Christie says decision forthcoming

Gov. Christie Whitman continues to insist that she is still mulling a decision to run for the U.S. Senate next year despite the fact that some Republican insiders say Whitman has already told them she will seek the GOP nomination for Sen. Frank Lautenberg's seat.

In a State House press conference yesterday to tout the success of her recent trade mission to South America, Whitman said she is still thinking about the race and discussing it with her family. The governor says she expects to make an announcement in the "next week or 10 days."

Some Republicans speculated that Whitman might announce her Senate intentions tonight at a Republican State Committee fund-raiser that is being held at the Princeton Hyatt. But state GOP Chairman Chuck Haytaian said that no major speeches are planned for the cocktail reception which is expected to draw 500 Republicans from around the state.

"Normally, at a fund-raiser this big, I introduce the governor, we thank everybody for coming and that's it," Haytaian said.

The event is normally closed to the media, but late yesterday afternoon Haytaian announced that this year, the reception would be open to the press.

Whitman says that her decision to make the Senate run will be based on her ability to complete her agenda as governor before going to Congress. If Whitman is elected to the Senate, she would have to resign as governor a year before her term is up.

But Whitman watchers believe that the Assembly passage of the property tax rebate bill yesterday along with the resolution of her open-space initiative puts all the major policy initiatives of her second term in place. They also noted that Whitman's expressed concern about President Clinton's exit strategy regarding Kosovo reflects a more senatorial and less gubernatorial approach to foreign policy.

A Quinnipiac College poll taken last month, before Lautenberg's announcement, indicated that Whitman would beat Lautenberg by 9 percentage points if she decided to run against him.

But a poll conducted early this month for South Jersey Democrats indicates that Whitman might have a more difficult time now that Lautenberg has announced his retirement.

The Greenberg, Quinlan Democratic poll found that former Gov. Jim Florio, who announced last week that he has formed a exploratory committee to seek the Democratic nomination for Senate seat, would defeat Whitman 43 percent to 40 percent if the election were held today. Seven hundred voters were surveyed, but the poll has an 8 percent plus or minus margin of error.

Florio is considered by many to be the leading contender for the Democratic nomination.

Other Democrats currently on the first tier of possible nominees include Rep. Frank Pallone, D-Ocean; former state Democratic Chairman Tom Byrne; former Morris County Prosecutor Michael Murphy and newcomer Jon Corzine, the chairman of Goldman-Sachs.

Quinnipiac College is scheduled to release another non-partisan poll tomorrow showing the results of a head-to-head match-up between Whitman and Florio.

Friday, March 26, 1999

The Corzine Scheme

How about those New Jersey Democrats?

Just a month ago, fresh from the tidal wave of rising poll numbers that they received from President Clinton's impeachment victory it seemed they had no where to go but up. Surveys showed that over half the people in New Jersey had decided to call themselves Democrats and they all swore they were so mad at the GOP that they were going to vote them out in the State Assembly races that are coming up in November.

When Senator Frank Lautenberg announced last month that he would retire from the U.S.
Senate next year it seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime for one of the state's many talented Democrats to move into the upper house in Congress. Democrats have held both New Jersey's Senate seats since 1982.

Virtually every Democratic congressman expressed initial interest, with Reps. Bob
Menendez, D-Hudson and Frank Pallone, D-Ocean topping the list. State legislators including Sen. John Adler, D-Cherry Hill, Assemblyman Neil Cohen, D-Roselle Park and Senate Minority Leader Dick Codey, D-West Orange also made themselves available to run. Wanna-be stars including Tom Byrne, Brendan's son, and two big town mayors, Cherry Hill's Susan Bass Levin and Edison's George Spadoro, also put their cards into the hopper. Former governor Jim Florio jumped into the race with both feet and, this week, for one brief shining moment, Michael Murphy, the former Morris County prosecutor who ran for governor against Jim McGreevey in 1997, was in the race too.

Its a motley crew, to be sure, but these guys (and the woman) represent the Garden State
Democrats' best and brightest. There are varying levels of experience on this second team, but there's not a clunker among them.

They are smart people who are pushing the Democratic agenda forward while Senator
Bob Torricelli is sitting in the green room waiting to go on "Meet the Press."

You'd think the Democrats would be celebrating the fact that they have lots of good candidates to chose from, but they're not.

Instead, they're cutting each other out in ways that will damage their party for years to
come.

First, Menendez was squeezed out of the race because he was perceived as "too North
Jersey." He had over a million dollars in the bank, but some people were afraid that he might not be a winner because he is Hispanic.
No doubt those concerned were the same people who told the Republicans that Whitman couldn't be elected governor because she is a woman.

Disgraceful.

Then former governor Jim Florio got his old friends in South Jersey together and began
building a new power base.  But many Democrats are afraid his tax raising baggage will come back to haunt them. Besides, they say he's "too South Jersey."

