The O'Toole Chronicles Archives

The O’Toole Chronicles: Senate Seats Don’t Grow on Trees

March 2, 2021 12:01 amMarch 1, 2021 7:00 pm

With some humility, I will point out that I predicted in an earlier column that we would see a high turnover rate in the State Senate. At the time I wrote, there were several issues that influenced my thinking: Redistricting...

The O’Toole Chronicles: Vaccinations, Essex County Style

February 25, 2021 4:26 pmFebruary 26, 2021 8:40 am

We are in the beginning of the vaccination period and we have seen and heard stories of long lines, lack of availability, website crashes, confusion with the ranking lists, and on and on. I recently had an opportunity to finally...

The O’Toole Chronicles: Always know your election fund balance

February 23, 2021 12:01 amFebruary 23, 2021 12:39 pm

“How much money do I have in the bank?” “Depends. How much did you spend between when we spoke last night and this morning?” “That’s not what I asked. How much money do I have?” Pause “Either you’re lying to...

The O’Toole Chronicles: Help is on the way

February 18, 2021 9:03 amFebruary 18, 2021 11:01 am

We are all witnessing the unbelievable weather assault that has pelted much of the United States over the last few weeks. The State of Texas was hit particularly hard. Reports indicate that upwards of 2.8 million people have lost power,...

The O’Toole Chronicles: The Get Out the Vote Program

February 16, 2021 12:01 amFebruary 15, 2021 4:21 pm

Those of us who have tinkered with the Get Out The Vote Program (“GOTV”) have some sense of how difficult and labor intensive these efforts can be. I have had to manage a fair amount of these operations, from local...

The O’Toole Chronicles: Know your audience

February 9, 2021 12:01 amFebruary 9, 2021 9:04 am

I know that I touched upon this issue before, but a dear friend, Matt Eventoff, who happens to be a highly sought after public speaking and communications consultant for Fortune 500 executives, tells me that a refresher course is in...

The O’Toole Chronicles: Knowing when to say when

February 3, 2021 11:33 am

We’ve all seen the news that State Senators Tom Kean and Kip Bateman recently made the hard and emotional decision to retire from elective office. Unless you walked a mile in those elected moccasins, you can’t readily appreciate the gravity...