Here in New Jersey we have an important election taking place this Tuesday: to decide our Governor for the next four years. The Democratic nominee is US Senator Jon Corzine, a man who I happen to know and admire. He's a progressive of the best type; a self-made billionaire, he voted against the Iraq Resolution and has been active in calling attention to the genoicide in Darfur. I feel as if he'd do a pretty good job as Governor, as he's got the ability to clean up my state's corruption difficulties and the experience necessary to solve our fiscal problems. You can read more on him at http://www.corzineforgovernor.com .
His Republican opponent, Doug Forrester is a businessman who at night practices in the field of snake oil sales. He's a proud graduate of the Atwater-Rove Institute of Unethical Campaigning, and whose idea of making a tight race go his way is to smear his opponent as an adulterer. Read on to see how...
http://www.nj.com/...
DOWN-AND-DIRTY POLITICS
Claims of sex and smear tactics swirl
Saturday, November 05, 2005
BY JEFF WHELAN AND JOSH MARGOLIN
Star-Ledger Staff
Rumors of sexual indiscretions by the two candidates for governor spilled into public view yesterday as both men angrily denied them and each accused the other of a smear campaign...
The tipping point came after the New York Daily News published a gossip column yesterday implying that Forrester, who has been married for 30 years, had an extramarital affair with a former campaign staffer who is also a former Miss New Jersey.
Forrester flatly denied the allegation before a dozen television cameras during a heated news conference at the Woodbridge Hilton as the contest between the two multimillionaire businessmen took on a circus atmosphere.
"It is wrong, it is despicable, it is an example of the kind of campaign that Jon Corzine has been running from the beginning," Forrester said of the rumor. "It's one thing for Jon Corzine to try to blow up his family, but I'm not going to let him blow up mine."
Forrester said he was unaware of the details of a rumor Republicans have been circulating about Corzine: that the U.S. senator had a sexual relationship with one of his young female aides. But later in the day, Forrester, through his spokesman, condemned his own campaign manager, Rick England, for fueling that rumor.
Corzine, in an interview, charged that "Everyone in Trenton knows that Doug Forrester's campaign has been running a smear operation since the summer. He has no choice, because that's all he's got."
After a campaign event at a senior citizen center in Newark yesterday afternoon, Corzine dismissed the allegations as "not true" and "trash." The woman in question, a former Corzine aide, declined to comment when contacted by the Star-Ledger...
In August, England spoke with Jim Schroeder, a lobbyist for the New Jersey Education Association, about the decision by the state's largest teachers union to endorse Corzine.
Schroeder, in an interview yesterday, said England "did tell me I was making a mistake" by endorsing Corzine. He said England relayed the rumor about Corzine and the staffer, saying reporters were investigating it and that resulting stories would embarrass the Democrat's supporters.
"He said there was all this stuff out there. I was concerned. I was sad to see this character assassination. But I didn't really put a lot of stock in it. These guys were playing hardball. The stakes were high. This is the nature of politics," Schroeder said.
Sherry Sylvester, Forrester's campaign spokeswoman, said yesterday that England, in his view, "was simply giving a warning to a friend."
But she added: "Maybe there are certain degrees of rumor mongering. Having a personal conversation with a friend, maybe that's third-degree mongering. Leaking to the Daily News, that's first-degree rumor mongering. Doug would condemn it all."
Sylvester added that Schroeder later told England he was hearing the same rumor from other sources. Late last night, however, Sylvester changed her account to say that it was Schroeder who informed England about the rumor weeks before their August conversation.
Still, she said, Forrester told England yesterday "he doesn't like it. ... he does not want his team trafficking in rumors." Asked if Forrester would take any further action against England, she said, "Are we going to burn him at the stake?"
Schroeder stuck to his version of events.
The rumors about both candidates' personal lives remained behind the scenes until Forrester's campaign began running a TV ad featuring comments Corzine's ex-wife, Joanne, made in a New York Times interview: "Jon did let his family down, and he'll probably let New Jersey down, too."
Corzine called that ad "a new low" in "personal attacks." Forrester continued to defend the ad at his news conference yesterday, while acknowledging that he decided to approve the commercial after saying Wednesday that the quote involved "private life" and did not belong in the campaign...
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Polls are showing that this disgusting display of win-at-all-costs politics is working for Forrester. Marist University had Corzine ahead by a 46-42 margin on Thursday, down from a 13-point lead the day before! Fairleigh Dickinson has a similarly close race, with Corzine ahead 43-41. While Forrester can't beat Corzine in GOTV operations, he CAN win if enough voters get sick of the nastiness and stay home. Which is exactly what Forrester is attempting to do with this smear camapaign.
There's so much I love about my state, all kidding about its problems aside. The diversity is amazing, education is top-notch in most areas and we're beginning to lead the way in stem cell research and in promoting civil unions. The Governor of New Jersey is the most powerful of the nation's governors; he or she has the ability to directly affect my life in so many ways. And the last thing I want right now is to see Doug Forrester get that job by the skin of his teeth-all while displaying no regard for decency in public life.
If you care about New Jersey like I do, then you've got to go help us out. If you have time and the ability to work hard, come to New Jersey (or Virginia, although that's lower on my priority list right now) and give us a hand. The organizers here in New Jersey are pros in the game of GOTV-they just need people like us to carry the battle plan out to perfection. If you live in, say, Oregon for example, then consider sending a last-minute donation. The average volunteer on Election Day will be paid between $75-100, and that's money that we need NOW. Your dollars will go directly to volunteers, not campaign aids.
Along with Tim Kaine in Virginia, Jon Corzine has the ability on Tuesday to shut down the Atwater-Rove School of Political Thuggery, and to help take this country back. Let's not deny him that chance.