June 4, 2005 Primary weekend a shore thing for Republicans
by Pete McAleer
PRESS OF ATLANTIC CITY
Get ready for the final weekend blitz.
New Jersey's Republican voters have three days to decide on their candidate for governor. Until now, front-runner Doug Forrester has been the only candidate to pay for a steady rotation of television ads. His 30-second spots stretch back to mid-November.
The rest of the field has saved its cash for this weekend.
The other six candidates, all chasing Forrester in the polls, plan to launch their most significant television ad blitz of the campaign over the next three days. The goal is to win over last minute supporters in a race that, according to polls, has left 40 percent of voters undecided.
Expect Schundler and Forrester to spend the weekend attacking each other.
Forrester has finally begun to distance himself a bit from Schundler in the polls, no doubt with help from an ad that has run in heavy rotation on network television. The commercial scathingly criticizes Schundler's performance as mayor of Jersey City, relying on some questionable charges. The spot blasts Schundler for hiking property taxes and insinuates that he had been named one of the worst abusers of "pay to play" - trading campaign contributions for government contracts - in the state.
In reality, Jersey City's average property tax bill increased at a rate less than the state average under Schundler - the Forrester campaign does not dispute that - and there has never been documented evidence to show Schundler sought contributions in exchange for contracts.
Schundler ran his first television ad of the campaign this week, a spot called "revolution" that features Schundler preaching to a crowd about his plan to permanently reduce property taxes. It's highly likely that Schundler will also return fire at Forrester this weekend. The campaign Web site features three ads that attack Forrester's 25-year-old record as former West Windsor mayor, calling him a "liberal" and quoting old news reports that complained Forrester "spent like a drunken sailor." It accuses Forrester of doubling his own salary and hiking property taxes more than 200 percent in four years.
The Schundler ads, while technically accurate, mislead by ignoring the context of Forrester's term as mayor. Forrester and the rest of the township committee in West Windsor doubled their salaries from $2,400 to $4,800 - and a large portion of the property tax increase in the small town can be attributed to needed sewer improvements.
Schundler spokesman Bill Pascoe would not say if the ads will run this weekend, but he said the ads merely interpret Forrester's record in a negative light based on facts while Forrester's ads constitute a "smear campaign."
"Every punch we've thrown has been above the belt," Pascoe said.
The Forrester campaign also released a new ad Friday, "get out and vote," that does not mention Schundler. It's unclear how often the spot will run. An ad attacking the property tax plan of the presumed Democratic candidate, U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine, also ran last week. Many saw it as Forrester's way of sending a message to primary voters that he is the guy with the means to compete with Corzine in the November election.
Forrester spokeswoman Sherry Sylvester said Corzine pushed the issue when he showed up near Forrester's hometown to introduce a "half-baked" property tax plan.
"If we're going to beat Corzine we're going to need to be aggressive immediately and not give him the chance to put out any misinformation," Sylvester said.
Corzine has two opponents in the Democratic primary, Francis X. Tenaglio and James Kelly. Neither has run a high-profile campaign. The Republican field includes Schundler, Forrester, John Murphy, Steve Lonegan, Paul DiGaetano, Bob Schroeder and Todd Caliguire. All seven get to hash out their differences Sunday at a debate in New York City televised by WCBS. The debate will air from 11 a.m. to noon in New York and Philadelphia television markets.
For today, the candidates will get it done the old-fashioned way - shaking hands and kissing babies. Several of the candidates plan to make their way up and down the southern New Jersey shore.
Forrester will be at Point Pleasant Beach and the Red Bank Jazz and Blues Festival in Monmouth County.
Schundler is scheduled to stop at the Galloway Diner this morning before heading to the Wildwood boardwalk, in front of the convention center, for a radio show with Bob Grant of WOR. From there he travels up the coast to Lakehurst, Ocean County, and Wall Township and Point Pleasant, both in Monmouth County.
Murphy, running third in the polls, plans a similar trek. He starts his day with a 7 a.m. visit at the Ocean View Restaurant in Cape May before heading to the Court House Diner in Middle Township and then up north to Lakewood, Ocean County.
Murphy has benefited the most in recent weeks from the crossfire between Forrester and Schundler. He got his first significant jump in the polls last week, and, when Schundler confronted Forrester at a Memorial Day parade, he stepped in and pleaded for cooler heads.
"When A hits B and B hits A, the guy who benefits is C," said Pascoe, Schundler's spokesman.
The Murphy campaign contends the primary should no longer be considered just a two-man race.
"Forrester and Schundler seem bent on destroying each other and taking our party down with them," Murphy's campaign manager Rich DeAngelis said. "Meanwhile, John Murphy continues to bring new energy and excitement to the GOP."
