HACKENSACK – The U.S.S. Ling sits in dry dock on the Hackensack River, which divides Bogota from Hackensack and with a few hours to go in this GOP gubernatorial primary, Steve Lonegan crosses the river from his hometown into the latter and rallies with supporters at the Heritage Diner.
"Turnout's low, but you never know," says Lonegan, standing amid his backers in the dining room. "People are looking seriously at electability. It's in the hands of the election gods, but I feel confident. We have a phenomenal grassroots organization.
"This race comes down to who's conservative versus who's moderate, who's plagued by scandals versus who's scandal free," says Lonegan, contrasting himself with former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, who holds a double-digit lead over the former mayor of Bogota, according to most polls.
"We're all about winning," Lonegan insists. "I can't wait to go head-to-head with Jon Corzine in debates. I don't know how he defends himself."
The movement conservative's seal-the-deal performance on 101.5 FM featured what at least one of the hosts heard as a Lonegan gaffe when the candidate referred to a recent Fairleigh Dickinson University poll showing him trailing as "retarded."
Lonegan has no regrets about his choice of words.
"I didn't call a person retarded," he says. "I'm not into the speech police thing, but I was using the word as in 'behind.' Look, I'd like to believe I'm considerate of people."
If he had anything to do over, he says he wishes he would have been able to raise more money.
"I've tried to explicate my flat tax proposal as eloquentlyas I can, but I wouldn't haver minded more money to do that," he says. "We made a strategic choice to respect the voters and talk specifically about how to cut spending and reduce spending rather than in vague generalities, and I don't regret that."
