Posted on 04/15/2002 12:42:54 PM PDT by Son of Soprano
Forrester Files FEC Report, Shows Strong Cash-on-Hand Position
Republican Senate candidate has more than $2 million in the bank
(HAMILTON, APRIL 15) - Forrester for Senate campaign manager Bill Pascoe today released the Forrester campaign's first quarter FEC report and issued the following statement:
"Today we filed our first quarter report with the Federal Election Commission, covering the three months between January 1 and March 31, 2002. The report shows that the campaign has banked $3,135,000 and spent $940,000, which leaves us with $2,197,000 cash on hand. And yes, there's more where that came from.
"The Republican nominee has to be prepared to raise and spend more than $10 million just to be competitive with Torricelli. Doug Forrester is the only Republican candidate who's demonstrated the ability to bring those kinds of resources to the table.
"Beating Robert Torricelli won't be easy - he's been playing politics his entire life. He's a ruthless campaigner, a very shrewd pol who's spent the better part of his life learning all the tricks of his trade, and a man who's known for cutting corners - just ask the six Torricelli friends and fund-raisers who were convicted of violations of federal law the last time he ran for the Senate. He's already reporting $4.6 million cash on hand, and he's announced plans to conduct 140 separate fund-raising events for his campaign. That's at least 140 breakfasts, lunches, and dinners where he WON'T be working to lower our taxes, or protect our retirement security, or secure our nation's borders.
"But that's not surprising - because on a professional level, Robert Torricelli is about one thing and one thing only: serving the interests of Robert Torricelli, no matter what the cost. He's been running for higher office for the last twenty years, and he hasn't stopped. When he got elected to the Congress in 1982, he set his sights on the Senate; when he got elected to the Senate in 1996 - in one of the ugliest campaigns New Jersey has ever seen - he set his sights on becoming a national Democratic Party leader, in hopes of being chosen for the Vice Presidential slot on the 2000 ticket; when that didn't work, he set his sights on the Governorship.
"Through it all, Robert Torricelli has made his own career advancement the focus of his efforts, and in doing so, he has failed to do the job he was elected to do - represent the people of New Jersey with honor and dignity.
"New Jersey needs a Senator whose ethics are beyond reproach, whose word is good, who keeps his promises. New Jersey needs a Senator who's willing to fight to protect our wallets, protect our families, and protect our retirements. New Jersey needs a Senator who can be a strong supporter of President Bush.
"New Jersey needs Doug Forrester."
For me, that choice is easy. Treffinger can't be trusted farther than you can throw him. He's a typical machine pol, the kind who cuts deals all day long to get what he wants. Unfortunately for Essex County taxpayers, it seems a lot of those deals are being paid for with THEIR tax dollars, which Treffinger seems to view as his personal political slush fund.
Forrester, on the other hand, isn't a career pol, doesn't owe anybody ANYTHING -- not even any donors, it appears -- and is clean on the ethics front (if he weren't, Treffinger would have leaked it by now). Forrester is also ready to spend serious bucks to defeat the Torch, and comes across as a thoughtful, committed, honorable mainstream conservative.
I'm with Forrester. Any takers?
What's Diane Allen's appeal? I just don't get it. Does she have the Elizabeth Dole Syndrome -- "I'm female so vote for me!" ?
Forrester -- he's got enough money to fund his own race. Don't know enough about him though.
We'll see. Should be interesting...
What Treffinger's FEC violations do is make it impossible for him to compare his record favorably with Torricelli's. The two are in the same boat, as machine pols with sleazy lawbreaking records when it comes to funding their campaigns -- which means, essentially, that Treffinger can't use against the Torch one of the biggest weapons a Republican has.
That ALONE should disqualify him from serious consideration. What in the world could all those county GOP chairmen be thinking?! Oh, that's right, I forgot -- they don't care about putting forth the strongest possible candidate against the Torch, all they care about is their own little fiefdoms.
Schundler was right -- we should have taken a flamethrower to the party organization hacks last year.
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