Frank – Where exactly do you stand on the Troop surge?
In October 2008, I attended a debate between Frank LoBiondo and the Democratic challenger Dave Kurkowski held at Stockton State College. As an uninvited and ignored Independent candidate, I sat in the audience along with the other excluded Independents in the small packed room. The other spectators were comprised mostly of members from local union chapters from
Mr. Kurkowski points out that in 2007, LoBiondo was noticeably absent from a critical vote in the House regarding the troop surge initiative. Proposed and supported by his own Republican party and President George W. Bush, the initiative did not receive public support at the time.
The audience responded to this line of questioning with a tense hush, anxiously awaiting his rebuttal.....
Instead of answering the charge, LoBiondo wells up with emotion and says “Mr. Kurkowski...[dramatic pause]...(I paraphrase) "you may not be aware of this Mr. Kurkowski, I missed the all-important vote because I was attending the funeral of one of my in-laws that week.”
Having successfully played the death card and touching the hearts of anyone who may have lost a loved one, as if on cue.....LoBiondo remarkably and almost immediately recovers from his emotional outburst and adds, as if to embarrass Kurkowski just a tad more....”When I returned, I made a statement from the House floor stating my position on the troop surge!”.
UNION MEN SEEM SATISFIED WITH THAT ANSWER So maybe I'M SATISFIED WITH THAT ANSWER? (truthfully I'm still reeling at Franks expression when Dave started the chain of events with a simple point, saying he missed the vote) Then I recover long enough to recognize that we still have no answer to the question
I’m left wondering what kind of answer is that, as well as amazed at the incredible instantaneous speed of recovery from a highly emotional state, so I look around at my fellow audience members and try to gauge their reactions to this vague and calculated response. Here’s what I gather:
Frank – Where exactly do you stand on the Troop surge?
Even more amazing....
nobody thinks to follow up and ask!!
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Now, fast track forward to the present. In preparation for my 2010 Congressional run, I research the excellent database of information available at the local public library. I key in the year 2007....
Here are the newspaper reports & headlines:
1) LoBiondo feels antiwar pressure – He stands by Bush, but he says the war "has simply lost the public
As U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo takes the four-hour drive from the Jersey Shore to Washington each week, he's thinking about the war in Iraq and whether he should join the handful of fellow Republicans who have broken with President Bush and now say they want the troops out in nine months. "This is something I think about - not just once in a while, but all the time," he said. ....It won't be hard for LoBiondo to break with Bush - he's done that before....His struggle with the war, though, reflects the GOP's turmoil as it looks at an unpopular lame-duck president and a 2008 electoral cycle in which Democrats are better funded and closer to the electorate on this issue. LoBiondo 61, said his inner struggle isn't about the 2008 electoral cycle. "I would rather leave office doing the right thing than making a political decision that could involve a great many lives," he said....adding that he seriously wonders if their government "is fully engaged and being in session - I don't know if they have a work-at-home program."
At the end of this article I’m still left with the question...
Frank – Where exactly do you stand?