Fellow Democrats Fret and Fume as Torricelli Campaign Struggles

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 — Prominent national Democrats now regard Senator Robert G. Torricelli of New Jersey as their party's most vulnerable Senate incumbent, prompting concern that his endangered seat might cost Democrats control of the Senate.

Many Democrats said they had expected Mr. Torricelli to more easily overcome his ethics troubles. Instead, his predicament has roiled the party and stirred resentment toward him among fellow Democrats.

Some of them say that Mr. Torricelli's wounds are self-inflicted and that he opened himself to attack — not to mention gave ammunition to his Republican challenger, Douglas R. Forrester — by engaging in behavior that led the Senate Ethics Committee to reprimand him in July for improperly accepting gifts from a campaign donor.

Echoing a sentiment that is wide among party leaders in and out of Congress, Terry McAuliffe, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said he now viewed Mr. Torricelli as the most endangered Democratic incumbent in the Senate.

"Torricelli's is the tightest," Mr. McAuliffe said in an interview this week, referring to Mr. Torricelli's race. "He's dead even at best."

Some Democrats also say they are concerned that the party's focus on New Jersey threatens to limit the money and other resources that are available for other Democrats.

In September alone, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spent $2.1 million on three television advertisements promoting Mr. Torricelli's positions on crucial voting issues in New Jersey, including abortion rights, environmental protection and gun safety. Democratic Party officials say they intend to pump well over $5 million into helping Mr. Torricelli defend his seat.

But Mr. McAuliffe and other party leaders also say that the interest generated by the Torricelli race has helped draw more money than they expected. "Bob is bringing millions of dollars in," Mr. McAuliffe said. "If anything, Bob is creating excitement out there and helping raise more money."

The situation is a remarkable reversal of fortune for Mr. Torricelli, who is completing his first term in the Senate after serving in the House.

As chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2000, he helped bring the number of Democrats in the Senate to 50. The party gained its one-vote advantage last year when Senator James M. Jeffords of Vermont left the Republican Party to become an independent.

But now, some of the same senators Mr. Torricelli helped are concerned that his troubles may send Democrats back into the minority.

"It's come as a surprise to many of us that this race is as close as it is," said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. "This is now one of the two or three most important races for us as Democrats, because control of the Senate could hinge on its outcome."

James Carville, the Democratic consultant, said, "The Ethics Committee report turned a noncompetitive race into a competitive race."

Mr. Torricelli's campaign manager, Ken Snyder, acknowledged that the senator faced a difficult challenge. In June Mr. Torricelli led Mr. Forrester by 14 points. Now several independent political publications, including The Cook Political Report, are rating the race as a tossup or leaning toward Mr. Forrester, the president of a company that manages pharmacy benefits.

But Mr. Snyder said Mr. Torricelli would prevail because of his rival's opposition to abortion rights and gun control, which he said would not go over well with New Jersey voters. Mr. Snyder also criticized Mr. Forrester's stand on the environment.

In deference to Mr. Torricelli, many senators declined to criticize their colleague publicly. A top Senate Democrat said the level of concern among Mr. Torricelli's colleagues was so deep that Senate leaders had pulled Mr. Torricelli aside to ask how he could have inflicted such damage on his own political prospects. But Mr. Torricelli did not provide a full explanation, apart from acknowledging errors in judgment, this Democrat recalled.

Mr. Torricelli's supporters acknowledge that he brought his problems on himself. But, they add, it is important for Democrats not to lose sight of what is at stake in the November election: continued Democratic control of the Senate.

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, agreed that the turn in Mr. Torricelli's position was surprising.

"There are a significant number of races that are very competitive and could go either way," Mr. Lieberman said. "And so what you have to say now is that the New Jersey race is one more race that becomes, from what we read in the polls, competitive. But it's one of many. I mean, this election is going to be extremely close. The Senate could go either way."

One person close to Mr. Torricelli sought to wring some good out of the senator's troubles, saying that at least now the national party had his race on the election map.

"It's entirely possible that New Jersey would have been overlooked and the resources would have come too late," this person said. "Fortunately, the party became mobilized before Labor Day and will make the necessary effort to help Torricelli win."

Mr. Torricelli's troubles involve an accusation that he improperly accepted thousands of dollars in unreported gifts and cash from a political supporter, David Chang. Mr. Torricelli did not deny taking gifts from Mr. Chang but said he took no illegal gifts.

The Justice Department referred the case to the Senate Ethics Committee after prosecutors closed their inquiry without indicting Mr. Torricelli. In July, the ethics committee severely admonished him, asserting that he had violated Senate rules.

Some Democrats say the action taken by the ethics committee was so mild that they did not expect it to hurt Mr. Torricelli's re-election campaign. But Republicans have seized on it, and Mr. Forrester has even called on Mr. Torricelli to resign.

"The Senate Ethics Committee thought what they did was appropriate but no big deal," said one prominent Senate Democrat. "And then to see it blow up like this. There are so many other things that would have been more severe if the evidence had warranted it. A letter of reprimand is really, on the scale of what an ethics committee can do, relatively minor."

Prominent national Democrats now regard Senator Robert G. Torricelli of New Jersey as their party's most vulnerable Senate incumbent

Boy these boys are slow. I have been predicting that the moment the Senate report came out. I called the race at that time more or less.

McAuliffe's comments are as offensive as usual, particularly the bit where he chortles that The Torch is a good money raiser and excitement generator. What a pig of a man in every way.

Boy that little red line has got some curves to it. The Torch is obviously a part of the story, but not all of it.

Gee, I hope this part is true. My biggest fear right now is that the Dems are going to cut loose this race completely and move the resources to MO, SD and MN. :-)

Good point. I don't think that money is going to be the deciding factor in that race, so the more they want to spend up there the better. Every time a report mentions the amount of money he's spenging or a new add he's running they're going to mention why he needs to do that. Even his defensive adds will run in our favor.

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