With what may be the biggest political corruption scandal in New Jersey history unfolding, I am likely the only person writing about its gubernatorial race. But yesterday it was big news when Randal Pinkett, entrepreneur and winner of The Apprentice 4, held a press conference to announce that he’s still interested in running as incumbent Jon Corzine’s lieutenant governor – if the governor will have him.
There has been a great deal of media coverage about Mr. Pinkett’s readiness for the role since Governor Corzine announced he was on the short list. Numerous articles, blog posts and editorials have essentially laughed at the notion of a winner of The Apprentice running the state should something happen to the governor. These days, it seems anything associated with Donald Trump generates at minimum a chortle, if not a heavy dose of skepticism. It’s a shame, because we know Randal and his time on The Apprentice is a blip on the continuum of his accolades and accomplishments.
I am not interested in recapping his resume; other pieces have done that. Instead I’d like to shed light on Randal, the person. Rose Communications represented the publisher of Randal’s book, “Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur’s Guide to Launching a Multi-Million Dollar Business.” We worked directly with Randal for several months leading up to the launch of the book as well as in the weeks that followed it. He is at once intelligent, charming and approachable. He definitely had a point of view about his book and how it should be introduced. But he was also impressively collaborative, bringing in his own public relations counsel as well as the firm that handled The Apprentice. He is as passionate about helping people as he is about achieving success. Randal was always accessible to us, listened to our perspective and expressed his gratitude for our work.
Of course, I have no say as to whom Governor Corzine selects as his running mate and I’ll do my own due diligence when that choice is made. But what I know now is that Randal is the victim of media outlets that took the easy route by focusing almost singularly on his time on The Apprentice. It was deplorable how they placed the focus on his handling of individual tasks on the show without making mention of all the things he’d achieved before and after that short season on television. Randal seemed to stay out of the fray, which is the smart thing for a potential running mate to do until he’s officially named. But he wisely took control of the message yesterday when he offered his perspective to the media.
Governor Corzine supposedly has until Monday to make his decision. Whether Randal’s time is next week or in the future, I hope voters take the time to get to know him beyond what they or someone they know saw on “reality” television.