London, 5 years gone

It has been an excellent week in London, most especially because of the opportunity to reconnect with London Business School colleagues during the MBA 2003 class reunion. I'd guess that about 1/3 of the class turned up for at least one of the events of the 3 day weekend reunion, mostly drawn from those still living in London. Some traveled from as far away as Japan, and a few of us came in from the US as well. (Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Stream A had the highest turnout.)

Many people have achieved great success in the banking, consulting, and other industry sectors in the context of large corporations. Those who came to London from afar and have returned to their home countries have risen to extraordinarily high positions (Asia in particular). But it was also great to see some of the class who have taken more of the entrepreneurial route. It's always nice to have a few kindred spirits.

Since most people have focused on their careers (and families - but more on that later) with one exception from Italy they haven't had time for political activism and were keen to hear my stories about what it was like to run for Congress. Although that seems like a lifetime ago for me, for people I haven't seen or talked to in several years it is the freshest thing in their mind. Though I'm desensitized to it, having it explained it dozens upon dozens of times, I suppose the history of how I ended up exporting cars to Senegal as a result of a visit to Iraq and a French media company is rather unusual.

The most incredible element though was seeing so many of my colleagues married and with beautiful young children. Just above is a sample photo of me and my primito.

Of course, I also very much appreciated the intellectual stimulation of being back on campus. As part of the reunion, there were several presentations organized for the alumni that I found very stimulating.

First of all was the talk given by Sir John Egan, a graduate of London Business School very first class over 40 years ago. Egan made his mark by turning around Jaguar Motors, a state-run company eventually purchased by Ford, and had a fruitful career in the automotive and logistics sectors.

When Egan began his remarks, his accent struck me. He retained a good deal of English inflection, but I suspected that he probably spent some time in the US. As his comments unfolded, he revealed that he had spent a good deal of time in Canada. But he did not explain that move as a routine, company-sponsored expatriation. Astonishingly, Egan explained that Britain in the mid 70s had become an absolute disaster. His income tax rate climbed to 83% (!!!) and he told us that he figured he had better leave the country while the getting was good, somewhat expecting that he would have to turn out the lights as the last professional to leave. I hope the US can right the ship before Murray Sabrin's admonition comes true, and high-income Americans begin to leave for greener, less taxed pastures.

Egan spoke with admiration of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the work that she led to improve the health of the UK economy, including privatization and deregulation. But he mentioned one particular element that I found quite telling - the introduction of secret ballots in labor union elections. Let's think about this - the UK improved its economy by giving each employee the right to vote in a private and protected manner - and yet today in the US, nearly 30 years later, the Democrats and their puppet-masters from the big unions want to approve the "card check" procedure, in which all manner of cajoling, threatening, and bribing can keep unions in power with little accountability from their members.

However, Egan expressed confidence in the central banking system and the ability of governments to manage the economy. He felt that the government finance organs of today, including the Bank of England, can better control inflation and prevent economic crises. We will have to part company on that matter, I'm afraid.

The following day, a 2-part lecture on the theme of innovation was given by Organizational Behavior Professor Lynda Gratton, and Strategy Professor Costas Markides. I found Gratton's talk to be very stimulating. She covered how companies can organize themselves and implement policies that foster innovation.

Among her most interesting points:

• Compensation has practically no impact on innovation - she cited the case of Wikipedia or Linux, in which communities of unpaid volunteers create an extremely innovative environment
• Cooperation is a learned behavior - it is a habit, not a skill
• In a leadership role, undivided attention is the greatest gift one can offer
• Happiness or satisfaction should not be confused with innovation

Following Gratton can the very entertaining Costas Markides, who gave a lecture entitled "The Traps of Innovation", chock full of examples and anecdotes on companies that had redefined who their customers were and what they really offered.

All the time, I was thinking about the political impact of these business theories on campaigns, and what steps could be taken to apply them to campaigns to make them more effective. After the talk, I ran into fellow blogger Mike Klein, a European-based Democrat operative in the midst of celebrating his 10 year reunion, and discovered that he had been thinking about these ideas for much longer. His approach flowed in the other direction - how to apply the qualities of successful political campaigns to corporate organizations. Mike is writing a book on this topic, which I look forward to reading and absorbing.

Of course, my trip to London was not without other political serendipity. While window shopping on New Bond Street, I happened to run into former US President Bill Clinton, who was in town for some Africa-related charity work.

I was on the opposite side of the street, and took the chance to snap a photo (Clinton is in the orange shirt and the trousers that are too short).

