Forrester Statement On New Jersey Supreme Court Decision

(TRENTON, OCTOBER 2) – U.S. Senate candidate Doug Forrester tonight issued the following statement:

“Today, the people of New Jersey lost. The Torricelli-Lautenberg machine’s disregard for the rule of law, fair elections and the people of New Jersey will, once again, make our great state the butt of national jokes.

“The good people of New Jersey understand what has transpired over the past few days. A few powerbrokers read public opinion polls and concluded that I was going to beat Bob Torricelli, and decided to change the rules of the game. The good people of New Jersey will not allow these political games to win the day.

“Today, this election became an election between, on the one hand, those who seek to restore New Jersey’s reputation and, on the other hand, those few powerbrokers who will say anything and do anything to rig the system to their advantage. I will continue my fight to restore dignity and honor the office of the United States Senate. And with the people of New Jersey, we will win this fight.

“Unfortunately, the New Jersey Supreme Court has now decided that New Jersey law, as written, should not apply to this election. Their decision is flawed.

“We will pursue an appeal of this matter to the Supreme Court of the United States, to ensure that the men and women of our military will not be disenfranchised and that the rule of law will be upheld.

“This is a fight that the Torricelli-Lautenberg machine began when it decided it could not win this election within the rules provided by state law.

“Regardless of the outcome in the courts, I will continue my fight to put the interests of the people of New Jersey before politics.

“The Torricelli—Lautenberg machine has failed to fight to strengthen our national security. The Torricelli – Lautenberg machine has consistently voted to cut defense and intelligence spending.

The Torricelli – Lautenberg machine voted against a national missile defense system to protect American families and our allies. The Torricelli—Laugtenberg machine has failed to clean more than 19 of New Jersey’s 132 Superfund toxic waste sites. The Torricelli—Lautenberg machine has consistently voted for higher taxes and against a Balance Budget Amendment. And under the Torricelli – Lautenberg machine, New Jersey has remained dead last among the states in getting a return on the tax dollars we send to Washington meaning our hardworking families continue to bear an enormous tax burden.

“These issues continue to confront us. These are the issues I have been speaking about since I entered this race. Theses are the issues I will continue to speak about until Election Day.

“Enough is enough. I will continue to stand against the Torricelli-Lautenberg machine. Hang on, New Jersey – help is on the way!”

"Who's the democratic candidate today?" "I encourage my opponent, whoever he happens to be today, to a discussion of the issues." "This has been a good week. I already beat several Democrats: first Torricelli, then Menendez, then Pallone, and now it's Lautenberg. Am I forgetting anyone?" "I apologize I took an evening off the campaign trail for a quite evening with my wife. Do the Democrats have a new candidate again?" And next week he can add: "This has been a slow week - only one Democrat to campaign against."

Very good!

I wouldn't bring the Sopranos into this. There are a lot of conservative Italian voters in Jersey who are understandably touchy about that show and the entire mob reputation of their state. Meanwhile, like lots of the rest of us, they "get off" on the show in much the same way people in the '80s enjoyed Dallas.

Ethnic loyalty being what it is, many of those voters would have held their noses and voted for Torricelli. Lautenberg won't benefit from that. The Forrester campaign should do everything possible to attract the Italian-American vote in Jersey and running the Soprano theme song under their ads would, I think, have the opposite effect.

At the end of the day the court decided that the public value of changing the ballot outweighed the law, fairness, and the interests of the voters and the Republicans. This was not a reasoned decision. They just weighed one against all the others and made the choice.

I happen to disagree. I think high-handed decisions like this do irreperable damage to the electoral system and destroy people's faith in representative democracy. The faith of the people in representative democracy is the one thing that keeps them from walking away from the process and relying on other means of organizing and identifying themselves.

For instance, I think the breakdown of secular democracy in India is a direct result of Indira Gandhi's "Emergency" policies of the late 1970s. Prior to that time, racial politics was an anathma on the Indian scene. After the people saw that democracy was a sham, that the fix was in and certain people would not be allowed to lose, they stopped participating in secular institutions and relied on the tried and true organizing structure of race and clan. The resulting conflagration, which we are currently witnessing unfolding in slow-motion, is a direct result of the lack of faith people have in representative democracy. If they can't get what they want with the ballot, they will get what they want with the gun, the club, and the mob.

Now, I don't suggest that this decision alone will lead to mob violence in the Garden State. But this decision, combined with the shameless activities of the Democrats in Florida 2000 and whatever stunt they will pull the next time around, will have the effect of eroding people's faith in the democratic institutions of this country. Once people begin to reflexively assume that the fix is in and that participation in the political process is meaningless, they will begin to rely on the people they trust, the people who look like them and the people who agree with them. And then the multicultural egalitarian society that has been the envy of the world will break down into camps divided by race and clan and we are one step away from the brink.

When courts mess with the process of representative democracy, they are playing with fire. But the courts don't care about that. They are just interested in the short term.

I agree, however, I wonder if the more conservative Republicans will bother to vote for Forrester if he doesnt provide "red meat" for the ideologues.

I dunno. I think the Republican idealogues are not generally helpful in government. Take Privatizing Social Security. Republican idealogues favor investment of taxed dollars in the stock market, rather than merely cutting taxes and letting people choose. Maybe that's not a good example, but idealogues are to me those that strive to enact their attempts to achieve ideals into law, which to me, is the opposite of conservatism.

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