Ambrose Bierce called politics "a two handed game where mudballs are trump." As it would happen the current race for US Senate in NJ is quite interesting. For those of you outside of the state the Republican candidate is extremely conservative with, all things being equal, very little change of election in New Jersey with its changing demographics (this is always an issue in primary elections - candidates to the left or right of the state electorate are often chosen by the party faithful).
Doug Forrester, the Republican, ran into some good luck when incumbent Democrat Robert Torricelli saw his career unwind in a series of ethical problems that he countered arrogantly. Forrester managed to get ahead in the polls by only running against Torricelli - in many months of campaigning none of his issues were advanced (the same for Torricelli).
Finally Torricelli quit the race with the Republicans screaming foul (which may or may not be appropriate). Suddenly Forrester found himself up against a well known NJ politician with well known positions that are probably more consistent with current NJ than his. What a waste - all of that money defining someone else rather than yourself. Forrester was loudly calling for Torricelli to quit the race now finds the sledding rough.
So now Forrester has to create some positions carefully and with some dispatch. Our country has been solidly Republican for a century, but is now moving to a socially progressive stance - things like a woman's right to chose are probably close to being core values.
So it was surprising to get a recorded phone call featuring one Tom Keene an ex- Republican Governor who was considered something of a moderate. The call has appeared twice ... once with caller id 000-000-0000 and then with 555-555-5555 (how do you get those numbers:)
In any event Keene comes on almost painting Forrester with progressive values along with support of our president in his war.... specifically it was mentioned that Forrester supported a woman's right to choose.
This struck me as strange as Forrester has articulated very right wing views on the subject - one suspects handlers
and now my 5 minutes of fun
I called the Forrester campaign for clarification suggesting that religious people are concerned that he is claiming to be pro-choice. I was handed off to someone who assured me that he believes in the right for women to choose to work or stay home. I pushed on the abortion issue and found some waffling (it is a positive thing if a very conservative republican is pushed to this position) and another handoff. The third person (all of these were female) said that "Doug Forrester will fight abortion as it is the murder of the unborn" I was further told to tell everyone in my church (interesting how this gets communicated isn't it?) I asked is I could get a policy statement that could be distributed or, better yet, a video by Sunday.... at that point they hung up.
it is really tough for someone with extreme values to attempt to "triangulate"... I'm glad I'm not responsible for his campaign. Women just aren't buying his position and current polling suggested the male vote might go in his favor, but he is going to get killed by the female vote. In a way it is interesting that someone who attached another candidate as a dishonest weasel (which may well have been true) turns out to be one himself.
Wouldn't it be interesting if candidates actually had positions that actually matched their record?
5:25:24 AM 
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