It's been said for years that the Republican opposition to the Democratic majority lacks the support of regular people. For a long time, the party relied on insiders who are connected to politics in a professional way, and average folks were left out of the conversation.
One of the reasons that there has been a reaction among the "old guard" in the party to my show and the "Common Sense" movement we launched in 2021 is they don't control our message or outreach.
I'm a believer in bringing new people into the political fold and growing the base. Many of my political colleagues think that it's OK to keep turnout and participation low so they can continue to hold onto power. Of course, that strategy played out in 2021 as the GOP failed miserably to unseat Gov. Murphy.
By contrast, Glen Youngkin became the new governor of Virginia with very similar demographics and polling numbers. The difference? The GOP candidate in 2021 failed to inspire, failed to represent, and failed to include average people. Moms, dads, teachers, nurses, cops, truck drivers, retail owners, wait staff, and Uber drivers were all left out of the conversation.
By contrast, working and middle-class families were brought to the table in Virginia, and with a massive turnout of voters, Glen Youngkin became Gov. Youngkin. Now he's turning Virginia around, empowering law enforcement, empowering parents, and standing up for small businesses.
In New Jersey, people are clamoring for the same kind of leadership in Trenton. To that end, we've added more than 121,000 new members to our Common Sense Club and I recently launched Women for Common Sense New Jersey.
Our inaugural lunch yesterday had nearly 120 attendees in Morris County. We were honored to have Morris County Clerk Anne Grossi in attendance along with the "Roxbury Moms" who are being sued after they exposed inappropriate sexually explicit material in the school library.
My friend Sherry Nardolillo is the new president of the group and did a fantastic job launching the organization. Elizabeth Nader hosted the inaugural event that included women professionals, moms, and everyone in between looking to have their voices heard.
We were proud to be joined by three great county GOP leaders: Jacci Vigilante in Gloucester, Lisa Richford in Mercer, and George Gilmore in Ocean. Along with Rosemary Becchi from Jersey First.
