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| Sources close to Raia hold Mason chief operative 'Finboy' (a.k.a. 'James Anthony' on Facebook) responsible for "ruining the campaign", "effectively destroying Occhipinti" and for "pushing the Ravi-thing" which they believe helps Zimmer. |
GA's got some deep dish for you today, it comes from sources close to Frank Raia.
As you know, Raia is presumed to be the Dark Side's best shot at taking control of the City Council, which includes control of the Zoning Board (8 appointments) and HHA (replacement appointments for Jake Stuiver and Greg Lincoln). The Council is also the City's Redevelopment Agency. What hangs in the balance are several huge development projects including but not limited to Vision 20/20, NJ Transit railyards, and the Rockefeller Group property.
That is many millions of dollars in contracts and (dare I say... ) kickbacks. Allegedly.
And though various Dark Side politicos are feuding, one color unites them: GREEN. So you'd better believe that One Hoboken (Tim's slate) and Vision for Hoboken (Ruben's slate) will work hand-in-hand to wrest control of the City Council back from Reform. They already are; it's called the Giattino strategy (a.k.a. Operation Douchebag).
Yesterday, GA blogged how the 2 Dark Side factions are working to boot Giattino off the Council. Because Jen relocated her family out the 6th Ward during reconstruction of her home (damaged by Hurricane Sandy), Dark Siders see an opening to exploit her tragedy. Jen's residency was attacked at the City Council by Joe Branco, a Carmelo-Ramos guy and Beth Mason operatives were 'busted photographing Giattino's home last Saturday and filing OPRA requests for her new address, permits, etc.
Geniuses.
Who thought that attacking a flood victim in a city of flood victims was smart politics?
It's that kind of stupidity that has those close to Frank Raia shaking their heads. They think he blew it.
Here are notes from speaking with these sources:
Raia lost another one. He had a chance. But his campaign was co-opted by Beth's people. They drove the campaign into the ground. Destroyed his chances of getting the seat. Beth Mason, Barracato and Cryan have taken over the campaign and Frank doesn't seem to care. Tim could have come in second, now he's coming in third. Ramos will be in second place.
Ramos is running a real campaign. A professional campaign. They issue press releases. Russo is the orchestrator of that. Russo is the real power behind Ramos, he's pushing the agenda - he at least knows what he's doing.
Frank isn't getting the seat because his campaign is run by amateurs. Barracato and Cryan have no idea what they are doing, they've got no strategy, they're out of their league.
Occhipinti, Barracato and Cryan are responsible for ruining the campaign. It's amateur hour. They've put out almost no press releases. What they put out is crap. They offended Manning. They have their own agenda, they're flat-out amateurs who don't have a political brain among them. Especially Barracato, he thinks he knows what he's talking about. Barracato is pushing the Ravi thing, which will get Zimmer voters to come out en masse....
Mason co-opted the campaign through her hatred of Ravi. Barracato is obsessed with Ravi. He thinks he knows what he's doing. that's a big mistake. The Ravi attacks have galvanized the Zimmer vote. The attacks on Ravi are helping Zimmer. The campaign has been effective at destroying Occhipinti, they have no clue as to what they're doing.
The whole campaign strategy is a shambles. The strategy attacking manning, the buttons, the flyer, lack of consistent press releases. They're paying a lot of money... they have a press person who is not issuing press releases.
The candidates are running off doing their own thing. Frank doesn't care. He just wants to win his seat. He doesn't understand his campaign's been fucked up by people who don't know what they're doing. He had a shot, but he blew it.
Well, that was interesting! Though GA doesn't believe in counting chickens before they vote, Raia's peeps are saying "it's over" for him, because those running the campaign are "out of their league" and thoroughly incompetent. I can't disagree.
First there was a Nazi Truck. Now a Peyton Letter, etc. Finboy has trashed another campaign.
Yet, foolish Dark Siders continue to take Mason's money (and they will again) though they understand it comes with an arrogant, incompetent operative who allows personal hatreds to hijack political campaigns.
Let me guess: Finboy is the 'brains' behind the Giattino Strategy?
Raia's debate performance wasn't exactly stellar either.
ReplyDeleteRaia is all about I did this, I did that, they are sitting on 3 million of mine.
ReplyDeleteTotal. Turnoff.
Raia doomed to another election failure and taking Bet's people down with him this time just a year after the doomed Nazi Truck fiasco.
ReplyDeleteWell deserved!
it's beth's people taking down Raia -- or maybe Ramos' sabotaging Raia
DeleteWhat you see here is the start of "we would've won if only [fill in the blank with person you don't like] hadn't screwed it up] because after all "anybody but zimmer" is really a mighty force commanding a huge majority of votes. The dark side goes through this every time they lose because blaming each other is easier than acknowledging the truth - they wouldn't have won with James Carville or Karl Rove managing their campaigns because Zimmer and her agenda is popular and their candidates and their agenda are not.
ReplyDeleteBaracato is a clown and the Tim/Raia campaign is a joke but its the candidates themselves who are the real jokes. There's a reason these idiots hire idiots and its because they are idiots.
+500
DeleteI disagree. I think some raia people actually believe they had a chance and saw their campaign taken over by a pack of political nitwits, and Raia sleepwalking through the election let them do it. The blame comes a little later when the nitwits try to cover their tracks
DeleteFrank was told by his son that he should get out of politics a long time ago.
DeleteA person would have to be a nitwit to even support Raia and Tim.
DeleteI agree with Anon @ 4:25 PM.
DeleteFrom what I hear, they really believed Raia could bring it, but saw it all slip away by absolute amateurs and nitwits, and Raia's disinterest in reigning them in.
Of course, I've believed all along the anchovy is working both sides of the street, and fouling Occhipinti was his intention. But Finboy's a colossal fuck-up, an idiot beyond compare. He wasn't supposed to wreck Frank. Many believe he did. We won't know until November 5th.
The problem with Finboy is his utter lack of accountability, though he is responsible for much damage wreaked on Hoboken residents and office holders who support Zimmer. Finboy uses Mason's wallet like a shield, while he cooks up plan after plan to damage the reputations and livelihoods of public servants like Ravi Bhalla simply because he CAN. Who is next? All of the shit flying about Bhalla comes from him. He is directing this libel and slander against Ravi and needs to be held accountable. How about it?
Unfortunately, there are alot of nitwits in this town! I bet at least a 1/4 of the Residents at the HHA will vote for Raia or Ramos due to the VBM $; signing their own eviction papers. The rest of Hoboken may not be too far behind, because after all they voted to put Mason, Russo, and Castellano on the city council. Never underestimate the power of evil or the stupidity of many people to be fooled.
ReplyDeleteyou're right. Lincoln said you can fool some of the people some of the time, and these evil people do it often enough to get reelected. Remember, Tim was a nitiwt before he ran for mayor, and people put him on the council.
DeleteZimmer record, which is backed up by her 'green army' of volunteers, will win a solid victory. The plans of the divided cannot win. Zimmer's team is a sure bet.
ReplyDeleteRemaining cautiously optimistic is probably the best bet here.
DeleteShould evil pull this out, they should expect Good to trump. There is a sting in place and those naive souls (pawns) who signed on should be very concerned with the VBM plan.
May the best woman win.