Trouble in NJ senate race

[Deano963]

From The American Prospect:

NJ SEN: IF YOU SLING ENOUGH MUD, SOME WILL STICK.

 If Democrats plan to take a majority in the Senate, holding onto Jersey's seat is all but absolutely necessary. Republicans, of course, understand this and the upstart campaign of State Senator Tom Kean, Jr. has been playing hard and dirty throughout the summer. From the moment he declared his candidacy, Kean, Jr. has hammered at incumbent Bob Menendez's ethics problems -- both real and imaginary. Now it appears that some of the mud is starting to stick.

The statewide Star-Ledger is reporting today that federal investigators are "looking into" the dealings between Menendez and the North Hudson Community Action Corp. Menendez apparently collected over $300,000 worth of rent over a nine-year period from the organization while also "help[ing] the agency win millions of dollars in federal funding."

The Menendez campaign smells a political rat in the timing, though. With the election two months away, any neutral observer would have to wonder why this issue would suddenly be investigated now -- especially since Menendez sold the house three years ago. The Ledger notes:


The senator said that before renting out the house in 1994, he obtained clearance from the House Ethics Committee, but did not get a written opinion. He said there was nothing improper about his actions because he never negotiated directly with agency officials and the organization paid slightly below-market rent.

It also notes that the rent collected by the new owner is approximately the same as what Menendez collected when he owned the building. So when you have an "issue" that was approved by the House Ethics Committee, is over three years old, no direct linkage between official actions and recipient, AND no history of price gouging or fixing -- well, it's difficult to see this actually going to a court for prosecution. But in politics, and particularly in a year where ethics has been hammered as an issue by all sides, it might not be necessary for Republicans to go to court to win in November.

[Deano963]

Dailyrecord.com:


" Not only is Kean Sr. a onetime governor -- he's the former president of Drew University in Madison and the acclaimed chairman of the federal 9/11 Commission that investigated the terrorist attacks. That's a great resume for the U.S. Senate.

The candidate, however, is his son, Kean Jr., a state senator...

A poll by the Eagleton Institute of Politics earlier this year gave some credence to that argument. It noted that the race was a virtual dead heat, but also that when voters definitely knew the candidate was Kean Jr., Menendez had a lead of nine percentage points, 42 to 33. "


LOL.....Kean Jr. is nothing but a name. After Menendez gets through tying him to Bush and pointing out that he is not his father, Jr. is through.