The Manzo Blog

OF EMAILS, SMALL HANDS, AND BROKERED CONVENTIONS

     Louis Manzo March 8, 2016

     If you’ve been following my blogs for the past year, then you have noticed the uncanny and scarily accurate forecasting that I’ve been making relative to current events and national elections. [Short recap: successful predictions of the 2014 national midterm and statewide elections, the slow and steady demise of the Democrat Party, accurate prophesy to date of the current Dem and GOP presidential primaries, the failure of Jeb Bush, and the resignation of John Boehner.]

     My ideology and political philosophy do not factor into my predictions. [I am a lifelong Democrat.] Though many of you may choose to kill the messenger, my only motive is to continue keeping the readers of this blog the best informed.

     My forecasting is based upon an assortment of national polling data that tests the temperature and the mood of the American electorate, as well as policies and happenings impacting current events in the country. I rarely rely on horserace polling between candidates—it is becoming more and more unreliable in today’s politics, though favorability ratings of political personalities do factor in.

    Thus far, the GOP debates have had all the dignity of a Monday Night Raw wrestling match. The only thing that seems to be missing from the GOP forums are whip cream pies. (more…)

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2015 ELECTIONS: GOP & DEM PARTY BELTWAY INSIDERS REMAIN OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE COUNTRY—American People Attracted to Outsider Candidates

 

By Louis Manzo / November 10, 2015

     More Americans pulled levers for non-incumbent candidates with little political office experience in the recent November elections. Most of those candidates were Republicans, and most were either center or right of center in political ideology.

     DEM’S lost the Sheriff’s seat in the liberal bastion of San Francisco, where even progressives sent their party a message about “sanctuary city” policies. In Kentucky, the DEM’S lost 4 of 5 statewide constitutional offices, including the governorship for only the second time in 48 years. The DEM’S took surprising losses in Virginia as well.

    This continues a trend that was forecast in this blog just before the November 2014 elections. More than two-thirds of the legislative houses of the States in this country are now held by Republican, as are 33 Governor’s seats. (more…)

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RUSSIA MAKES READY TO TAKEOUT ISIS: Putin to Be Lauded on World Stage by American Allies Who Were Snubbed by Obama

By Louis Manzo / September 24, 2015

     In the weeks prior to his planned address to the United Nations’ General Assembly later this month, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has moved Russian military personnel and armament into Syria, despite concerns expressed by US President Barack Obama. Putin’s intentions are to prop up Russian ally and Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad. Putin’s cover story will be that Russia will be conducting a major assault against ISIS by leading and establishing a coalition to do so.

   With US allies such as Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia in angst over the United States’ failure to assert leadership in confronting the ISIS terror campaign, these countries are likely to encourage the Russian initiative. US allies in Europe, trying to cope with an overwhelming number of Syrian refugees fleeing into their countries, will also likely welcome the Russian action.

     Look for the Russian strategy to be unveiled during Putin’s address to the United Nations in late September. (more…)

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CHRISTIE CAMPAIGN ON LIFESUPPORT AS ENTIRE GOP FIELD GETS TRUMPED

By Louis Manzo / August 18, 2015

     New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s, so far, short-lived campaign for the GOP presidential nomination is nearing its end. Basically, like others of his fellow GOP contenders, he has been Trumped. All of the so-called campaign professionals, advising their particular clients amongst the huge field of candidates seeking the GOP nomination, have totally misread the American people, as have their counterparts advising Hillary Clinton.

   The American people, as the 2014 election cycle indicated and polling confirmed, are fed up with the conditions in their country and the out-of-touch Washington pols [both Democrat and Republican] whose polices have taken a wrecking ball to America. The American people have been fed doctored numbers on the health of the nation’s economy and the largesse of other out-of-work Americans who are purposefully not counted in unemployment statistics in order to paint a picture of a rosy economy and robust job growth.

     The American people have also consistently expressed their angst with a flawed immigration policy that the money barons and lobbyist who fund both parties seem to prefer— amnesty, cheap labor, and open borders. (more…)

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CHRISTIE PRESIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENT A PRELUDE TO JULY 4th FIREWORKS

By Louis Manzo / June 25, 2015

     In all likelihood, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will make known his intention to seek the GOP’s nomination for President of the United States in the days leading up to July 4th.

     It would be optimum timing for such an announcement. Given the furious pace of candidates [13 as of this writing] who have made known their intentions to compete in the Republican field. The days preceding and over a holiday weekend are typically slow news cycles and it would give such an announcement a greater shot at grabbing and maintaining a presence in news headlines before, during, and after the holiday break.

