Posted on 09/15/2006 4:30:08 AM PDT by Brilliant
For pure entertainment value, not much can compete with the blood sport of New Jersey politics. Last week federal investigators launched a probe into whether U.S. Senator Robert Menendez illegally benefited to the tune of more than $300,000 from a rental-income deal he had with a nonprofit agency that received millions of dollars in federal contracts. Even liberal good government groups agree that the relationship may have violated congressional conflict-of-interest rules.
The allegations have sparked a mini-panic among state Democratic operatives, who not so long ago thought Mr. Menendez -- who was appointed by Jon Corzine ... had the November election in the bag. Now they see Republican Tom Kean Jr. surging... If Republicans were to pick up a seat in this deep blue state, Democrats' chances of winning control of the Senate would be all but slammed shut.
That's why...there's now widespread speculation that the party brass may decide to throw Mr. Menendez overboard and replace him with an alternative -- nine-term Rep. Rob Andrews, perhaps -- who is regarded as more electable. This has become a familiar practice in the Garden State and has become known derisively as the New Jersey Switcheroo.
The details of the case are as follows. In 1998, while Mr. Menendez was a member of the House, he helped a nonprofit housing and health-care agency known as the North Hudson Community Action Group win designation as a federally qualified health-care center. This designation allowed the nonprofit group to obtain $9.6 million in federal grants. The nonprofit's employees have contributed some $30,000 to Menendez campaigns over the years, including $9,000 from the agency's director. The alleged conflict of interest arises from the fact that the Hudson County nonprofit paid Mr. Menendez a total of $329,353 starting in 1994 to rent a building he owned...
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
This news should enhance Menendez's stature in the eyes of NJ voters.
You said exactly what I thought when I read this headline.....
Of course he's not "enhanced" by me and my family
Not this time. Kean is a very strong candidate and has leads in the polls. Forrester was always 15% behind Toricelli and Lautenberg and was pro-life. Kean is from a strong NJ family and his father, Former Gov Tom, is popular. Andrews will not help. This is now a GOP pickup.
How important do New Jersey voters think it is that you are split up among outside media markets? In CA I know that fractures the electorate, and that might be true in NJ, too.
Who are the entrenched powers? If I had to guess I would say Exxon.
I wouldn't let my daughters anywhere near that scumbag.
"I think if they try the Switcheroo again, it will backfire"
And who is going to hold thier feet to the fire if they do??
The Philly/New York Media??
I doubt it...
Bottom line is that national and state constitutions only apply to Democrats when they CHOOSE it to....
The New Jersey voters will hold their feet to the fire.
Dear TNCMAXQ,
"Looks like that is the only state the GOP might pick up."
Don't count out Maryland. With a rather messy primary aftermath for the Democrats, I'd rate Republican Michael Steele as almost even odds to pick up this long-time blue Senate seat.
sitetest
And to anyone with 1/2 a brain who was paying attention, that was obvious when he was a Senator. But NJ voters being what they are, they elected Corzine anyway.
It is difficult for me being a conservative in the blue state swamp that is New Jersey! I can only hope that Kean wins, and even then, he's a RINO.
Kennedy is gaining on Klobuchar in Minnesota. The assault on her liberal record hasn't even begun yet. Don't count out Minnesota for a pick-up, either.
I agree with those who assert that Kean is not Forrester. The Kean family has immense influence, including with the NJ Supremes. Don't forget, too, that the NJ Supremes are so corrupt that they could easily vacate their own precedent, leaving the RATS with no candidate. The RATS are playing with fire if they try this stunt again.
How fantastic would that be? A conservative Republican senator from Maryland who happens to be black! The Dems would be livid.
That would be a miracle too. Can you imagine the reaction if MN has *2* conservative senators?? Dems would be having strokes.
Just maybe if there can be a GOP trend like the one in '02, then we could gain NJ, MD, MN, and MI with a little more luck. The pundits would be astounded if they actually had a small net gain. Senate elections can be very surprising though.
This has become a familiar practice in the Garden State and has become known derisively as the New Jersey Switcheroo.
Or Dick Codey, the guy who filled in for McGreevey's after McGreevey's resignation.
As Acting Governor, Dick Codey really wanted to be elected governor for good. So he used his wife to go on a publicity offensive with a "boo-hoo, I suffered from post-partum depression" tale of woe.
Codey's name-recogition and popularity went up after this sob-story came out.
I would also not be surprised if Kristen Breitweiser were waiting in the wings for the Dims' switcheroo.
Breitweiser has publicly expressed interest in running for the US Senate from NJ (although this nauseatingly fawning profile of Breitweiser describes her as living in NY now).
Breitweiser the Huffington Post blogger --writer of such brilliant bon mots as “Don’t flush the Koran, flush Bush” --is begged by her HuffPost and DU fans to run for the Senate.
Dear TNCMAXQ,
"How fantastic would that be? A conservative Republican senator from Maryland who happens to be black! The Dems would be livid."
It would be a delight.
Maryland is a Democrat state (although not necessarily a particularly liberal state) and thus, it's an uphill fight for Mr. Steele.
However, the Lieutenant Governor is a very good campaigner. We have an excellent candidate.
sitetest
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