Revier: James Carville, Bill Spadea, Jack Ciattarelli and Josh Gottheimer

New Jersey residents aren’t always polite, but it’s still possible for a liberal Democrat and a conservative Republican to have a rational and pleasant conversation about politics in the state. Dan Bryan is a former senior adviser to Gov. Phil Murphy and now owns his own public affairs firm, and Alex Wilkes is an attorney and former executive director of America Rising PAC, which advises Republican candidates in New Jersey and across the country. including the New Jersey GOP. Dan and Alex are both experienced strategists currently in the room where high-level decisions are made. They meet weekly with David Wildstein, editor of the New Jersey Globe, to discuss politics and issues.

Watch James Carville’s tirade against young campaign workers and forget about political party and ideology. What did he say that you agree and disagree with?

Dan Bryan: Of course I would use different language than Carville does here, but campaigns should be created with one goal in mind: to win.

He can be brash, he can be obnoxious, he can be insulting, but one thing is true: James Carville knows how to win elections. Democrats need to focus on winning again and gaining and keeping power in DC. Republicans are kicking us in the power game in DC, and it’s having devastating consequences for working families in America.

So do we want to be the party that focuses on winning arguments or the party that focuses on winning elections? Personally, I will give up online discussions any day of the week if it means winning more elections and being able to actually govern (and appoint Supreme Court justices, if it ever plays a role in my life again).

Let’s put forward an agenda and message that compels a majority of Americans to vote for Democrats, and then do everything we can to improve their lives and strengthen our country when they are in office. Personally, I have little interest in focusing on issues that anger the vast majority of Americans while focusing on our core working-class agenda, which happens to be extremely popular when Democrats actually talk about it.

Can we do all this and not be evil? Can we do this and treat campaign workers well and with respect? Of course we can. It’s not an either/or. But it is urgent. The next generation needs Democrats to run and win elections, not fight online.

Alex Wilkes: Young people, energy and ideas are essential for a campaign. They always were. And I agree with Dan: to the extent that they prove themselves useful and willing to do the less glamorous work (which everyone – at any age – should do during the election campaign), they should be heard.

The problem with Kamala Harris’ campaign is that they are putting a few emotionally charged Gen Zers working in a bubble in charge of a multi-billion dollar, 90-day effort to present an already flawed candidate to the American people.

I know that reports of internal resistance to letting them create unscripted content that reached millions of voters, like “The Joe Rogan Experience,” are often cited to make this point, for fear of hurt feelings and mean words – and it’s great – but I have another example.

Remember the “Kamala is brat” news cycle from late July? The Democrats had just staged an internal coup and announced to the American people that they had a new candidate. Instead of presenting their ideas and qualifications, the Boomer news anchors spent two to three days trying to define what “brat” meant just because their young digital team had changed their online branding. Campaigns can always make good use of pop culture, but in an election where families struggled to put food on the table, they disregarded a very important start.

I think the Harris campaign was doomed from the start for a variety of reasons, but perhaps in the aftermath some young liberals will finally leave their safe spaces and screaming rooms to grow a little thicker skin. We would all be better off!

Bill Spadea’s new digital ad contrasts his views on immigration with those of his opponent in the GOP gubernatorial primary, Jack Ciattarelli. How well will this ad be received by Republican primary voters?

Dan: I’m not an expert on what drives New Jersey’s Republican primary voters – I’ll leave my time to Ramsey’s Senior Pundit.

But I want to take this opportunity to point out that this ad is racist, fear-mongering and disgusting. It’s worse than the crap the Trump campaign put out, which is saying something. That’s not what people like about Trump – it’s what they hate about him. New Jersey will firmly reject Spadea’s divisive policies if we have to deal with them in a general election.

Alex: In what is likely to be the first primary election here without a county line, I think these political points will take a back seat to the candidates’ ability to raise money and get their messages out. Who cares who said what in 2015 or how MAGA you are if voters don’t see or hear it and don’t go to the polls?

Money talks and bullshit walks. For too long, some New Jersey Republican candidates have taken a pretty cavalier attitude toward a campaign’s most important resource – all while we’ve been crushed by the Democrats. Some used the circle line as cruise control. Some thought they could manipulate or hack the system by forgoing traditional public relations in favor of cheaper (but less effective) alternatives. Some are just lazy and have no business putting their name on a ballot. Asking for money sucks, but so does losing.

It’s going to be a very messy primary for both parties, so I’m really not trying to avoid the specific question here. Immigration is clearly important to voters, but when presenting messages that resemble a supermarket line of only slightly different colorful cereal boxes, the first question has to be: Where is the money to get this in front of voters? If there is any ambiguity in this answer, I won’t even be able to listen anymore.

And here’s Jack Ciattarelli’s response ad, using a 2018 clip of Bill Spadea calling for a path to citizenship. Will this help Ciattarelli neutralize Spadea’s criticism?

Alex: Same answer as above. SHOW ME THE MONEY!

Dan: I find it funny that the portrayal of Spadea supporting a path to citizenship that was once a *Republican proposal* and still has widespread support is now the focus of an attack ad. “See, he used to have sensible ideas that weren’t based on hatred, division and prejudice!!”

If perennial candidate Jack Ciattarelli had any backbone, he would reject a course to the right and put himself in a worse position in the general election. But it shouldn’t be a surprise – he always shifted with the wind and did whatever he felt was necessary to pander to the whims of the far right. That doesn’t bode well for his chances in next November’s general election, in a cycle that will certainly be more difficult with the president in office than the one that handed him his defeat in ’21.

Josh Gottheimer has a new digital ad that doubles down on his opposition to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s new traffic congestion pricing plan. Is affordability the way to go in 2025?

Dan: I think affordability is certainly one of the paths to take in 2025, and Congressman Gottheimer is pushing the issue forcefully. His fight against congestion pricing is successful not because it is a bad policy per se, but because of the absurd way New York implements it. Instead of giving New Jersey a seat at the table, they’re doubling the burden on New Jersey commuters and shoving it down our throats. In general, I’m all for congestion pricing, but not for the way Governor Hochul has handled it.

Congressman Gottheimer hears what so many families are screaming in 2024 – life in America has become nearly impossible for a working-class family. But let’s look at affordability not just through the prism of lower taxes — but also providing universal health care, reducing the cost of college and child care, raising wages, and building housing at prices that young families can afford . These are the cost drivers that are putting the American dream out of reach for young families today, and Democrats should be the party to attack them unapologetically and ruthlessly.

Alex: Yes, it’s a very refreshing (if misleading) change from the chaotic and convoluted message of Kamala Harris’ campaign. Josh Gottheimer has happily voted for all the inflationary measures that have hurt his constituents and the people of this state, so he’s truly a conversationalist.

That being said, Kathy Hochul is a great villain – another cartoonish, clueless deputy brought to power by a scandal-plagued principal. Maybe it doesn’t convince Dan’s immediate neighbors downtown or Mikie’s Montclair friends who want us up north to pay $1,000 at every intersection to get to work or to dinner and a show in the interest of some vaguely defined “environmental justice.” . However, it could win back some of the moderate Democrats in the north and blue-collar voters south of 195 (many of whom voted for Donald Trump but rejected the Democrats).