Posted on 06/29/2003 12:03:24 PM PDT by Antoninus
Senate candidate's exposure brings party disapproval
By Monica Yant Kinney
Inquirer Columnist
With all due respect to my good friend Boss Norcross and the no-show job scandal rocking the South Jersey machine, the hottest political story in the state involves male genitalia from way up north.
I speak of Jim Morrison, the Sussex County lawyer/helicopter pilot/TV personality running for state Senate - not the dead guy from The Doors.
Morrison, some of you may know, achieved fame as an openly gay finalist on the ABC reality show The Mole a couple of years ago.
He became such a household name that People magazine put him on its 2001 list of "America's Top 50 Bachelors" alongside Tiger Woods and Hollywood hotties Matt Damon and Benicio Del Toro.
In his People profile, Morrison hinted about political aspirations.
"Having a spirited debate about your government or politics or culture," he said, "is one of the best things in life."
So it was hardly a surprise when Morrison decided to run for office.
His goal? To unseat Republican State Sen. Robert Littell, who has served in the legislature since 1968.
"That's longer," Morrison, 32, points out, "than I've been alive."
Morrison entered the race just days before the primary as the only Democrat running. A write-in candidate, he got enough votes to advance.
He had the support of the local party brass, until they were shocked - SHOCKED! - to learn of a pair of victories not on his resume.
Morrison, you see, is a two-time winner of a "Prettiest Penis" contest.
Overexposed?
Morrison's twin triumphs came in 1996 after Polaroid photos of his private parts - taken in a private room at a gay club in New York - were judged best in show.
The contest was hardly a secret. He spoke of it openly, proudly, in interviews easily found on the Internet.
Somehow, the first Charles W. Cart heard about it was after Morrison's primary victory, when a reporter asked the local party boss for his take on the candidate's crown jewels.
"We knew he was gay. That didn't bother us," Cart said.
"But this contest that he entered more than once, and was proud of, that bothered us."
Cart was so hot and bothered, he told Morrison's father his boy should consider pulling out of the race.
Otherwise, "It might be embarrassing to you, your son and to the party."
This, from the party that gave us Bob Torricelli and Billboardgate?
This, in a state where voters estimate five of 10 pols are corrupt?
rison's father/law partner/campaign manager told Cart where he could stick his embarrassment.[bold mine. Is there any wonder why this poor guy is so screwed up??]
The candidate just laughed.
"They expected me to be embarrassed. I'm like, 'Who cares?' "
"It's ludicrous," he said of the effort to blackball him. "It just shows you how dirty and sleazy politics is." [bold mine. Of course, putting your penis on public display is neither dirty nor sleazy, right?]
Friendly foes?
Charles Cart, you see, isn't one of those party loyalists who refuses to fraternize with the enemy.
Turns out, Cart (the Democratic boss) pays Littell's wife (a Republican) as a consultant for his health-care claims processing business.
Cart sees nothing wrong with this.
"She goes out, tries to promote our company, bring us business," he said. "In a Republican area, you employ some Republican consultants."
Morrison smells a rat.
"The Democratic Party in this district is in bed with the Republicans," he declares.
"They'd rather have a blank space on the ballot than a qualified candidate like me."
Morrison says he has degrees from Georgetown and Columbia. This summer, he is studying Arabic at NYU.
As a lawyer, he is drawn to civil rights and discrimination cases. As a candidate, he refuses contributions of more than $100.
He swears he wants to talk about suburban sprawl, property taxes, school funding and health care.
But so far, most media requests focus on matters below the belt.
Why, just last week, Keith Oberman had Morrison on his MSNBC show to chat about the phallic fallout.
Morrison happily obliged.
Free publicity is free publicity.
Chalk it up to naked ambition.
Monica Yant Kinney writes Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Reach her at 856-779-3914 or myant@phillynews.com.
