Monday, July 12, 2010

GOP BOOTH AT THE COUNTY FAIR - CAN YOU HELP?

GOP BOOTH AT THE COUNTY FAIR - CAN YOU HELP?
The Middlesex County Republican Organization, on behalf of our county candidates, along with the Middlesex County Republican Women's Club, the Middlesex County YRs and the East Brunswick Republicans, will have a double booth at the Middlesex County Fair, which is being held this year from August 2nd through August 8th, at the fair grounds on Cranbury Road in East Brunswick.  Between 75,000 and 100,000 people typically attend the fair, so it is an excellent place to campaign, selectively register new supportive voters and potentially recruit more volunteers for the GOP.  Other GOP candidates in Middlesex County are invited to campaign out of the booth.

Volunteers are also needed to staff the booth during the fair.  The more activity and the more volunteers the better it will be for our candidates and our party.  In a number of past years, different municipal GOP organizations and GOP clubs have taken the responsibility for staffing the booth for an entire evening/day.  It actually doesn't take that many people to adequately cover an evening or a day and if any local chair or local GOP club would like to cover a day as a project, they should contact Candice Greaux  (848-391-2022 or cgreaux@gmail.com) who is coordinating the booth.  Interested individuals are also definitely invited and encouraged to come and help and, if your local organization or club is not otherwise taking a day/evening, you should call Candice with the day and time you can help at the booth

Come and help the GOP candidates for a couple of hours and then take the opportunity to visit the rest of the fair:  eat some cotton candy, go on a ride, eat a funnel cake, see the animals, have a sausage sandwich, etc.  What is there not to like?
SUMMER PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES
In the spirit of the summer reading lists many of us remember from our school days, here are some activities or projects you may want to consider for this summer:

* Committee people or others interested in organizing or strengthening their election districts might want to hold small backyard barbecues and invite their poll clerks and/or other Republicans in their district, who are prospects to help work for the Republican cause in the election district.  Soft sales pitches permitted!

* Update your phone lists. Many of us have older lists of voters with phone numbers we have acquired or looked up at one time or another.  Now, before the fall campaigns heat up - and you might want to call voters - why not get an up to date voter list and look up the phone numbers for those voters for whom you do not yet have phone numbers in your records - or are not correct or on Voter Vault? (This would similarly apply to updating other parts of your voter records.)

* This is also a good time to knock on the doors of houses without registered voters to find unregistered Republicans and register them and, of course, to find out if they need or want a vote by mail ballot.

* Any time is appropriate to knock on doors of the registered Republicans in your district to:  a) find out if there is anyone else in the household who is unregistered (elderly parents coming to live with them, children who have just turned 18, etc.) and register them if they are likely to vote Republican; b) find out if they might help the Republicans in the fall campaign - if in no other way but to agree to have a sign on their lawn or a bumper sticker on their car, (assuming any campaign will have any bumper stickers!); c) find out if they need or want a vote by mail ballot.  (Try hard to pitch “voting by mail” to the registered Republicans who only vote occasionally - this may be a way to get them to vote in a year when they otherwise usually don't.); d) get more information about the voter.  (Perhaps they will give you their unlisted phone number if you ask them in person, etc.)

* Attend the “Town Meetings” or similarly titled events, which may be held by the Democrat elected officials in our area, and ask them hard questions - with hard follow-ups.

* Visit the Middlesex County Fair and while you are there, spend some time helping out at the Republican booth.

*  Find out if there are any street fairs or similar events coming up in your area, either during the summer or this fall, and help your local GOP municipal committee or the appropriate Republican candidates sign up for a booth/table and help work the booth.

* Write and send letters to the editor to the local newspapers supporting our Republican candidates and Governor Christie, or criticizing what the Democrats are doing.  Considering what the Dems are doing, this should be easy.  If you need some ideas, speak to any of our Republican candidates, who virtually all would love to see more letters to the editor printed.
INDEPENDENCE DAY TRIVIA
Since July is the “Birthday Month” of our country, I thought a trivia quiz centered on that fact would be appropriate.  The answers are directly above the calendar.  Enjoy.

1. What historic event took place on the Fourth of July in 1776?

2. Name the two former U.S. presidents who died on the Fourth of July in 1826 -- 50 years after the famed Fourth of July in 1776.

3. Name the president of the Continental Congress who started the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

4. A five-member committee drafted what would later become the Declaration of Independence. How many of these committee members can you name?