     Such a timeline [as I had predicted during the course of numerous radio, TV, and web interviews the past year regarding my book, Ruthless Ambition], would fit Christie’s style of attempting to mimic his hero of convenience, Ronald Reagan. To borrow from former Democratic Vice-presidential nominee, Lloyd Bentsen: Trust me, Chris Christie is no Ronald Reagan! (more…)

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CHRISTIE PUTS A TIGER IN HIS TANK

By Louis Manzo / March 13, 2015

    The latest Chris Christie caper centers on the Christie Administration’s just announced settlement agreement with ExxonMobil, amounting to $225M, for an environmental damages lawsuit initiated under the administration of former NJ Governor James McGreevey. The lawsuit went after the corporate giant for pollution damages resulting from their refinery operations in Union County and elsewhere in New Jersey. Anyone who has traveled the New Jersey Turnpike in the vicinity of Exit 13 and whiffed the putrid rotten egg smell there will catch the drift of the lawsuit right away.

    The original lawsuit brought by the State sought $8.9B for damages and another $2.6B in remediation costs. After years of legal battling, the State’s legal team won significant court victories establishing ExxonMobil’s guilt. The company was on the ropes. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough for the Christie Administration. Enter the Governor’s Chief Counsel, Christopher Porrino—a genuine legal eagle…with an apparent broken wing and dry beak—who inserted himself in the process and meddled with the successful legal team. (more…)

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OREGON GOVERNOR LACKED THE RESUME OF A FORMER UNITED STATES ATTORNEY: A TALE OF TWO GOVERNORS

By Louis Manzo / February 16, 2015

     This past week, serious New Jersey journalists and other media sleuths—at least those with an attention span greater than the mayfly’s lifecycle—may have been scratching their heads when the news broke that the just resigned Oregon Governor, John Kitzhaber, was under Federal investigation.

     Kitzhaber is in meltdown mode over a deepening influence-peddling scandal surrounding his fiancée, Cylvia Hayes. Allegedly, Hayes pocketed $118,000 in previously undisclosed consulting fees in 2011 and 2012 from the Washington-based Clean Economy Development Center while also advising the governor on energy policy. The consulting fees were never revealed in annual disclosure filings. Kitzhaber is insisting that there is no conflict of interest. The United States Attorney for the District of Oregon, S. Amanda Marshall, has subpoenaed extensive personal and government documents and is now investigating. (more…)

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********BULLETIN********LATEST CHRISTIE SCANDAL UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION WAS FEATURED IN “RUTHLESS AMBITION”

By Louis Manzo / February 8, 2015

     This past week, word leaked out of yet another scandal now under federal investigation concerning the checkered past of NJ Governor Chris Christie—a contender for the 2016 GOP nomination for President. In the very first chapter of “Ruthless Ambition” [the chapter can be read for free on the Amazon website], I wrote about this very incident.

     The matter involves the dismissal of a distinguished Hunterdon County Prosecutor for failing to drop criminal charges against a Christie for Governor Campaign supporter. The passage from the book reads as follows:

   … Unbelievably, at this very same time, Lieutenant Governor Guadagno was at the center of another political and potentially criminal scandal still brewing, the news and facts for which were still evolving as word of the Hoboken scandal broke. A veteran prosecutor ousted by Governor Christie’s administration accused the Governor’s regime of corruption in court documents. Bennett A. Barlyn, a once Assistant Prosecutor in the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office, was working an ironclad criminal case against the Hunterdon County Sheriff and two of her deputies in 2010. (more…)

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CHRIS CHRISTIE: HIS HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COWBOYS …AND FEDERAL PROSECUTORS

By Louis Manzo / January 8, 2015

     Living up to his reputation for shameless arrogance—a staple of his public service career that is well documented in the book “Ruthless Ambition” —Governor Chris Christie has made a mess of things again, this time by accepting gifts from Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones.

     Christie caught the nation’s attention by appearing in the owner’s booth with Jones during several of the team’s late season games on their drive to the NFL’s Eastern Division Championship, and then, most recently, during the Cowboys’ playoff victory over the Detroit Lions. During the spontaneous celebration of the victory, Christie was awkwardly left hanging for a high five and resorted to a very uncomfortable and un-presidential hugging of Jerry Jones—picture a dog in heat clinging to your leg. The travel accommodations and game perks—including the cost of flying Christie on Jones’ private jet—were taken care of by the Dallas Cowboys’ owner, which might also help to explain Christie’s excessive celebration. (more…)

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THANKSGIVING LEFTOVERS & CHRISTMAS HORS d’OEUVRES: A POTPOURRI OF HOLIDAY TRIMMINGS

By Louis Manzo / December 8, 2014

Schumer Supports Blog’s Election Analysis

     The reaction to my pre-midterm election blog—in which I had accurately predicted the results of the November 4, 2014 elections—resulted in a wave of requests for media interviews. Some of the radio interviews elaborating on the analysis can be listened to on the internet—the links are posted in the “PRESS” tag of the “In the News” webpage of this website.

Some radio hosts were disturbed by my commentary. Please don’t kill the messenger. I’m a Democrat and I merely related to readers what other deep-rooted Dems from Hudson County had told me. [See “The Party Is Over: Dems Face a Drubbing at the Polls With Long-Lasting Consequences” blog.] Other Dem media supporters who read the blog were likewise upset by my accurate predictions and my independent analysis. (more…)

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