Sunday, June 29, 2003
The 24th legislative district's senate seat is a closely held commodity. The district is comprised of all of Sussex County and parts of Morris and Hunterdon. It may be the most conservative in the state. Since 1990, it has been represented by Robert Littell, who is a link in a chain of Republicans going back to the 19th century.
Littell served in the Assembly for 24 years before moving up to the Senate. He is the longest serving member of the state Legislature and chairman of the Legislature's Joint Appropriation Committee. That's the one that will spread around much of the $24 billion in this year's state budget. And he's never been accused of shyness when it comes to help from Trenton for the good old 24th. Littell is not what you would call vulnerable.
In fact, Sussex Democrats were unable to find anyone to run for the party nomination to oppose him in November.
So up stepped Jim Morrison, a 32-year-old Newton attorney, with a write-in campaign. Now he's the nominee and he's serious about it.
Morrison is something of a local celebrity. He was a runner-up in an ABC reality show called "The Mole," and in 1999 "People Magazine" declared him to be one of America's "Fifty Most Eligible Bachelors."
That may be, but his eligibility is influenced by the fact that he is gay. And he is carrying some baggage. He has posed for nude photos and was the winner in a "prettiest penis" contest sponsored by a New York bar called Cake. Morrison's brief career as a model has led to pointed suggestions that he drop out of the race, and they arise not from Republicans but from Sussex County Democratic Chairman Charles Cart who believes the knowledge that a Democratic candidate once was photographed in the nude will embarrass the party.
What's to embarrass? How do you mortify a party organization that almost never wins elections, which is out-registered by the Republicans 3-l and was unable to field candidates in the primary for the Senate and one of two assembly seats.
I guess that you could work up some sense of shame if you care about what Morrison did back in 1997. But Morrison does bring some things to the table besides his sexual orientation. He is a graduate of the Delbarton School, the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Columbia University Law School. Not bad educational credentials for a state senate aspirant in an almost hopeless district. And he's a licensed helicopter pilot.
For what it's worth, Morrison's got a family history of good luck in political matters.
Martin Morrison is Jim Morrison's law partner, campaign chairman and father. The elder Morrison was the campaign co-chairman of the last Democrat to carry Sussex County -- that would be Howard Burrell, who was elected freeholder in 1999.
Martin Morrison says the nude posing is a non-issue and his son says "it's irrelevant."
"If the Democratic leader is homophobic maybe he ought to think about joining the Republican party. But I don't want to belabor this. I want to talk about issues. I want to listen to people and learn what's on their minds. I'm pretty liberal. For example, I'm for universal health care. This is very conservative district but I really believe there is a yearning out there for candidates who say what they think and don't temporize everything. Look at Littell. He never debates the issues. I want to challenge him," Jim Morrison says.
The 6-foot-1, 150-pound Morrison says he entered the photo contest about six years ago to answer a challenge from some friends at a bar -- that it "was never a serious thing."
He is unabashed about being gay and thinks more gays should seek office. So far as I know, Morrison is the first openly gay man or woman ever to win a major-party nomination for a New Jersey legislative seat.
It took only 100 write-in votes to win nomination and Morrison's' chances of getting elected are less than remote.
But you got to start somewhere.
Same-sex marriage issue fuels debate in NJ
The Law of Marriage and Family
TEEN People Mag: Born with the wrong body - Transgender teens... (MEGA-BARF ALERT)
BLAME THE GOP FOR PRO-SODOMY COURT DECISION
Text of Justice Scalia's Dissenting Opinion [to paraphrase, "epitaph for Christian civilization"]"
Where can one sign up to be a judge?
,,, don't bother posting photos!
Yep, but that doesn't stop sicko liberal female suitors who see a challenge in bedding such creeps. A single acquaintaince of mine who worked on Wall Street told that feigning gayness multiplied his dating opportunities. He wanted to sow his wild oats with "fun" Democratic women before settling down and marrying a conservative gal. I told him any self-respecting conservative gal would never give him a second look with the type of female company he kept.
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