Report links Menendez to scheme

That will not work with the totally liberal and corrupt New Jersey Supreme Court. That court will allow a switch the day before Election Day if that's what the Democrats decide to do. The Republicans have no standing to do any kind of preemptive filing, all they can do is challenge the Dems if and when they try to switch candidates. The NJ Supremes will use the same twisted logic they did in 2002, that the "right of voters to have a choice" trumps the actual election law. The Republicans might have a shot at arguing that a switch after October 1 would disenfranchise military voters, because the state could not print up new ballots and get them to overseas military voters in time for them to return the ballots. Because this is a federal election, the federal law governing military voting could not be trumped by the New Jersey Court.

Maybe I am crazy, but I think the Dems just won't go there again. Kean is too popular, he was already leading when the first charges hit against Menendez, and frankly, Menendez and his machine have too much dirt on all the other Democrat leaders in the state - in fact, his machine PUT most of those people into their positions. He is way more powerful than Torricelli was in 2002. Menendez has a huge ego and he is not going to drop out of this race.

One thing I have learned about the Donks: When they have a winning play, they run it over and over again until it doesn't work anymore.

If Menendez is going down to defeat, what do they have to lose?

BTW, have you noticed how all the War-Hero-Against-The-War Donks are getting their a$$es handed to them this time around? They are not going to try that trick again.

The NJ Supremes will use the same twisted logic they did in 2002, that the "right of voters to have a choice" trumps the actual election law.

The only way to counter that argument is to make it clear that the voters do have a choice, and that choice is Bob Menendez. There is no reason for his name to be taken off the ballot. If the voters are to be given a choice, he must not be permitted to take his name off the ballot.

This is the argument Kean must use. He should start making it, preemptively, as soon as possible.

That argument has been tried. It failed.

We will lose in the NJ Supreme Court again, they're not going to reverse what they said 4 years ago.

That argument has been tried. It failed. We will lose in the NJ Supreme Court again, they're not going to reverse what they said 4 years ago.

I really must respectfully disagree.

The argument that Bob Toricelli should not be permitted to withdraw was not made in a timely fashion last time around. By the time the matter got to the NJ Supreme Court, Toricelli had been out of the race and off the ballot for a week. His removal from the ballot had been accomplished and had not been opposed. Putting him back on the ballot was not an option.

The time to argue that Menendez should not be allowed to withdraw is when he goes to withdraw. The groundwork for this argument must be laid now, so it can be argued effectively when he goes to the State and asks to be let off the ballot.

There are really two trasactions here to be opposed. The first is removing the candidate. The second is adding a new candidate. The first was not contested last time. Given that Toricelli was removed, the choice was between a blank line or a new Democrat candidate, so the Supreme Court's argument about the people having the right to a choice, while stupid and irrelevant, actually was more or less on point.

I agree that once Menendez gets off the ballot, the replacement candidate is inevitable. The trick is to keep him from getting off. This is territory that was not covered before, because the Toricelli switcharoo caught everybody by surprise. Kean has no such excuse this time. We can all see this one coming a mile away.

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