Posted on 10/20/2006 11:26:13 AM PDT by Alex1977
TUCKERTON, N.J. (AP) - For Dale Parsons, the truth about the U.S. Senate race is as hard to crack as the clams he has in his bayside seafood store. "I'm ticked off," said Parsons, a registered Republican who's not greatly impressed with either Tom Kean Jr. or Robert Menendez. "There's just so much negativity, you don't know who to believe anymore. You can't trust any of them."
In interviews across the state, a common theme emerged among voters: They're sick of the mudslinging, name-calling and finger-pointing, and want to hear what the candidates will actually do for them.
In a race that polls show is virtually even, both camps are counting on a large turnout - something that might not happen if large numbers of voters are so turned off by the whole thing that they'd just as well stay home on Election Day.
Martha Travastino, a 50-year-old ultrasound lab supervisor from Hackettstown, is disgusted with the tenor of the campaigns.
"I think it's very negative," she said. "All they do is accuse each other of the same thing." Tom Lawler, a 38-year-old paralegal from Jersey City, feels the same way.
"A couple of ads have been completely negative and not about the issues," Lawler said. "That's a turnoff. It doesn't inspire me toward anyone."
Kean, the Republican state senator from Union County, has made accusing Menendez of corruption the centerpiece of his advertising campaign, asserting the Democrat is "under federal criminal investigation."
Federal investigators have reportedly subpoenaed records from a nonprofit agency that rented a building from Menendez. He helped it secure millions of federal dollars while he served in the House. Menendez denies he is under investigation.
Menendez has tried to link Kean as closely as possible to President Bush and the unpopular Iraq war and privatizing Social Security.
Both efforts are bearing fruit. Jules Platt, a fabric salesman from Hackensack, said he'll vote for Menendez as a check on Bush's power.
"Kean is too much of a Bush Republican," he said.
Likewise, Kean's ads questioning Menendez's ethics are sticking with at least some voters. Travastino, the Hackettstown hospital supervisor, said she thinks Menendez is a big-spender with corrupt associates.
Pat DiBella, 56, of Hammonton, plans to vote for Kean, and resents Menendez' efforts to tie him to the president.
"I'm more concerned about what these guys are going to do for New Jersey," she said. "What President Bush has done with the war is done. These guys are trying to get into office."
Norman Greco, a former town councilman in Kean's hometown of Westfield, will vote for Kean because "he's young and aggressive."
"I think Menendez has too many skeletons in his closet," said Greco, who owns a downtown sandwich shop. "Kean has no baggage."
Some voters clearly associate the younger Kean with his father, New Jersey's popular former governor and co-chairman of the 9/11 commission.
"I really just think his father is swell, and I hope he's going in his father's footsteps," said Lucy Abrams, a 63-year-old retiree from Newton. Menendez, she said, "doesn't show me anything."
Jeanne George, a volunteer at a Westfield thrift shop, also supports Kean, largely because of his family.
"I like his father very much," she said. "But I want him (Kean Jr.) to tell me what he's going to do. I don't want to hear how bad the other guy is."
Not everyone thinks playing up the family ties is a good idea.
Travastino said she will probably vote for Kean, even though she considers him "wishy-washy."
"I think he's using his dad to make himself look better," she said.
"Kean's son probably wouldn't be running for senator is he was not Kean's son," said Rich Cann, of Maple Shade.
Tahqiq Abbasi, who owns a Union City textiles shop, is voting for Menendez for two reasons. "He is against the war in Iraq, and we are losing a lot of people over there," he said. "Plus, he went to my mosque the other night to meet and speak with us, and I really appreciated that."
Sherry Ayres, a 31-year-old writing coach and SAT tutor from Jersey City, is backing Menendez because she wants Democrats to take back control of the Senate. "I would vote for any Democrat," she said. "He would have to really, really screw things up for me not to vote for him."
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Associated Press writers Geoff Mulvihill, Daniela Flores, Chris Newmarker, and Janet Frankston contributed to this story.
This is bad for democrats if suddenly, two weeks before the elections, the public wants to know about the issues.
Harsh treatment or civil rights for terrorists?
Closed borders, enforcement, GWP or open borders?
Voter IDs or no Voter IDs?
Tax Cuts or Tax Increases?
Stay the Course or Cut and Run?
Constitutional or Revisionist Courts?
Marriage Protection or Gay Marriage?
Wayne Parry sure got his money's worth at journalism school!
This is exactly why I am optimistic about November 7th.
Whenever the Democrats are losing they start complaining about negative campaign advertising and mean-spiritedness.
Here in Missouri, Claire McCaskill has been reduced to complaining how mean Jim Talent is for pointing out her dishonesty, charges which she cannot and will not refute.
We are winning. It's going to be '94 all over again, except that Peter Jennings won't be around to accuse the voters of having a temper tantrum.
Disgusted voters because of so-called negative ads = limp wristed Americans with no real clear cut convictions. They are self centered people who just live for the day and themselves.
The Media is laying the predicate for a Democrat defeat in NJ? They never complain about this stuff when it benefits a Democrat.
Wow, New Jersey-ites worried about an electoral issue other than car insurance or real estate tax rebates?
I want to hear what the candidates aren't go to do to me.
This article is good news. It means the polls showing Kean is ahead in NJ are accurate and the MSM have to try to counter.
Me too.
Whenever the Democrats are losing they start complaining about negative campaign advertising and mean-spiritedness.Yes. Always.
Translation-"Kean's ads are working-please stop".
People deserve to know if their senator is the only senator under federal criminal investigation, that Menendez tried to help a convicted felon transfer to a prison closer to his family and so on.
Regards, Ivan
Exactly.
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