I suppose I should have crossed over to say something, but I didn’t fancy getting pounded by the Secret Service for telling Clinton:

1. Thanks for failing to identify terrorist threats both at home and abroad, enabling the pathetic minions of bin Laden to plot a major attack on America using box cutters
2. Thanks for stretching our military too thin, cementing the impression around the globe that America is the world’s policeman
3. Thanks for bungling the Israel-Syria peace talks that could have dramatically improved stability in the Middle East
4. Thanks for completing eroding respect for the American Presidency with your carnal pleasures in the Oval Office
5. Thanks for keeping Alan Greenspan around to further abuse the power of the Federal Reserve

Thanks for nothing, Bill!

Finally, can anyone tell me what sort of car this is?

You Don't Mess with the Zohan, BCRO style

It's hard to believe that less than a year ago, I supported the election of Rob Ortiz as Bergen County Republican Chair.

But it didn't take long for Ortiz to fall well short of expectations, causing 3 of his key backers to lose faith and encourage his ouster - myself, up-and-coming fundraising star Adam Alonso, and District 36 operative Joe Caruso. (Ortiz and his cabal understand the gravity of this realignment, so I'll spare my readers the specifics).

Enter Bob Yudin, longtime GOP activist/donor, who announced in April his intention to run against Ortiz for the BCRO Chairmanship, citing a litany of shortcomings.

Immediately following the Senate Primary on June 3, Yudin and I clarified past misunderstandings, and I began actively supporting his quest for the Chairmanship in a public relations capacity: creating a website, writing and distributing press releases, and interacting with the media.

For those readers who prefer a visual demonstration of my realignment, please visit www.google.com, type "rob ortiz", and click "I'm Feeling Lucky".

Bob Yudin had done a good job laying the groundwork. He had circulated a number of letters to the County Committee, plus mailed out endorsements from heavyweights like State Senator Gerry Cardinale and former Assembly Majority Leader Paul DiGaetano. More importantly, he had made himself omni-present throughout Bergen County, visiting with Republican clubs (I ran into him by chance while stumping for Murray Sabrin back in February at the Bergenfield GOP club meeting - which shows that he had been working the circuit for quite a while). This is super-important to the County Committee, and Yudin executed this aspect far, far better than Ortiz (the Dale Florio wanna-be) ever even realized.

One unpredictable component presented itself - namely, the candidacy of Ben Focarino, who lost to Ortiz in last year's Chairman election. Some suggested that Focarino had cut a deal with Ortiz and ran only as a stalking horse, while others felt he legitimately intended to become BCRO Chairman. The fact that Focarino actively made phone calls to County Committee, however, leads one to believe the latter.

On Tuesday, June 10, the votes were cast (exclusive of Orthodox Jews observing the Shavuot שבועות holiday, who Ortiz sought to disenfranchise by resisting attempts to extend voting hours past sundown). I took the lead in blasting Ortiz for this maneuver, quoted in a Yudin press release as follows:

"It is unacceptable for any Chairman to be so insensitive to a religious group and seek to deny them the right to participate in a critical vote. Bergen's Jewish community deserves better than Rob Ortiz.

Just imagine if the Hebrews had been led by someone as clueless as Ortiz. He probably would have abandoned them to become Pharoah's lobbyist, and they'd still be wandering the desert!"

Anyway, with a total turnout of 564, Ortiz suffered a 58% no confidence vote, but Yudin accounted for only 40% of that, so Focarino was eliminated and a run-off election a week later would determine the next Chairman. Clearly, Ortiz's minions were scared for their lives, not only because almost 6 out of 10 rejected the incumbent, but because Focarino then endorsed Yudin and also mailed a letter to the entire County Committee, plus made phone calls in support of Yudin.

So, out came the ridiculous moves of Ortiz's wondrous cabal, also known as "KZ and the Moonshine Band" (paragon of party loyalty and leader of the inner circle Keith Zakheim, election attorney extraordinaire David Catugno, and diatribe freelancer Matt Kazmierczyk)

• "BOB YUDIN JUST DOESN'T ADD UP" - Matt Kazmierczyk's masterpiece, whose money quote is "do we even need to dignify the absurdity of a 69-year-old white guy preach to a Hispanic man about cultural outreach?"
• a whisper campaign asserting that Yudin's business practices "might" lead to investigation by the Treasury Department (we don't know to whom we can attribute this remark, but I don't suspect it will be forgotten by the Yudin family anytime soon, so if anyone out there knows who did it, you'd best throw that person under the bus ASAP)
  

None of this mattered. Yudin knew he was going to win, and win big. While the anticipated 2:1 margin didn't pan out in the end, he did win 57% of the vote - the same margin by which Ortiz claimed victory last year. I guess the crown jewel of Ortiz's campaign of 2008 (not the smart one we ran for him in 2007), namely the endorsement of out-of-county political bosses and lobbyists, didn't quite impress the BCRO rank-and-file.

The most interesting element is the turnout: in 2007, 458 County Committee members voted; but in 2008, 729 people voted - that represents a 59% increase!

