Many of the state’s Gannett papers — the mammoth Asbury Park Press included (Courier-News has yet to endorse but has said it would be endorsing against Bush in most cases) — have cast their lot with state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. in their endorsements in the U.S. Senate race, telling their readers that he represents the best hope for political and ethical reform in Washington. Sen. Kean’s moderate views, the papers say, are in line with the beliefs of most Jerseyans and his unwillingness to back withdrawal from Iraq is the prudent approach.
I’d laugh if the election wasn’t so close.
The key thing to remember — and something the Gannett papers ignore — is that Sen. Kean, no matter how independent he claims to be, will caucus with the GOP. And if his election results in the Republicans retaining control over the Senate it will mean that the same kind of troglodytes who now control the major Senate committees will still run them. This means, for instance, that no matter how green Sen. Kean says he is, positive environmental legislation has no chance of getting through the Senate.
Don’t believe me, read this post from Steven Hart detailing the right-wing assault about to happen over the next week. This assault (detailed in The Star-Ledger), which is designed to defeat the Democratic incumbent, only adds more ammunition to my argument.
The thing that I find so unseemly about this — and it is, admittedly, a staple of politics in the 21st Century — is that Sen. Kean apparently disagrees with some of the material that has gone out and, including some beliefs attributed to him by the conservative groups:
National Right to Life, an anti-abortion group, has pumped more than $78,000 into campaign mailers and radio ads supporting Kean against U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat, in a close race that could help determine whether Republicans keep control of the Senate.
The group’s post card has a picture of an infant on the front and says, “Please vote Nov. 7, but not for Bob Menendez. Here’s why …” The flip side says “compare the candidates and their positions.” There are three check boxes labeled “partial birth abortion,” “parental notification” and “judicial nominees.” All of the boxes in the Kean column are checked.
The tag-line: “Your vote can make a difference for life.”
Jill Hazelbaker, Kean’s campaign spokeswoman, said yesterday the campaign has no control over independent spending by the anti-abortion group.
She said Kean does not share all the positions held by National Right to Life, but added, “Are we glad they’re here? Happy they are here? Sure.”
That last bit raises the hair on the back of my neck — talk about ethically challenged — and should end any discussion about how Sen. Kean is the squeaky-clean reformer in this race. He has proven, throughout this campaign, that he has been willing to do almost anything to win — which leaves him swimming in the same deceitful sludge in which he has accused Sen. Bob Menendez of swimming.
I’ve written before about how I view Sen. Menendez as a flawed candidate, but Sen. Kean brings far more baggage along with him in the form of folks like Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, and it is too important at this moment in history for voters to end Republican control over the Senate not to vote for the incumbent Democrat.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 