Pallone originally emerged as the stop-Florio candidate but for some reason his candidacy
doesn't seem to be lighting any fires. He beat back a million dollar challenge for his seat last year and his base in Ocean, Monmouth and Middlesex could be critical in weakening the GOP base, but that doesn't seem to matter. Maybe he's "too Central Jersey."

Jim McGreevey, the gubernatorial candidate who ran a strong race against Whitman in
1997, doesn't want to go to Washington and all the other candidates have been dismissed by the party bosses with a wave of the hand.
Instead, they're going after Jon S. Corzine, a multi-millionaire from Summit who is looking for something to do when he leaves his job at Goldman-Sachs later this year. His only experience in party politics is attending fund-raising events. He may be a very smart and compassionate guy, but basically, he's a check writer.

State Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Elizabeth, one of the party leaders who is considering a Corzine candidacy, told me that an investment banker who is not a politician might be the perfect opponent for Gov. Christie Whitman who is expected to announce soon that she will be the
Republican running for the seat.

"A non-politician could offer a strong challenge to our governor who has made a career out of promoting herself," Lesniak said.

But its not about self promotion, its about money. Republicans expect to raise $15 million to convince people to vote for Whitman. The Democrats aren't exactly sure where they'd get that much next year because they've got to fund some other races too.

Corzine, presumably, would be willing to drop huge wads of cash into the race.

But Murphy, who may be the smartest of all the Democrats on the list, told me this week
that the Senate race "is not e-Bay. If these things go to the highest bidder, what's the point?"

Hopefully, one of the Democrats who is pushing Corzine has got a good answer.

Thursday, March 25, 1999

Democrats want multi-millionaire to run for US Senate

New Jersey Democrats think they may have come up with what it will take to beat Gov.
Christie Whitman in next year's race for the U.S. Senate-- a multi-millionaire.

Party leaders confirmed yesterday that Jon S. Corzine, the co-chairman of Goldman-Sachs, a global investment firm, is considering a run for the Senate seat being vacated by Senator
Frank Lautenberg. Corzine's personal wealth is estimated in the half-billion dollar range. He lives in Union County.

Party insiders estimate that Republicans will raise at least $15 million for Whitman's
senate campaign. Democrats believe they must have a candidate who can match that kind of financial firepower and Corzine is reportedly willing to use his own funds for a campaign.

Jamie Fox, a top aide to Senator Robert Torricelli, said yesterday that Corzine had spoken with the senator earlier this week about a possible Senate run.

"Torricelli has spoken with every single candidate who is interested," Fox said, stressing that the senator is not backing any candidate in the Democratic primary.
State Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Elizabeth, who is chairing Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign in New Jersey next year, said he has not spoken directly with Corzine, but believes he might be the "perfect successor" to Lautenberg.

"A non-politician could offer a strong challenge to our governor who has made a career out of promoting herself," Lesniak said.

But other Democrats say privately that running Corzine or any millionaire will make it
very difficult to charge that Whitman's wealth makes her out of touch with the average voter.

Whitman has never used her own money to fund her statewide campaigns.

Former governor, Jim Florio, who is widely viewed as the leading the race for the
Democratic senate nomination, said yesterday that he wasn't worried about the entry of high dollar players in the campaign.

"How ever many millionaires they want to put in the race is fine," Florio said. "They can all put their ideas into the marketplace of the Democratic party primary."

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-Ocean, who is also considering a senate run, also didn't take the
millionaire candidates seriously.

"I have no reason to believe that he [Corzine] or anybody like that would be given serious
consideration," Pallone said. "Its naive to assume that somebody will come along who will finance this."

Michael Murphy, a former Morris County Prosecutor who ran for governor in 1997 and is also thinking about a Senate race said "this isn't e-Bay."

"If these things just go to the highest bidder, what's the point?" Murphy said.

Earlier in the week, Murphy supporters, including Rep. Robert Menendez, D-Union and Bergen County Democratic Chairman, Joe Ferriero, began a push for a North Jersey coalition to support Murphy but party insiders doubt Murphy can raise the campaign funds needed.

Corzine has served as co-chairman of Goldman-Sachs since 1994. Secretary of the
Treasury, Robert Rubin was also a chairman at the giant investment firm before he joined the Clinton administration. Corzine, who has contributed to Democrats and been involved in party fund-raising, was out of state yesterday. Calls to his office for comment were not returned.

POWER PLAY

Senate Democrats continued to play hardball with Gov. Whitman's appointment of Attorney General Peter Verniero to the New Jersey Supreme Court. Yesterday they called for subpoena power for the Judiciary Committee that must review and approve Verniero's appointment.

"You can't hide or run away from a subpoena," Senate Minority Leader Dick Codey, D-West Orange, told The Trentonian. "This is a way to ensure that the documents we have asked for will be given to us. "

But Judiciary Chairman Bill Gormley, R-Mays Landing, said there was no need to change Judiciary Committee procedures for Verniero's nomination.

"This is not fundamentally fair at this time," Gormley said, although he noted that the Senate reserves the right to go beyond standard practices if they find it necessary.