And so I am reminded of the movie "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" (which I do plan to see if only to support my friend Maysoon Zayid, who plays the role of Nadira in the film) - I leave it to the reader to uncover the analogy. Along those lines, expect a vigorous ethnic outreach effort on Yudin's part in his capacity as BCRO Chair - he understands the importance of this type of inclusive coalition building and made it a major campaign plank.

The Case for Dick Zimmer for Senate

Now that the NJ Primary has ended, I will be supporting the Republican nominee Dick Zimmer for United States Senate - here is an editorial explaining why, which was sent to Murray Sabrin's entire mailing list.
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Former Congressman Dick Zimmer, who will head the New Jersey Republican ticket this November as the U.S. Senate nominee, absolutely deserves the support of all party members, as well as conservative independents voters, in his quest to oust Frank Lautenberg. The stakes are too high, both statewide and nationally, to allow Lautenberg's bad votes to further jeopardize our liberty and prosperity.

The reasoning is straightforward – Lautenberg never has, and never will, pass up an opportunity to expand the size and scope of government. His ideas have their roots in collectivism and the belief that bureaucrats in Washington can better determine what will make us more free, prosperous, healthy, and happy than we can determine for ourselves and our families. Lautenberg represents a continuation of the failed experiment in central planning and his votes in the Senate will further the United States along the path to Socialism. He must be stopped.

By contrast, Congressman Zimmer refers to himself as the “un-Lautenberg”, contrasting the 84-year-old’s consistent support of bigger, more intrusive, and less efficient government with his own solid record of standing up for taxpayers. As he often notes, prominent taxpayer advocacy groups like Citizens Against Government Waste and the National Taxpayers’ Union lauded the legislation he sponsored during his 3 terms in the House of Representatives, naming him a "Taxpayer Superhero".

On the campaign trail, Zimmer often proffers his "pork buster before it was cool" credentials. Though the uber-fashionable “earmark reform” represent only 1 cent on the dollar (hardly the most egregious violation of the Constitution enacted in the last century), Zimmer confidently asserts that the elimination of earmarks is the lowest hanging fruit for Congress to regain the confidence of the American people.

I support Congressman Zimmer because, ultimately, the Republican Senate caucus needs courage to advance an aggressive agenda of budget cuts and reduced spending on Capitol Hill. The champions of fiscal conservatism in the GOP minority like Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint will have a ready, willing, and able ally when Dick Zimmer takes his seat. That is reason enough for all Republicans to give him our full backing.

If we elect not to do so, we Garden State residents will continue to be represented by the ultra-liberal and ineffective Frank Lautenberg. One only needed to have tuned in to the incumbent’s debates with Rob Andrews in recent weeks to see that Frank is out of his league – inarticulate, unimaginative, and simply out-of-touch. I wish him no ill, but I’d much rather be represented for the next 6 years in Washington by Dick Zimmer, resigning Frank Lautenberg to enjoy retirement at one of his “recreational properties”.

This endorsement does not mean that I agree with all of his positions, but the choice between supporting Congressman Zimmer and handing the election to Frank Lautenberg hardly represents a dilemma. Even the issues on which conservatives part company with Zimmer, his positions cannot be compared with those of the ultra-liberal Lautenberg, who supports taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand without restrictions, radical curtailment of our constitutional right to bear arms, and amnesty for those who have entered this country illegally.

Of course, I feel that Congressman Zimmer would surely cruise to victory if he opposed a continued occupation of Iraq more vigorously. He should also articulate the mismanagement of our economy by the financial and political elites, most especially the Federal Reserve, whose manipulation facilitates bail-outs to Wall Street billionaires while Main Street small business owners suffer with unaffordable mortgage debt. Furthermore, seniors investing in no-risk CDs cannot even meet inflation with the artificially low interest rates available. I advise Congressman Zimmer to embrace these issues, which drive at the heart of New Jersey voters’ concerns.

Finally, I applaud Zimmer for advocating an aggressive and early debate schedule like that of the 2006 Senate race. Let New Jersey voters compare a highly intelligent, experienced, down-to-earth Republican with "the most anti-business businessman ever to serve in the Congress of the United States." The right choice is more than clear.

All Republicans should support Dick Zimmer so that he can mount an aggressive campaign to unseat Frank Lautenberg, and of course provide coattails to our congressional candidates in Districts 3 and 7, to keep those seats in the GOP column.

Congressman Dick Zimmer has my full support.

George Ajjan
Clifton, NJ
The author served as the Communications Director for the Murray Sabrin U.S. Senate campaign.

Back to Blogging

Now that the Primary Election has passed, I will of course return to the blogosphere.

This afternoon, I will be giving a presentation to the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce, discussing blogging in general and its business applications.

I thank District 9 Congressional candidate Vince Micco for helping coordinate the event.