Last night I got this e-mail from Michael Murphy and the Rob Andrews (D-NJ1) for Senate campaign in New Jersey, and I have to say it's pretty sleazy. It used innuendo, dog-whistle code words and intentionally slanted transcription in an attempt to paint Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)as a doddering old fool.
His inarticulate, meandering performance did not even approach the standards expected of a United States senator, especially one who has held the office for 24 years.
How can a campaign that slammed Lautneberg for the "one of the low points in NJ political history" for calling Millicent Fenwick an "eccentric" go this far? Why don't they just come out and say, "He's demented and should be in a home"? At least that would be their honest position instead of creeping up on it like this.
But it gets worse.
His response to a question about his views on health care was just one example:
"Well uuhh I think umm ummm that everyone in the Country should have the kind of uhh healthcare uhh that we in the Congress uhh and uhh in order to try to get that uhhh to the people of the country. What we have to do is the Government to be a participant in deciding what kind of programs are gonna be available.
"But everybody should have the opportunity uhhh for Health Insurance and uhhh that uhhhh one plan or the uhhh is to make the Government uhhh produce the insurance for everybody but I don't thing that that's the right way to do it. I think that the Government ought uhhh to publish uhhh a review of all the plans -- the private plans -- so the people can understand what risks they're taking when ummm they enlist in a particular uhh program."
What in the world is he talking about?
Nice use of "uhhh, uhhh, uhhhh" there, Michael. You proud of yourself?
As for what he was saying, it's pretty simple when you remove the "uhhh, uhhh, uhhhh." Either you are lying that it makes no sense or you are as doddering as you just think Lautenberg is.
He said that the people of the United States should have the same level of care as members of Congress, and that the government should have a say in how the programs are run. He opposes single payer health care run by the government, but thinks the government should post reviews and analysis of all the private plans to ensure the public is educated about them and can make good choices.
See, Mike. That wasn't so hard. Unless, of course, you intentionally try to confuse the issue with "uhhh, uhhh, uhhhh."
Frankly, I disagree with Lautenberg on this. I fully support a single payer system like the VA has. Private plans have been an abject and massively overpriced failure for Medicare Part D. But disagreeing with the position is one thing, and mocking someone for not being a slick, polished speaker is another.
And it makes a liar and hypocrite out of Rob Andrews, because back in April he said:
"When Senator Lautenberg first ran for office in 1982, he based his whole campaign. He ran against then-Congresswoman [Millicent] Fenwick, who was 72, and the argument was that she was too old to serve. I won't do that to him," said Andrews.
The Andrews campaign can't run statewide ads saying that Lautenberg was wrong to campaign on age in 1982 and then spend the kind of money on attack ads and e-mails like this on age. And they especially shouldn't do it after promising less than two months ago that they wouldn't.
There are ways to argue these points on the merits, but mocking and using "uhhh, uhhh, uhhh" to slam a man who has been a champion for New Jersey for more than two decades is one of the lowest things I've seen in New Jersey politics.
[crossposted on Blue Jersey]