The Political Insider

Like every other coastal state, New Jersey leans Democrat. And in Union County, New Jersey, nearly 70 percent of people voted for Hillary Clinton.

Despite that, an anti-Trump billboard wasn’t welcome even there, even though the people there largely voted against The Donald. Neil Harrison, a political activist from the Bronx, paid $1,000 for the billboard to spread his anti-Trump message. He said he chose New Jersey instead of his native New York because his home state doesn’t allow for political messages to be put on billboards.

The billboard is also serving as a promo for Harrison’s upcoming documentary “Our Leader The Idiot.” The film has no web presence in the form of a Facebook, Twitter, or IMDB page to promote it, leading me to believe it’s some low-budget homemade documentary, not an actual project.

According to the Daily Wire, “Union Township Public Information Officer Natalie Pineiro, who acknowledged the billboard did not violate any local ordinance or law, told the Associated Press that the Monday following the introduction of the billboard she received “dozens” of voicemails from residents angered by the billboard’s contents. She added that over 100 negative comments on the town’s Facebook page were posted.”

Officer Pineiro criticized Harrison’s claims that he was promoting a documentary (which there not yet any evidence of), calling his true motives “transparent.” “It’s clear what his intentions were and now the township has been the recipient of his circus-like crusade.” She said the billboard was not a representation of the town’s values, adding, “No matter what, it’s about common decency and respect for us. … It has been a resounding outrage to the fact that somebody is going to these lengths to attack a sitting president. It’s something we’ve heard equally about from residents no matter their party, age, demographic. It’s something that’s caused a stir here.”

The township later clarified on their Facebook page that the billboard wasn’t sanctioned by the township, but is supplied by a private company.

This is hardly the first time the Right is revolting against the Left in these politically charged times.

• As California has moved to turn themselves into a “Sanctuary State” for illegal immigrants, a handful of counties and cities in the state are fighting back, refusing to obey the “sanctuary” status the rest of the state has.
• To fight renewed calls for gun control, officials in Illinois are creating “sanctuary” counties for gun owners. A bill to make West Virginia a sanctuary state (from gun control) was also proposed earlier this year.
• After Dicks Sporting Goods made a politically charged move following the Parkland school shooting and announced they’d stop selling assault rifles (which they’d already done previously… in 2012), conservative boycotts caused their stock value to plummet to their lowest point in four months.
• After the NFL sided with their kneeling players, their ratings tanked, which was confirmed by polls showing that the National Anthem protests turned the NFL from one of the most favorably viewed sports leagues in the country, to the least favorite. Similarly, ESPN’s leftward-tilt has caused them to hemorrhage viewers.

Of course, the real victories are political. Republicans are far outperforming Democrats on a whole handful of metrics, including their favorability, the amount of money they’re raising, and of course, their ability to actually win elections.