The Asbury Park Press jumped into the debate about campaign spending 12th. In an editorial they called on the candidates to voluntarily limit spending to $100,000 per candidate.
The Karcher/Panter/Mallet Democratic campaign would be smart to agree to this. It will get them brownie points with the Press and the electorate and it won't limit Democratic spending in the 12th or the county at large anyway.
Senator Karcher would be smart to sponsor Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck's legislation making the 12th a "clean" district this year in the Senate. Such a bill will not pass anyway, but Karcher could claim to be on the "right" side of the issue, and then point out that she is voluntarily limiting her campaign's spending. This would be great spin, but it would not restrain the Democrats from spending millions to get her and the rest of the Monmouth Democrats elected.
Karcher's press releases calling for the 12th to be a "clean" district and expressing her disappointment that it was not chosen were written and released by Jason Butkowski. Regular readers might remember the introduction I gave Jason to Monmouth County voters last August when he was seeking the Democrats nomination to replace Lenny Inzerillo as a Freeholder candidate. Jason is a hack for the Senate Democrats and plays in a band that has a website with pictures of Jason that are not politically correct.
As a hack for the NJ Senate Democrats, Butkowski works for Acting Governor/Senate President Dick Codey. The same Dick Codey that determined that the 14th, not the 12th will be the split "clean" district. Butkowski writes what Codey tells him to write. The Senate Democrats are playing both sides of this issue in coveted Monmouth County. They have ensured that they can spend whatever necessary to win in the 12th, while at the same time issuing press releases on behalf of their candidate expressing regret about that decision.
Senator Karcher and the rest of the Democrats are playing both sides of this issue, and will likely continue to do so. Even if the Karcher/Panter/Mallet campaign voluntarily limitis its spending, come mid-October the flood gates of special interest/union cash will open in Monmouth County for Karcher and the rest of the Democratic ticket. The TV, radio and mailed ads may not be paid for directly by the campaign, and Butkowski might even write a release in Karcher's name demanding that they stop, but behind closed doors in Trenton and Hazlet there will be high fives all around.
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The Senate Democrats are playing both sides of this issue in coveted Monmouth County.
Yes. And they are doing the same in Mercer, where Sen. Kärcher's father, the late Alan J. Kärcher, was Democratic County Chairman; he was also a longtime legislator in his native Middlesex.
In the "clean" 14th District, split between Mercer and Middlesex, the Dems are hoping that the Baroni team will abide by the Clean Elections program, but come mid-October the flood gates of special interest cash will open in Mercer County for Linda Greenstain and the rest of the Democratic ticket. Union bucks may go to Baroni, but rest assured that Democratic bosses will put the arm on the suits over at the unions to "come home".
This strategy is well thought out. The Democrats are looking to turn both the 12th and 14th from split districts into safe Democratic ones.
We Republicans ignore this at our peril.
With all due respect Mr. Secretary I think you're wrong on a couple of counts.
a)Karcher, Panter and Mallet would be fools to agree to Clean Elections precisely because b)it WOULD limit their spending.
The money is their only advantage. Their records are in Panters case spectacularly unimpressive and in Karcher's case totally overrated. Whatever good will they would earn by getting on the good side of the APP would pale in comparison to the risk of agreeing to go toe to toe with Jen, Dec and Caroline on an equal monetary footing. Dont forget, in addition to shorting themselves at least a million bucks, they be handing Jen and crew half a million more than they will probably raise, at minumum.
That would be suicide for them. Then again, accepting millions of dollars in special interest money will be suicide for them too.
Hmmm...
Anonymous said...
With all due respect Mr. Secretary I think you're wrong on a couple of counts.
a)Karcher, Panter and Mallet would be fools to agree to Clean Elections precisely because b)it WOULD limit their spending.
I'm sorry I didn't make myself clearer. I'm suggesting that Karcher, et al would be smart to agree to a voluntary limit that the APP called for and that I suggested earlier. The "Clean Elections" is not going to happen here.
The campaign's voluntary limit would not keep State Party money or other special interest money from being spent of their behalf.
That way, with a wink and a nod, they get to keep playing both sides of the issue.
Would it be suicide for them to accept special interest money? That probably depends on how they time it, and how much of an issue the APP makes of it.
Does the APP have more clout that airwaves flooded with TV and radio ad? We might find out this fall.
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