Lies, Damned Lies, and Democrats
“We are saying that the [deadline] is nothing more than administrative convenience,” Genova said. “It’s not intended to give the Republican candidate a right to run unopposed. Voters are to be given a choice in a competitive race. What the Republicans are seeking to do is to obfuscate that choice.” -Angelo Genova, counsel to the New Jersey Democratic Party
According to the Cape May County Clerk’s Office, ((609) 465-1010), voters DO have a clear set of choices in the 2002 New Jersey Senate election. Here are the candidates on the ballot that the Democrats claim provides no choice:
1.) Democrat, Robert Torricelli. Some might argue that this is not a choice, since he has withdrawn. Regardless, he is on the ballot.
2.) Republican, Douglas Forrester, who is still actively seeking the office.
3.) Libertarian, Liz Macron, who is still actively seeking the office.
4.) Green Party, Ted Glick, who is also still actively seeking the office.
5.) Socialist Party, Gregory Pason, who is still actively seeking the office.
6.) Norman E. Wahner, New Jersey Conservative Party, who is still actively seeking the office.
That would be six people on the ballot, 5 of whom are still running. All of this is verifiable with a simple phone call, or by visiting this website. It was so simple, I did it in about 10 minutes. So why is it that the NY Times can write a 28 paragraph, 1269 word puff piece on Lautenberg without mentioning any of these candidates or noting that the Democrats are lying once again about there being no choice? Is it fair to all of those candidates, all of their campaigns, all of their supporters, and the people of New Jersey to stop the vote or halt the election because the Democrats are afraid of the outcome?
As I stated last night, the New Jersey voters have plenty of choices on election day. Unfortunately for the Democrats, it just isn’t who they want it to be RIGHT NOW, but that is not the law’s fault, that is not the other candidates fault, and it most certainly is not the Republican Party’s fault. The Democrats loved Torricelli and were perfectly willing to look past his ethical transgressions when he was winning. They need to look in the mirror to accurately assign the blame for this, but what are the odds of that?
Just an end note- NJ voters actually have 5 candidates for office. If the Democrats are so concerned about choice, I would like them to come down here to WV and tell Jay Rockefeller to quit buying elections. Sen. Rockefeller is running virtually unopposed by Republican Jay Wolfe. Maybe the WV Republicans should pull him and try to nominate someone else because Wolfe has bad poll numbers?