Withdraw Mr. Halfacre

Mr. Halfacre,

With your defeat with the Monmouth County Screening Committee, I think it is clear your campaign for the Republican nomination is a lost cause. You failed to secure the backing of a single county committee, you lack the grassroots support many have been touting, and its becoming more clear in panels, debates, and speeches that Sipprelle is simply the better candidate.

From what I can tell you have been a quality mayor, a solid conservative, and a decent guy. Your campaign manager is clearly a tool that gave you horrible advice concerning the constant barrage of attacks against Sipprelle and the outright lie regarding his party registration. I think you can go a long way by ending your bid for the Republican nomination and chalking the whole thing up to being overly competitive, or whatever. Besides, there are plenty of political positions you can still seek in the future. But U.S. Congress appears to be a bit over your head.

You don't need to endorse or back Sipprelle, in fact you can probably back out with a quick press release indicating you simply could not raise sufficient funds to continue the campaign, or compete, etc., etc.

Whatever path you choose, it must be abundantly clear you will NOT win the Republican primary. Drawing this out any longer exposes you to potential damage to your reputation, something that is extremely important to you I am sure. There is nothing to be gained by remaining in the race.

Defeating Rush Holt in the general election is a long shot at best. To do it will require a top-notch campaign and plenty of financial resources. It is going to take a ton of effort on the part of Sipprelle to build up name-recognition, meet Republicans and independents in the district, and convince them he is the man for the job. It will be difficult. The District is fairly liberal and Democrats outnumber Republicans here about 2-to-1.

However, it is possible. Christie defeated Corzine in this district just six months ago. The key is to drive down Holt's approval numbers to where Corzine's were. Democratic enthusiasm must also be pushed down which won't be too hard considering the horrible economy. You also need very high turnout from Republicans, in fact that is likely a necessary condition for victory.

So, in order to get high Republican turnout, the Party must be undivided, enthusiastic, and strongly behind the candidate. This is made very difficult if a primary challenger is still hanging around making all sorts of attacks. We all want Rush Holt out. Lets give it our best shot.

Withdraw Mr. Halfacre.