Posted on 10/01/2002 4:24:14 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
The state Supreme Court decided Tuesday to hear arguments over whether Democrats can replace Sen. Robert Torricelli on the November ballot, a day after the senator abruptly dropped out of the race.
The court issued an order saying it would hear the case directly instead of waiting for a lower court to act. The high court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday morning. As a result, a hearing set for Tuesday afternoon in Middlesex County Superior Court was canceled.
The Democrats, who hold a one-seat majority in the Senate, had asked the high court to hear the case directly because of the urgency involved.
Torricelli's end to his scandal-tainted re-election campaign forced Democrats to scramble for a candidate. Democratic officials said Monday they had hoped to announce a new candidate within 48 hours.
A top choice, Rep. Robert Menendez, took himself out of the running Tuesday morning. Menendez, the fourth-ranking Democrat in House leadership, said he wants to remain in the House and continue to help Democrats fight for a majority.
Party officials also were considering such possibilities as former Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Bill Bradley and current House members Frank Pallone and Rob Andrews, according to sources in Washington and New Jersey.
Pallone said Tuesday he would consider replacing Torricelli, but added that he had not been asked. Lautenberg said he would "seriously consider serving again if asked." An associate said it was unlikely Bradley would accept. Calls to other potential candidates were not immediately returned.
Angelo Genova, a lawyer for state Democrats, said party officials would meet Wednesday night to decide on a replacement. Genova also said a judge has signed a temporary restraining order barring clerks from making or mailing any ballots until the case is decided.
Torricelli dropped out after his campaign was severely damaged by allegations he improperly accepted expensive gifts from a campaign contributor. The senator was admonished over the summer by the Senate ethics committee.
Under New Jersey law, a party can replace a statewide nominee on the ballot if the person drops out at least 51 days before the election. But only 35 days remained as of Tuesday.
Republicans vowed to block any attempt to replace Torricelli this close to the election.
"In 36 days, decency, fairness and the rule of the law will trump this desperate attempt to retain power," said Douglas Forrester, Torricelli's GOP opponent. "The people of New Jersey have had enough of playing politics with the fundamental tenets of democracy."
Democratic Gov. James E. McGreevey said that placing a new candidate on the ballot would be a fair way to resolve the issue and would "give New Jersey voters a chance to speak."
The Democrats are defending their one-seat advantage in the Senate in midterm elections.
"I will not be responsible for the loss of the Democratic majority of the United States Senate. I will not let it happen. There is just too much at issue," Torricelli, 51, said in abandoning his re-election bid Monday.
Torricelli was elected in 1996 to replace Bradley, the former basketball star who later ran for the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination and lost to Al Gore. Torricelli and Lautenberg, who retired in 2000, served together in the Senate but often were at loggerheads.
Torricelli was always a powerhouse fund-raiser: He helped raise more than $100 million for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee as its chairman in the last election cycle. He was awarded a seat on the powerful Senate Finance Committee, and helped defend President Clinton against impeachment.
But Torricelli's career began to unravel as the public learned more about his relationship with businessman David Chang, who told investigators he gave the senator Italian suits and an $8,100 Rolex watch, among other gifts, in return for Torricelli's intervention in business deals in North and South Korea.
Seven people pleaded guilty to making illegal donations to Torricelli's campaign in 1996.
Torricelli denied any illegality or violations of Senate rules but was admonished anyway. Federal prosecutors investigated but decided against filing charges against him.
The incumbent launched an effort to apologize to the state's voters, but last week a memo in the Chang case was released publicly. In it, prosecutors said Chang's efforts had "greatly advanced" the investigation into the senator's actions, despite Chang's "credibility problems."
Forrester, a wealthy businessman, has harped on ethics throughout the campaign and it worked: A poll released over the weekend showed him with a 13-point lead over Torricelli. The same poll showed the incumbent with a 14-point lead in June.
"I pride myself on a strong voice. My colleagues in the Senate would tell you that it is often heard above all others but it doesn't matter if you can't be heard at all in a campaign," Torricelli said. "I'm in a debate with a faceless foe that I cannot find, minds I cannot change."
