NJ Primary Next Tuesday - IMO Qarmout Is the Best Conservative Choice

So wrapped up in the national events leading up to November’s elections, I totally forgot next Tuesday June 5 is the primary here in New Jersey. And we’ve got an entrenched Democrat Senator, Bob Menendez, up for his umpteenth reelection. Question is: Are there any Republicans who have a shot at unseating him?

U.S. Senate Race: Republican Party Primary
GOP voters have choice between three outsiders and a state Senator in June 5 primary to win change to unseat Sen. Menendez
By Joe Tyrrell, May 25, 2012

Some of the candidates may object to the pecking order, but both feathers and ideas are flying in a freewheeling, issue-oriented campaign for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

The battle for the dubious honor of challenging well-funded incumbent U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, in a presidential year has attracted four energetic, if not especially well-known, contenders.

Best known is state Sen. Joe Kyrillos, R-Monmouth, and the most recent poll numbers found that more than two-thirds of New Jerseyans had never heard of him. None of the major polls even bothered to gauge voters’ opinions of the other Republicans: Bader Qarmout, David-Douglas Brown and Joe “Rudy” Rullo.

The polls also showed support somewhat soft for Menendez, which is giving Republicans hope in their quest to unseat him. They argue that the struggling economies of the nation and state make this year's contests harder to call than in other presidential years, when high turnouts often favor Democrats. ...

I think of the four GOP contenders, I like Qarmout the best. I like his story (He's a Jordanian Christian whose parents came over to the U.S.--legally!--to give their kids a better life). Plus he seems to be the only one of the four who is solidly conservative, based on their stances on national security, taxation, health care reform, and illegal immigration. Those are my top issues. 

But I’m a realist. Kyrillos is the odds-on favorite. He’s the most well-known, most politically experienced, and most frequently endorsed by other Republican politicians, including Governor Christie. But he seems to be too moderate and establishment for my taste. So why not support a true conservative?

I’m also realistic enough to accept that Menendez will beat anybody, including Kyrillos. Republican governor or not, New Jersey is still a blue state and as long as Democrat dinosaurs like Menendez keep bringing home the bacon for his constituents he’ll get reelected.