5. Where did the Continental Congress sign the Declaration of Independence? And in what building did it take place?

6. Name the first U.S. president who did not sign the Declaration of Independence.

7. What state first declared Independence Day as a holiday in 1781?

8. Who was the first U.S. president to be voted out of office?

9. Which U.S. president unseated the chief executive in the preceding question?

10. Did any women sign the Declaration of Independence?
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA WEB SITE
At the last meeting of the Middlesex County Republican Women's Club, Charles Wiley spoke on “Bias in the Media, and the White House.”  In connection with his talk, Charlie mentioned a web site, (which included both English language newspapers from throughout the world and English translations of various foreign newspapers), which he used to get unfiltered news from different countries.  I asked him if he could provide us with the web site address and he was good enough to oblige.  The address is:  http://www.thebigproject.co.uk/news/

By the way, it was an excellent program and Charlie is an excellent speaker.  Those of you who did not attend really missed a lot.
$ FOR THE BOY SCOUTS
I recently received a query from someone who, having seen my various articles highlighting popcorn sales and discount coupon book sales to benefit the Boy Scouts, asked for information about making a direct contribution to the local Boy Scout council.  If you are interested and you would like to help, you can send a check, in any amount, payable to the Central New Jersey Council, B.S.A. to their service center located at 2245 US Highway 130, Suite 106, Dayton, New Jersey 08810.  When you send in your contribution, please mention that I suggested you contribute.  Thank you.
ANSWERS TO TRIVIA QUESTIONS
1. The Declaration of Independence was signed on the Fourth of July in 1776.

2. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the Fourth of July in 1826.

3. John Hancock was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence.

4. Headed by Thomas Jefferson, the committee included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston and Roger Sherman.

5. The Continental Congress met in Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

6. George Washington, our first president, was not in the Continental Congress.

7. Massachusetts was the first state to declare Independence Day as a celebration day.

8. John Adams, our second president, was voted out of office in his run for a second term.

9. Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams in his run for a second term.

10. No women signed the Declaration of Independence.
UPDATED CALENDAR
What follows is an updated calendar.  If you have any municipal or countywide fundraisers or functions you would like me to include in my e-mail calendar from time to time, please contact me at dkatzlaw@aol.com.  Please note that organizations and campaigns sometime provide added information, change dates or cancel events, which information I include in this calendar if I receive the information in time.  Therefore, if you plan to attend an event, please make sure you review the calendar listing in my latest e-mail and, to the extent you may not have pre-registered for the particular event so the sponsoring group will be able to contact you about any changes, you may want to check with the sponsoring group before you go, to make sure the information has not changed. Also, please be aware that these e-mails are not official MCRO notices or mailings; they are just something I do, voluntarily, to help our Republican Party.

July 15 (Thursday 7:30 pm) - - Monroe Township Republican Club Meeting.  Garvey's Restaurant, 405 Spotswood Gravel Hill Road, Monroe Township.    Guest Speaker: Assemblyman John Bramnick.

August 2 -8 (Monday through Sunday) - Middlesex County Fair, Cranbury Road, East Brunswick.  There will be booths for the GOP Candidates at various levels, with support from the Republican Women, the YRs and other Republicans.  Come and help.  Contact Candice Greaux  (848-391-2022 or cgreaux@gmail.com) to schedule a time. 

August 9 (Monday 3:00 pm) - November General Election Ballot Position Drawing at the Middlesex County Clerk's Office.

August 28 (Saturday) - North Brunswick GOP Organization Bus Trip to Washington, DC for Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor Rally at the Lincoln Memorial. For information, call Tom O'Neill at 908-403-1299.

September 12 (Sunday 12 noon - 5:00 pm) - Woodbridge Township Republican Organization Annual Fund Raising Picnic.  Warren Park, Grove One, Florida Grove Road, Woodbridge.  $20 per person in advance.  E-mail 
jvrtaric@gmail.com or call 732-636-1919 for additional information.

September 19 (Sunday 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm) - East Brunswick GOP Fall Party and Fundraiser.  East Brunswick Elks.  (Additional information added when available.)

October 12 (Tuesday) - Last day to register to vote for the General Election.

October 17 (Sunday) - South Plainfield GOP Cocktail Party.  (Additional information added when available.)

October 19 (Tuesday) - Deadline for filing your list of election day challengers for the General Election, with the Board of Elections (Middlesex County Board of Elections, 777 Jersey Avenue, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-3605)

October 26 (Tuesday) - Last day for mail-in ballot applications to be received by the County Clerk by mail in order to vote in the General Election  (Middlesex County Clerk, P.O. Box 1110, 75 Bayard Street, 4th Floor, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-1110).

November 1 (Monday, 3:00 pm) - Last day to apply for a mail-in ballot in person (or by authorized messenger) at the County Clerk's office in order to vote in the General Election.

November 2 (Tuesday) - General Election

Please forward this information to any Middlesex County Republican, or other individual, who you think might be interested in seeing it.  Further, if you know of any Middlesex County Republican who would like to receive periodic e-mail reports about NJ Republican State Committee meetings and other information I believe might be interesting or useful, please have them send me, Donald Katz, an e-mail to dkatzlaw@aol.com, and I will add them to my e-mail list.  By the same token, if you ever want to be removed from my e-mail list, send me an e-mail and I will remove you.

Donald Katz, Esq.
Republican State Committeeman - Middlesex County and Counsel, Middlesex County Republican Organization
dkatzlaw@aol.com