Tuesday morning, Forrester said Torricelli's move "means we can talk about the issues." In an interview on WABC-TV in New York, Forrester said, "Whenever I tried to bring up another issue like the environment, it somehow always got back to being about" Torricelli.
Perception is reality in politics.
And the Demorats take it to the extreme.
A classic case of mistaking cause for effect: Democrats lust for power forces Torricelli to end his scandal-tainted re-election campaign after polls reveal his certain defeat, prompting a scramble for a new candidate at the last minute.
N.J. court picks should have association's review.
In his first nomination to the New Jersey Supreme Court, Gov. McGreevey on the surface seems to be doing the same thing for which he criticized former Gov. Whitman: making "patronage" appointments of political allies.
His nominee, lawyer Barry T. Albin, is a long-time friend and political contributor from a well-known firm in Woodbridge, where Mr. McGreevey was mayor.
The Albin appointment's saving grace is that the governor submitted it to the state bar association for review, something Ms. Whitman refused to do after the controversy over her ill-advised appointment of Peter Verniero to the court.
Ms. Whitman scrapped a practice known as the "Hughes Compact," after Gov. Richard Hughes, who set it up in 1969. Under the compact, a governor agreed not only to submit nominees to the bar for review, but to withdraw the nomination of anyone the bar found "not qualified."
That process is a check against unqualified patronage appointments making it to the state's highest court.
Ms. Whitman short-circuited the process out of pique when the bar's finding that Mr. Verniero was "not qualified" became public. Those ratings are supposed to stay confidential.
Mr. Verniero, former state attorney general and counsel to the governor, barely survived the state Senate confirmation process. He was severely criticized a year later for his role in the state police scandal over racial profiling.
Later Whitman nominees to the high court voluntarily submitted themselves for review by the bar, but Ms. Whitman did not agree to abide by the bar's findings.
Mr. Albin, though benefiting from his close ties to the governor, is well-regarded by peers. He was a deputy attorney general and assistant prosecutor before joining the firm of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, the firm of the late Chief Justice Robert Wilentz.
Besides submitting nominees for bar review, Gov. McGreevey should pay attention to another tradition that has helped sustain the high quality and reputation of the New Jersey Supreme Court: maintaining political balance on the court. This normally means replacing a justice with someone of the same party or philosophy.
The court has had three Democrats, three Republicans and an independent who was a Whitman nominee.
Mr. Albin, a Democrat, would replace an outgoing Republican justice, putting more Democrats than Republicans on the high court. Next year, a Democratic justice will retire; the governor should consider prospects for that vacancy who don't have clear ties to the Democratic Party.
A system of checks on the quality and balance of the Supreme Court has served New Jersey well. The governor should respect and preserve that tradition.
(From the 7/16/02 Philly Inquirer... donchya just love their unbiased reporting?)
Of course not. He's a democRAT. They get special priveleges with prosecutors. No matter who was sicced on X42, they always let him slide.
Drives me nuts!
Anyone wanna take bets on this happening?
Wow. That's a surprise. They're going to actually hear arguments?
They've already made their ruling and guess who won!
Regards,
Allan J. Favish
http://www.allanfavish.com
Look, I think it's likely that the NJ Supremes will rule in favor of the RATS. They are machine politicians who got appointed to the Court. NJ is a machine democrat politics state.
That said, I don't think the judges are so corrupt that they ruled in secret before Torch made his move.
I think this was one of those situations where the move might make things better but will almost certainly not make things worse. If the court rules against them, the Torch is going to lost just the way he was before his move.
Plus, if Torch's move fails, the DEMS will still be able to rally the base with the Bill Press Bull-Clinton.
Don't get so upset about this. NJ was looking like a gift from God. We had no right even being in that race but for DEM stupidity in nominating a known crook. Let's concentrate on the States where we have a good chance to take the Senate.
There's a new website that is a resource for conservatives who want to help take back the Senate:
If we take 4 of the 6 tight races (not including NJ), we win the Senate. Let's put our resources where we have control rather than getting upset about the NJ situation which, quite frankly, is completely out of our control.
So much for the "new tone" in Washington.
Takes two to tango. A new tone doesn't have much meaning when the other side is trying to bludgeon you to death.
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