Steve Adubato, a veteran of the New Jersey political scene, pretty much sums up the ugliness of this year’s Senate campaign, laying a large share of the blame (not all) at Tom Kean Jr.’s feet.
Ironically, many people felt that it would be Bob Menendez, a product of Hudson County — the bastion of dirty Democratic politics — who would drive this campaign into the gutter. And while Menendez has taken his share of potshots (including unfair criticisms of Kean as a “trust fund” kid from a wealthy family), it has been the young state Senator with the “golden” Kean name (and the unassuming face) who has savaged Bob Menendez. Kean has not only implied, but has said that Menendez is corrupt, dishonest and greedy.
As I’ve written before, corruption is a legitimate issue in New Jersey. But the Kean camp’s tactics have been hypocritical to the extreme. He has elevated legitimate questions about Mendenez’s role in an apartment scandal to the same level as the Lynch probe, which resulted in a guilty plea for the former state senator, even though there is no evidence that Menendez violated any laws. And Kean has climbed into bed with convicted felons to find dirt, all the while remaining quiet about the culture of corruption in Republican Washington.
If Kean were to take on his own party’s nefarious activities, then his attacks on Menendez might hold more water. As it is, he just comes off as another cynical politician who will do anything to win.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 