUE in there! CLEAR, articulate, smart, KNOWLEDGEABLE – she seemed to know a lot more than Kean and HE’S the one in Congress! She would be the BEST addition to CD7 in years because of her WILLINGNESS TO LEARN and represent such a wide swath of people. We must elect here. SHE’S a GEM! We are SO LUCKY to have her running. VOTE SUE ALTMAN for CD7! And she is nothing like AOC. If you knew them both, you would see the difference immediately.
Voting for Sue Altman is like voting for Adolf Hitler!!!! She is part of the Democrat-Fascist-Communist Party and will vote 100% with the Leftist maniacs in Congress. We don’t need more Leftist lunatics running their section of the insane asylum on the far Left. We need common sense business people like Tom Kean, Jr. that votes for real Americans, and doesn’t give our tax monies to illegal aliens, terrorists and the Communist Chinese Party.
Altman is one of the many on the Left who want to tear down this country and turn it into a Socialist hell-hole because she wants to be one of the elitist pigs in D.C. Nope! Can’t vote for Altman. She’s another member of the Kool-Aid Drinking Communist Apparatchik!!!!
Sue Altman demonstrated that she is a refreshing alternative to the dour inarticulate Tom Kean Jr. I believe the reason he appeared unable to give a straight answer to most of the moderators questions is that his views, and those of his donors, are simply not aligned with the views of the majority of the people in NJ-7. And if the voters in the district actually knew what his policy positions actually were, he would loose in a landslide.
I believe Thomas Jefferson needs to get out of his mother’s basement and get some fresh air and sunshine. I always love when Adolf Hitler can be worked into any position but try with more flair, relevance and snappy uniforms!!
Sorry Eric, I’m in my own basement office working and paying my bills. I left my mother’s basement 45 years ago. But, when I see inane and insane comments like yours that offer no facts or substance, I must respond to your Leftist-Communist thought process. Please enlighten all of us what Sue Altman offers to the voters???? She hasn’t provided any substance–like you. She will vote 100% with the Democrat-Communists to ruin and run this great nation into the ground. Like any good Communist dictatorship, those like Altman espouse Censoring Freedom of Speech and Thought under the First Amendment. Then they attack the protecting amendment–the SECOND AMENDMENT under false pretenses of “public safety”, when they know that criminals and the mentally insane are the problem that they won’t do anything about in order to get gun confiscation pushed through. Remember this–over 250 MILLION innocent citizens of different countries were murdered by their own governments in the 20th Century to Present under the guise of “reasonable” and “common sense” gun control. Given that the DOD just got caught in a report to invoke deadly force against American citizens, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H504MuUDn5s, it’s all the more reason that American citizens have firearms equivalent to the military. Americans had arms equivalent to the best army in the world in 1775. That needs to be maintained today at all costs.