TRENTON -- It's known in the political realm as opposition research. Or, as "The Dirt."
In the rapid-fire and heated run-up to Tuesday's Republican gubernatorial primary, the two front runners may provide Democrat Jon Corzine with a plentiful source of it this fall, according to political operatives and academics.
Republicans Bret Schundler and Douglas Forrester, the two front-runners in the seven-man contest, spent the final week of the campaign attacking one another over proposals to lower property taxes and raise government ethics.
In campaign stops and vitriolic television spots, each highlighted alleged misdeeds and untruths of his principal primary opponent.
This warring may prove successful in securing the GOP nomination on Tuesday, but it may also provide Corzine - the multimillionaire freshman U.S. senator and Democratic nominee - with a head start in collecting ammunition to be used this fall, observers said.
"That's the curse of a competitive primary. The developments that make a strong candidate can turn out to hurt the nominee," said David Rebovich, a political analyst at Rider University. "But these issues will hurt the candidates' ability to differentiate themselves from the political establishment in Trenton."
In one recent poll, Schundler trailed Forrester among likely Republican voters 40 percent to 29 percent; 42 percent said they could still change their minds.
Two issues have moved front and center in the GOP runoff: The state's escalating property tax system and government ethics.
Both the Republicans and Corzine tout plans to lower real estate levies. Each GOP hopeful hammered home a multitude of reasons why his opponent is wrong for the four-year post.
Another possibility is Corzine's opting not to attack the primary winner as other Republicans did but, instead, allowing stand-ins and other Democratic partisans to utilize the information.
"It would be irresponsible of us to turn a blind eye," said Richard McGrath, spokesman for Democratic State Committee chairwoman Bonnie Watson Coleman and the veteran of many tough Garden State elections. "A lot of weaknesses have been exposed. Not only with the attacks on each other -- because of self-inflicted wounds."
McGrath said the beauty of Schundler and Forrester's disclosing the information lies not in discovering the unknown. It would mean enhanced credibility for the Democrat to attack his opponent with the words of a fellow Republican, according to McGrath.
"It weakens the individuals as candidates," he added. "The fact that the Republican Party is split up into seven different camps reflects the party's weaknesses and weaknesses with the individual candidates."
Calls placed to the Schundler and Forrester campaigns went unreturned on Friday.
Tom Wilson, chairman of the Republican State Committee, said that other than party stalwarts, voters have eschewed the nomination process and downplayed the effect of any blows landed by fellow Republicans.
He pointed to the 2000 U.S. Senate primary between Corzine and former Gov. James Florio. In one particularly personal shot, Florio called the future senator unfit to hold the office and derided his "Wall Street ethics," referring to his past job as chairman of Goldman Sachs.
"That notion is a nice throwback to the campaigns of 50 years ago," Wilson said. "We would be naive to think Democrats are not going to say all of these things and would not uncover all of the facts."
Wilson added: "All of these arguments are going to be used by Jon Corzine, his surrogates and his allies in the fall anyway."
Yvette Mendez, spokeswoman for the Corzine campaign, said the Democrat would not exploit Republican primary attacks. She said that, despite the negative tone the Republican campaign has taken in its closing weeks, it would not set the tone for Corzine.
"We will continue to go to great pains to have a very detailed agenda. We plan to continue addressing issues," Mendez said. "On Wednesday morning, he's going to continue carrying on a dialogue in the state of New Jersey."
Also seeking the GOP nod are Morris County Freeholder John Murphy, Bergen County businessman Robert Schroeder, Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, Assemblyman Paul DiGaetano and Bergen County businessman Todd Caliguire.
According to a Quinnipiac University Polling Institute survey of likely voters, Murphy garnered 9 percent of the likely vote, the most of the remaining five. Other results were: Schroeder, 3 percent; Lonegan, 4 percent; DiGaetano, 2 percent; and Caliguire, 2 percent.
