Forrester captures GOP nod in N.J.

Washington Times ^ | Wednesday, June 8, 2005

[JohnHuang2]

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A millionaire businessman won New Jersey's Republican gubernatorial primary yesterday and earned the right to face Democratic Sen. Jon Corzine in November -- the state's first race for governor since James McGreevey resigned in a homosexual scandal. Doug Forrester edged former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler after spending millions of his own fortune to finance a campaign that took aim at the state's highest-in-the-nation property taxes. Mr. Corzine, with 88 percent of the vote, easily won the Democratic primary after facing only token opposition.

[EternalVigilance]

Pretty close. 36-31 for Forrester over Schundler, in a seven way race.

[JohnHuang2]

Yes it is.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

I'd like to know how they pick somebody to be Corzine's token opposition. "Uh, okay-you. The guy with the moustache. Say something negative about Jon."

Guy with moustache: "Ummm...I don't like his tie."

"OK, thanks. Primary's over; you can all go home now."

[gridlock]

Time to hold our noses and support Forrester in the General Election. He was my last choice of the seven, but he will be better than Corzine, by a long shot.

It just saddens me to see yet another NJ race between a Billionaire and a Billionaire. But now that it is basically illegal to raise campaign funds in NJ, you need to be a Billionaire to run for statewide office, so you can finance yourself. Until the rules are changed, I doubt we will see a candidate in the general election from either party for any state-wide office that is not capable of self-financing. Self-financing gives a candidate an insurmountable edge in the primary contests, even if the candidate is as lousy as Forrester or Corzine.

[mware]

Just Damn.

Foresters couldn't find his way out of a forest much less win an election.

[gridlock]

I don't think Corzine is anywhere near a strong as people think he is. Time for Forrester to start beating up on him a little. Forrester's only shot is if he can convince people they would rather vote for a dead dog in the street than John Corzine, then they go into the voting booth and find out that Dead Dog on Street is not on the ballot, so they vote for Forrester instead.

[nmh]

I voted for Shundler.

I don't like Forrester. The NYT LOVED Forrester. That ought to tell you something.

[Coop]

The NYT LOVED Forrester.

Well, I have a feeling that love affair is going to turn sour rather quickly.

[kittymyrib]

Why do I have the feeling that the mob picks all the candidates for both parties in NJ?

[ml/nj]

Ditto.

ML/NJ

[nmh]

LOL!

He's another liberal RHINO.

I will NOT be voting for him and a NO vote for him is NOT a vote for Corsine because he won't get my vote either. The lesser of the two evils argument doesn't work either.

I'm sick and tired of that crap.

[nmh]

I had thrown my hat in to do volunteer work for Bret.

I will do NOTHING for this creep nor will I vote for him.

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

Maybe Mr. Schundler would consider relocating to a state that could use, and would welcome him, in elective office, like Louisiana. God knows we could use him in Baton Rouge to clean up the mess that current Gov. Kathleen Blanco(RAT) is making, or kicking Mary Landrieu out of the Senate.

[Alberta's Child]

Corzine could be the weakest, limp-wristed candidate in the history of mankind -- but he'd still be heavily favored to win in a place like New Jersey.

His biggest advantage is an unlimited supply of campaign cash. Don't ever underestimate the tenacity of a candidate who is utterly bored with his life -- Corzine spent $68 million of his own money to get elected to the U.S. Senate back in 2000, and he didn't even get halfway through his first term in office before he started looking for something else to do.

[gridlock]

I don't like Forrester. The NYT LOVED Forrester. That ought to tell you something.

Well, who do you like better, Forrester or Corzine? Time to hold you nose and flip the lever next to the (R).

Unless you are of the It-Has-To-Get-Worse-Before-It-Will-Get-Better school of thought. Of course, we just sacked our utterly corrupt Donk governor after a gay sex scandal where he was installing his Boy-Toy as head of Homeland Security. So I don't know how much worse it can get...

[DesignerChick]

Because they do.

[Tribune7]

He was my last choice of the seven, but he will be better than Corzine, by a long shot.

For a gov. race I don't know if it matters between a billionare RINO or a billionare Dem.

Unless Forrester really pushes school choice or tort reform as an issue, I'd vote third party.

[gridlock]

It's a long way until November. We all hate Forrester right now, and for good reason. But let's cool off and look at the Forrester/Corzine match-up before we decide who to vote for in the General Election.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"I will do NOTHING for this creep nor will I vote for him."

---

I'm heartbroken that Schundler lost, and I can certainly empathize with your current feelings towards Forrester, but this is a clear case in which the RINO is far, far better than the Democrat, and we need to try to make some lemonade out of the lemons we've been given. I often get criticized on this board for always supporting conservatives over RINOs (see, e.g., the old Arnold-McClintock threads) and for saying, in some cases, that I would rather have the RINO lose the general election (such as in the case of Specter's reelection last year, since I didn't want him as Chairman of Judiciary), but in this case we would gain NOTHING by sitting out the general election and letting Corzine win.

Let me put it to you this way: Do you want a conservative to be elected Senator from New Jersey in 2006? Well, the first step to achieve that is to defeat Corzine this November. If Corzine wins, he will appoint as Senator someone who is not quite as liberal as he is (since there *isn't* anyone else as liberal as Corzine in NJ), perhaps Rob Andrews or Bob Menendez. His apointee would have a running start on the 2006 election, and whichever Republican gets nominated for the Senate would face a much more difficult task than against the ultraliberal Corzine, especially than he would against a wounded Corzine who had just been defeated for Governor. Moreover, if Corzine beats Forrester, rest assured that the media will claim that he won because Forrester "wasn't liberal enough" and pretty soon it will become conventional wisdom that only a "Republican" as liberal as Tom Kean, Jr. can be elected statewide in New Jersey. Thus, if someone like Congressman LoBiondo or Steve Forbes or maybe Lonegan or Schundler are to be elected to the U.S. Senate from NJ, we need to take those first "baby steps" and elect Forrester as Governor. I agree wholeheartdely that we have been given a raw deal here, and that Bret Schundler would have been a far superior standardbearer for the GOP in the gubernatorial election, but giving up now is not a good option.