Jersey politics at their lowest

Bitterness on display

Forrester's Ad Cites Corzine's Ex-Wife

By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI
Published: November 4, 2005

TRENTON, Nov. 3 - New Jersey's bitter governor's race turned more acerbic on Thursday as Republicans released a television ad featuring harsh words about the Democrat, Jon S. Corzine, from his ex-wife.

Democrats responded by calling the commercial a sign of desperation, and Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey joined in, calling Douglas R. Forrester, the Republican nominee, a "liar" and "hypocrite" for authorizing the ad after saying that he would not use her comments to promote his campaign.

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"Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse or any lower, it did, on Mr. Forrester's behalf," Mr. Codey said at a campaign event in Montclair with Mr. Corzine and former Senator Bill Bradley.

The flare-up, in a race that has offended many voters with its attack ads by both candidates, came one day after Joanne Corzine said that her ex-husband's quest for political power had led him to abandon both his family and his principles.

When Mr. Forrester was asked about her remarks on Wednesday, he called it a "private matter" and said he would not use it as fodder for a campaign ad. But by Thursday morning, the Forrester campaign had released a 15-second commercial, titled "Quote." It had no spoken words, just a black screen that scrolls through a quotation attributed to Ms. Corzine in The New York Times on Wednesday in which she said her ex-husband had "let his family down, and he'll probably let New Jersey down, too."

Mr. Corzine said on Thursday that his ex-wife had a right to speak her mind, but disputed her contention that he was too close to some of the state's Democratic power brokers.
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If you want to attack pols, fine. They run for office, they can deal with it. But to use a man's ex-wife to go after him? Wow, Doug Forrester is both stupid and desperate.

The ick factor is high here.

Why did he do it? The ad with the quadriplegic hammered him, and his attack was stupid.

Forrester has run a stupid campaign, not turning the legacy of Democratic corruption in Jersey into an effective tool. Corzine is not seen as part of that, and a smart campaign would have mentioned the legions of Democratic officials jailed and effectively linked him to it. Let me put it this way, the Sopranos could easily be about Jersey politics.

But instead, he's been effectively linked to Bush and Bush's tactics.

posted by Steve @ 7:12:00 PM