May 9, 2005 Schundler Runs Best GOP Campaign of ALL
(MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ) -- Schundler for Governor communications director Bill Pascoe today released the campaign's 29-day ELEC report [1], and issued the following statement:
"Bret Schundler is running the best campaign for Governor, hands down. How can I say that? Because he's running neck and neck with Douglas Forrester, despite having been outspent by Forrester, Inc. [2], by a factor of five-to-one.
"Consider: Bret Schundler's campaign has spent, through May 6, a total of $1,386,087.99. Doug Forrester, in contrast, has spent a total of $7.1 million on his quest to be Governor. That works out to roughly $14 per voter for Bret, and roughly $66 per voter for Mr. Forrester. [3]
"To those who suggest that running a campaign for Governor is truly an audition for running the state of New Jersey -- and that lessons can be drawn, based on a candidate/chief executive's ability to spend money wisely and get the most bang for the buck, I have only this to say: You might think that. I couldn"t possibly comment."
-- 30 --
Paid for by Schundler for Governor
www.bret2005.com
_______________
[1]The Schundler campaign reported net contributions to date of $871,850.18; public matching funds received, to date, of $938,044.60; total disbursements to date of $1,386,087.99; and cash on hand of $423,806.79.
[2] "Forrester, Inc.," refers to the entire political apparatus established by Douglas Forrester to support his quest to become Governor. These various political organizations include The Coalition for Smaller, Smarter Government (a 527 organization he created in 2004), the Liberty and Prosperity PAC (a political action committee he established in 2003), and Forrester for Governor, Inc. (his official gubernatorial campaign entity).
Since November 7, 2002 -- the day after his loss to Frank Lautenberg in the U.S. Senate race of 2002 -- Mr. Forrester and his wife have contributed a total of roughly $1.42 million to these Forrester-controlled political organizations, and another $400,000 to various GOP party organizations and candidates. While these contributions do not show up on his campaign's official ELEC report, and therefore are not directly attributable to his campaign, it is clear that the purpose of his contributions and spending through them -- for example, his contribution of $1.4 million to the Coalition for Smaller, Smarter Government, to pay for the broadcast television advertising the Coalition ran last fall, calling for Dan Rather to be fired as anchorman of the CBS Evening News -- was to broaden his political appeal as a candidate for Governor in 2005.
There is nothing wrong with contributing money to such organizations. We merely point it out in the belief that realistic assessments of the spending undertaken by Mr. Forrester in his quest to become Governor should include these sums.
[3] In the most recent reliable public opinion survey, Mr. Forrester was statistically tied with Bret Schundler -- Mr. Forrester had 36 percent of the vote, and Bret had 33 percent of the vote, with a 5-percent margin of error. Using a model based on a projected turnout of 300,000 voters in the Republican primary on June 7, Mr. Forrester would garner 108,000 votes (300,000 multiplied by .36). Divide his total spending of $7.1 million by 108,000 votes, and we arrive at $66 as his campaign's cost-per-projected-vote. Using the same formula to determine the Schundler campaign's cost-per-vote, we arrive at $14 as the Schundler campaign's cost-per-projected-vote.
