Granstanding Old Party

Republican members of the NJ State Senate have a new bug up their behinds - no candidate swaps during the final days of a campaign before an election. No later than 48 days, they say. I say, OK, fine! What's with you people?

They're still mad over the Torricelli/Lautenberg deal, I guess. I got news for you, people - Torricelli most likely could have beaten Forrester from a jail cell (Not that Torricelli went to jail for anything at all, mind you). It wasn't because of the last minute switch that Doug lost that one.

An excerpt from the Ledger article linked above is what made me stop and think that this isn't just legislation, it's also a neat opportunity to malign people needlessly!

"It is vitally important to the integrity of the election process to prevent cynical maneuvers to substitute duly nominated candidates and replace them with candidates approved by party bosses," Lance said at a Statehouse press conference.

Approved by party bosses? We're talking about Frank Lautenberg, right? Or are we talking about Robert Menendez being not acceptable to party bosses? When Junior's been talking about how corrupt Menendez is actually supposed to be? Are they accusing someone - anyone - of anything concrete?

This is nothing but a way to get controversial words into the heads of the voters with no real substance behind them. I hate that this method is so often effective.