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Karl Rove in NJ
June 21, 2005 at 4:15 pm at the home of Anne Torre, 52 Navesink Ave., Rumson,
NJ, for a fundraiser for Doug Forrester.
National GOP to play
role for Forrester
By DONNA DE LA CRUZ,
AP from Newsday.com from the Web, June 20, 2005
WASHINGTON, June 19 -- In the
past two presidential elections, the GOP has looked to New Jersey as a place to
gather money, not votes. That pattern may change with this year's
gubernatorial election.
This year, the national Republicans see New Jersey as an attainable prize, and
plan to work hard for Doug Forrester, the GOP gubernatorial candidate.
When George W. Bush was running for president in 2000 and for re-election in
2004, he visited New Jersey several times -- to raise money. Any campaign
visits were limited to brief stops to help local Republicans in their races.
It's not that Bush didn't want to win the state, he had just chalked it up to a
sure thing for the Democrats, since New Jersey had not voted for a Republican
presidential candidate since 1988, when his dad beat Michael Dukakis.
With only New Jersey and Virginia holding governor's races this year, Republican
officials said Forrester and the Garden State GOP will be getting help from the
national party.
No Republican has won the New Jersey governor's race since 1997, when Christie
Whitman narrowly defeated James McGreevey for a second term.
The tendency of New Jersey voters to choose Democratic candidates make the
governor's race an uphill battle for Republicans. In his speech the day
Forrester won the GOP primary, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken
Mehlman stressed the need to register voters.
"Our reform message will be heard throughout the state," Mehlman said. "We
will reach out to those who government has failed the most, including African
Americans and Latino Americans, and we will say, if you give us a chance we will
give you a choice."
RNC spokesman Danny Diaz said the committee is going to work closely with the
Forrester campaign to ensure they have the resources to "get the message out and
mobilize their vote."
Diaz was firm about the party's commitment to New Jersey but refused to divulge
strategies the GOP would use or how much money it would spend to help unseat the
Democrats.
Visits from President Bush are expected, said Forrester campaign spokeswoman
Sherry Sylvester. It's hard to say when Bush might visit, since his
schedule is usually not released until a few days before an event.
Forrester knows Bush and attended several of the president's inaugural
festivities earlier this year. Forrester is one of Bush's "Pioneers,"
meaning he raised between $100,000 and $200,000 for the president's re-election
campaign.
As an individual, Forrester contributed $2,000 to Bush in June 2003, and another
$2,000 in October 2004, records show.
Sen. Jon Corzine, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, has said he fully
expects Bush and national Republicans to be involved in the race, which his
campaign contends will hurt Forrester.
"Any help Doug Forrester gets from George Bush and the national Republican Party
comes tainted with Forrester's endorsing Social Security privatization and the
raiding of the trust fund to give tax breaks to the wealthy, as well as the
robbing from senior citizens of one of the best prescription drug assistance
programs in the country," said Ivette Mendez, Corzine's campaign spokeswoman.
Ross Baker, a Rutgers University political science professor, said Forrester
should be careful when it comes to Bush's controversial plan to privatize Social
Security, which would allow younger workers to divert a portion of their payroll
taxes into stock market investments.
"His plan is so unpopular that if Doug Forrester becomes connected to it, even
remotely, it will not help him," Baker said.
Clay Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling
Institute, said although Bush's approval ratings have been sliding below the 50
percent mark nationwide, a presidential visit would rally the troops, especially
the more conservative Republicans, who did not vote for Forrester in the primary
election. Forrester is considered a moderate.
Republicans are not discouraged by such talk. Corzine has less than 50
percent of registered voters' support, which has Forrester's backers ecstatic,
although their man still is the underdog, lagging 10 points behind in two recent
polls.
"We have a perfect storm in New Jersey that will lead to a Forrester victory in
November. New Jersey wants property tax relief, reduced state spending,
and an end to corruption, and these polls show voters know Doug will bring those
changes," Sylvester said.
Bush campaigned in 2002 for Forrester in his unsuccessful U.S. Senate bid,
initially against Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli, who pulled out amid an
ethics scandal. Frank Lautenberg, who left the Senate in 2000 after an 18-year
career, replaced Torricelli on the ballot and won after campaigning for five
weeks.
Currently, there are 28 states with Republican governors and 22 are governed by
Democrats.
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