I was a Clark supporter in 2004, and one of the reasons I most admired him was his sense of commitment and duty to our country. He was a champion athlete, first in his class at West Point, a Rhodes Scholar, and a war hero -- he could have retired and had any high-paying, cushy job he wanted. Yet he chose to spend more than three decades of his life in the humble service of our country, even training himself to walk without a limp to continue to serve.
That's the kind of leader I want in Washington D.C.
It's the same reason I'm supporting Bob Menendez. He came from a working class background in Union City and went on to college and law school. Because he's smart, industrious, and a hard worker, he could have gone into another, more lucrative field. But instead, he has devoted his entire life to public service. In my opinion, this is his greatest asset.
Which is why New Jersey and Beltway Republicans are taking Menendez's background, twisting it, and wielding it against him. What's even more disappointing is how many Democrats, locally and nationally, are accepting it rather than fighting back.
Today the New York Times reveals that the Kean Jr campaign is self-funding a swiftboat-style smear campaign against Senator Menendez. These repeatedly discredited lies are so sleazy that nobody else - not the RNC, RSCC, or any independent groups - are willing to fund them, so the campaign has to do it themselves. It's too dirty even for Karl Rove, but as they say, Tom Kean Jr personally approved this message. The New York Times pulls back the curtains (emphasis mine):
The Republican candidate for Senate in New Jersey, Thomas Kean Jr., intends to make a campaign film that accuses his Democratic opponent, Robert Menendez, of "being wrapped up in the rackets for 30 years" despite public records and statements by former federal prosecutors that contradict Mr. Kean's most serious charges.
Mr. Kean's chief campaign consultant, Matt Leonardo, a strategist for Republican candidates, disclosed the plans in an interview and said the film would be "very similar" in purpose to the commercials used to attack the military record of John Kerry during the 2004 presidential race.
Both the New York Times and the Star Ledger recently exposed the Kean Jr campaign as a bunch of liars, but they're going to keep digging themselves in the hole anyway.
Mr. Kean's charges are not, however, supported by the public record and were repudiated by independent authorities including the four assistant United States attorneys who prosecuted Union City officials of that era for racketeering and corruption. There is no truth, those former officials say, to the Kean campaign's charge that Mr. Menendez made a deal to keep himself out of prison.
....
Mr. Leonardo did not directly dispute that information, published Sunday in The New York Times and The Star Ledger of Newark, but described it as a "set of views" and said other people held different views.
The only "different" view you can have from the truth is a lie. To be fair, there is one big difference between this smear campaign and the attacks on John Kerry:
Both he and Ms. Hazelbaker said that the source — campaign money as opposed to a 527 committee — was the primary distinction between the Swift boat commercials and the planned film on Mr. Menendez.
You read that correctly - they seem to be proud of the fact that the campaign is directly funding this. I've always assumed that Kean Jr wasn't really in this to win, but rather to set himself up for a future race. The way the campaign has been completely mismanaged, it's hard to conclude otherwise - but this latest news seals the deal. Nobody serious about winning would hold on to such wildly incompetent campaign staff. A broken magic 8 ball could be more effective.
What Junior might not realize it that it's his indifference to this idiocy that will doom his future prospects, too. What began as his only asset - the Kean family name - is being eviscerated by his immature, selfish ambitions. One of the largest newspapers in the country has exposed him as a liar, but he stubbornly pushes forward with his sleazy lies. If he hasn't already, his actions will ruin the chances of any future political ambitions he may have. The formerly respected "Kean" name will become a burden on the rest of his career and nothing but a shameful legacy to future generations.
Not two days after the primary election, Tom Kean Jr unleashed his attack dog on Senator Menendez, practically accusing the Senator of siding with the terrorists. Trying to keep himself out of the mud, Kean Jr sent State Republican party chair Tom Wilson to do the dirty work for him, but he clumsily left his fingerprints behind as evidence.
Earlier, I wrote about the Swiftboat machine that Forrester's camp is gearing up to smear Jon Corzine.
Please welcome the newest member of the smear machine: Enlighten-NJ. They're setting the stage for media outlets to pick up on unsubstantiated rumors:
...it’ll make Jim McGreevey look like a Cub Scout compared to Jon Corzine.
The fact that the Forrester camp is using Enlighten to put out this information means they can't get anyone respectable to bite.
The lies that Enlighten refers to originated on online message boards from anonymous posts and have already been repeated on NJ 101.5 radio. These smears are salacious. (Note: I've removed one of the rumors I mentioned here before. They are gross, unsubstantiated smears and don't even deserve repeating. Also, it appears that the link to the nj.com board is no longer working - the smear appears to have been removed from their site as well.)
Then there are idiots like Michelle Malkin who claim that Jon Corzine has been buying the votes of blacks. Last time I checked, it was the other party that was struggling with support from African Americans.
These people know they're about to lose, and rather than do it with dignity, they are choosing to smear Jon Corzine's name with rumors and lies. They aren't worthy of licking the bottom of his boots.
They are lies, which is why they haven't been repeated by any reputable news organizations. To the mainstream media - thanks for keeping these nonsensical rumors out of your pages.
Update: In the comments, Frogsdong reminds us that Enlighten is no stranger to smear tactics. In fact, it's all he knows.
Doug Forrester, with the help of the national GOP, has started a desperate swiftboating campaign against Jon Corzine. Using national GOP funds and a well-orchestrated whisper campaign, the Forrester campaign is resorting to the GOP’s tried and true tactics of race-baiting and questioning the patriotism of Jon Corzine and Democrats.
Radar reports that millions of dollars previously earmarked for Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) are being redirected by the national GOP into Doug Forrester’s coffers:
Increasingly dubious about Santorum’s chances, Capitol Hill sources report GOP powerbrokers have refocused their attentions—and dollars—on Doug Forrester, a little-known party hack who’s currently embroiled in a dead heat race with multi-millionaire Democrat Jon Corzine for New Jersey’s governorship.
“The party is pouring millions of dollars in PAC money into Forrester’s coffers, but most of that money was previously earmarked for Rick,� reports a well-placed Republican senate staffer. “It’s disgusting. Rick used to be Bush’s biggest booster on issues like stem-cell research, Social Security, and the Iraq war. Now the White House won’t even take his phone calls.�
Leading the charge on this effort is Forrester’s media advisor Greg Stevens – whose firm, Stevens Reed Curcio & Potholm - the same firm that produced the Swift Boat ads against John Kerry, has been paid $16 million so far by Forrester’s campaign....
