Democratic leaders shun cash to Ferguson foe
By LEDYARD KING, Home News Tribune on the Web, October 2, 2004
Democratic leaders in Congress are steering $200,000 each to 23 candidates trying to win Republican seats nationwide -- and Steve Brozak of New Jersey isn't one of them.
The ex-Republican and former Marine shrugs off the news, which came out this week, saying his campaign will have enough money "for what we need to do."
But pundits say it can't be positive for a candidate whom Democrats often tout as having the perfect resume to run in New Jersey's Republican 7th Congressional District against GOP incumbent Mike Ferguson.
The district, which Ferguson won by 17 percentage points in 2002, includes parts of Middlesex, Somerset, Union and Hunterdon counties.
"It's not a good sign that you're not getting money and someone else is," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of a political newsletter.
Democrats shone their spotlight on Brozak this summer, giving him a coveted speaking slot at their national convention in Boston to criticize President Bush's handling of the Iraq war.
And they put him on a response team at the Republican convention in New York to provide Democratic spin.
But with a month left before the Nov. 2 election, Rothenberg and other election handicappers say Ferguson appears a likely bet for re-election.
Through June 30, Ferguson had raised nearly $2.3 million compared with $365,000 for Brozak.
Brozak says he raised about $300,000 more through September.
While he wouldn't mind getting help from Washington, Brozak insists his endorsement last week by MoveOn.org, a liberal group, already has generated tens of thousands of dollars in donations.
And he points to a recent visit by Gen. Wesley Clark and an upcoming visit by Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., both former presidential candidates, as proof that big-name Democrats believe he can unseat the two-term incumbent.
Ferguson charges that Brozak has endorsed a "radical left-wing agenda" that includes repealing part of the Bush tax cuts -- a potentially tough sell in a district where the median household income approaches $75,000.
"His biggest mistake was advocating for higher taxes, throwing his arms around Howard Dean and seeking the endorsement of the left-wing Moveon.org," he said.
"Steve Brozak started left and ran lefter."
Brozak, who said he would only repeal tax cuts on those making at least $1 million, counters that Ferguson backs a right-wing social agenda and gives lip service to soldiers by voting against spending increases for veterans' health care and bonuses for U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
"Mike Ferguson has been perpetrating a fraud," he said.
Brozak also frequently raises Ferguson's record $210,000 fine for election-law violations last year and his status as a top recipient of pharmaceutical-industry donations as proof that he skirts the law and caters to special interests.
But Brozak's status as a long shot is partly due to factors beyond his control, said David Rebovich, associate professor of political science at Rider University in Lawrence.
Bush's suddenly strong showing in a state he lost by 16 percentage points to Al Gore in 2000, and Democratic Gov. Jim McGreevey's admission that he had an affair with another man and will resign have combined to dampen the Democrats' ability to reach swing voters, Rebovich said.
"Brozak was depending on coattails," he said. "He still stands a chance.
He's going to have to make a splash the last couple of weeks."
One of those ripples came earlier this week when Brozak accused Ferguson of living in Maryland and, therefore, being ineligible to run for re-election.
Even if it's not illegal, Ferguson's decision to send his children to school in Maryland shows that he has little connection with a district he's only lived in since 1999, Brozak said.
Ferguson denied the charge and said he and his family live in Maryland when Congress is in session.
Brozak, a New York City native whose military career took him all over the globe, should be wary about accusing others of being carpetbaggers, Ferguson said.
"It's a sad, desperate attempt to rescue a failing campaign," he said.
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