Thanks for not helping to inflict that moron on the rest of the country.
I read your comments and can understand your feelings and and having looked at some of your comments, I respect your intentions. I would agree that pandering by calling for Rumsfeld's retirement or Hassert to resign suggests he would not be a stellar Senator. The real issue is the comparison with Menendez who is a real disaster. I would like to offer several tangible reasons for you to reconsider.
1. The comparison with Chafee and Jeffords is not entirely appropriate. Jeffords did betray his party. Chaffee has said that he did not vote for Bush and there is every reason to believe that if he were the deciding vote, he would jump to the Rats. In fact, Chaffee recently blocked Bolton's vote so if he wins he would take up a Republican seat on a Committee. That is like having a Rat instead of a Republican. The only positive tangible benefit is his willingness to allow votes for the judges and other situations where he would not fillibuster unlike his opponent. On balance, Chaffee's actions have deserved his boot from the Senate. If I had to vote, I would vote for Chaffee. (Rationale for this will be discussed in item 4 below.)Having said that,I would have voted for Laffley in the primary even if I believed that it would mean losing the election to the Rats. That would have been an easy decision.
Kean has said things that are pandering to an electorate in NJ that is not favorable to Republicans. The Iraq war is an albatross, especially in blue states such as NJ so some of this is trying to cope with that reality. (his calling for resignations are just political nonsense, they have no tangilble affect on policy at all as these issues will not even be in his realm of decision) Despite his gaffes, there is no reason to believe that he would betray his party. Despite his comments that might give you pause, the assumption of a betrayal by Kean is not one that can be automatically or even fairly made. The operative qustion is what is the risk/reward? When the alternative is Menendez, there is no downside. we cannot continue to play with our hands tied behind our backs. With the Rats and their allies committing treason on a daily basis (Look at the NYT on any day), we cannot cede to the Rats when our candidate is far from perfect.
2. Comparison with Menendez is reason enough to vote Kean. There probably is no circumstance where having Kean instead of Menendez will hurt. In addition to a number of votes with the party (that even Chaffee has made) he would not likely fillibuster judges or other key issues whereas Menendez would be certainly at the left fringe of votes. Even if Kean would vote against the type of judges we would want, he would not be as destructive as Menendez. Other than the WOT this is the most critical issue of our time.
3. An important message to give in NJ is the protest against the corruption and political hacks. given the conditions, Menendez should win in a breeze. It is only because Menendez is so corrupt that Kean has a chance. In fact, there are those on this sight that feel Kean is ahead and will win. A Kean win will send this message loud and clear.
4. The most important reason to vote Kean is the impact a Senate gain and minimal House losses would have on the media and the party. There are respected Freepers such as LS who believe the election will turn out this way. I believe such an outcome, along with a defeat in 2008,would cause the Rat party to implode.
5. If LS is correct in his assessment, and we have Republican gains, I will personally enjoy seeing the media shellshocked. I recently posted an article on Free Rupublic about the Purple Middle Finger being the metaphor for the election. Take a look at it.
Bottom line, is that there is potentially considerable upside that transcends Kean himself with a Kean victory. There is no reward for his defeat - only risk of the far left and crooked Menendez.
I appreciate your rethinking this.
Whatever you do as a fellow diehard Giants and Mets fan and a fellow Conservative I wish you well.
Thanks for taking the time to consider this.
Kean winning would be far better than the rat.
The key is to keep the senate so ted kennedy can't tie up all the judicial nominees in the commitee.
After jeffords jumped leahy, schumer and kennedy tied up all of bush's judges in commitees.
There are hundreds of circuit and district court judges that would be blocked. Dems would control the floor on a supreme court pick.
When dems had the committee in 2001 and 2002 they even blocked roberts for lower court.
This is why the dems are polling better no dem is staying home while droves of republicans are and will actually put in politicians that will hurt their causes.