[Coop]

Back in Feb or Mar of this year, after Mary Jo White took a pass on indicting this crook, Torricelli's chances were just over 57%. He hasn't had a very good year. :-)

[Oldeconomybuyer]

It amazes me that a US Senator can squeak past a criminal prosecution, get horse-slapped by a friendly ethics committee, and still find support among a majority of voters. You'd think there would be a chorus of bi-partisan voices demanding Torricelli's resignation.

Our political process is beyond repair.

[eureka!]

Cool. I hope the newspapers get the "letter" oh, around, late October. Just a friendly reminder for the undecideds...

[sandydipper]

Just suppose Toricelli doesn't get re-elected - what then? He still gets full senate pay for the rest of his life. Anddd it comes out of the general fund - that is off the top of the annual budget - before they pay the light bill they pay themselves.

[Brookhaven]

This reminds me of Herman Talmadge's (GA senator) problems. He got caught red handed taking bribes. The senate reprimanded him. The papers and pols still twisted like pretzels to find a reason to endose him. He was ahead in the polls on election day. He lost.

GA at that time (and still is in many areas) was a one party state. Democrats had won every statewide election (governor, secretary of state, senator, etc...) since the Civil War. Many people voted Republican for the first time in their lives because Talmadge's stench was too strong.

I think you'll see the same thing in NJ. There will be a lot of ABT (anybody but Torrecelli) votes cast. This probably won't show up in the polling because it will be people that, when they get in the voting booth, will decide at the last minute they just can't stand the Torrecelli stench and vote for whoever is running against him.