Whitman appointed Verniero to the high court on February 26 and Senate Democrats immediately questioned his legal qualifications and his handling of the allegations of racial profiling that are currently facing the State Police.

State Sen. John Lynch D-New Brunswick, sent a detailed letter to Senate President Don DiFrancesco R-Scotch Plains, on March 11 demanding that Verniero also provide information on several other issues including his involvement in the take over of HIP Health Plan of New Jersey, the handling of a sexual harassment accusation against then Commerce Secretary designee, Gilbert Medina and the indictment against Michael Francis, a former Whitman fund-raiser.

Gormley said Lynch should forward his letter directly to Verniero for a response and also insisted that the Judiciary Committee members could explore any line of inquiry.

"He can ask as many questions as he wants," Gormley said. "We can judge as a committee as to how responsive he [Verniero] is."

But Codey says that Verniero has already demonstrated an unwillingness to provide requested information, saying he has been waiting since 1997 for documents regarding the state's handling of the Medina incident. During Whitman's re-election campaign, documents were leaked to Democrats who forwarded them to the press which indicated that Medina had made sexual advances toward a reporter. The reporter informed the governor's office. No charges were filed although Medina agreed to go to counseling.

Responding to the subpoena request, Whitman spokesman Pete McDonough said that it was difficult to understand why senators with extensive experience in the workings of the Senate would not trust the hearing process.

"You'd think Henry Hyde took these guys over or something," McDonough said.

McDonough also said there was no indication that Verniero would be anything less than forthcoming in the hearing process.

DiFrancesco's spokeswoman, Rae Hutton, said that the fact that Codey and Lynch presented the subpoena demand to the Senate President five minutes before calling a press conference made it appear to be a partisan act.

But Codey denied any partisanship, saying it "insults the Senate in its constitutional responsibility." He also said Democrats had not taken an official position against Verniero.

Gormley repeated his announcement that he will hold hearings on the racial profiling investigation as well as the Verniero nomination and said neither session was limited to a single day.

Friday, March 20, 1999

Gormley Steps Up

The fictional television lawyer, Ally McBeal, has a theme song with the refrain, "ain't it
funny how you're walking through life and it turns on a dime."

If Senator Bill Gormley knows the song, you can bet he's singing it. The Republican from
Atlantic County has spent the last several years positioning himself to challenge Senator Frank Lautenberg for his seat in the U.S. Senate.

Gormley's a very liberal guy, kind of a policy wonk with a sense of humor who was
having lots of success pulling together the kind of coalition that he thought could beat
Lautenberg. He was even making inroads in the Jewish community where Lautenberg has always run very strong.

Polls showed that the public was getting a little bored with the white haired senior senator and Gormley's chances were gaining credibility.

Then something funny happened. Quinnipiac College took a poll about a hypothetical
match-up between Lautenberg and Gov. Christie Whitman and Whitman beat him.
Nobody thought much about it because Whitman beats people in hypothetical polls all the time. But suddenly, Lautenberg decided to announce his retirement and Gormley's game planned was turned upside down.

Whitman immediately became the only real Republican candidate for the open seat and
when the governor announces that she's going to run at the end of this month, she will clear the GOP primary field.

At first glance, it seemed like Gormley, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1989 and
Congress in 1994, had come in second again.

But as the song says, life can deal some interesting cards.

Gormley is the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee and will be in charge of the
confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Peter Verniero, the current Attorney General.

Democrats have pounced on the current controversy over racial profiling allegations in the State Police to attack Verniero's nomination. Senator John Adler, D-Cherry Hill, has repeatedly called on Verniero to resign as Attorney General and last week, State Senator John Lynch, D-Middlesex, made it an official fight when he issued a 7 page letter charging that Verniero should
be questioned in the confirmation hearings about a number of controversies that have arisen during Whitman's term in office. Since Verniero is one of Whitman's closest advisors, Lynch feels justified in connecting him to anything questionable.

Lynch has made it clear that he plans to drag Verniero through the racial profiling mess
and several other major decisions that have been made in the last year in an effort to discredit him.

Lynch says that he believes it is important to determine if Verniero has the "character, fitness and legal qualifications" to serve on the Supreme Court.

Some Democrats admit privately that their intention is only to stir up a little dust with the
challenge to Verniero. Most still believe that he ultimately will be confirmed. The goal is to make Verniero, Whitman and the Republicans look bad.

But Gormley has no fears that his committee hearings will turn into a food fight.

"Its going to be hot," he told me a couple of weeks ago, "but its been hot before."
Gormley has promised a "thorough hearing process, as open as it has ever been" and with New Jersey riveted on the racial profiling issue, the Senator and the hearings are bound to get lots of attention.

Undoubtedly taking a lesson from the recent backlash to partisan attacks in Washington, Gormley is taking a taking a non-partisan stance and has made it clear that anyone
who wants to speak at the hearings will be allowed to.

Gormley is a witty guy and so far, he's out-classed the Democrats, making them seem shrill and strident in their efforts to politicize Verniero's appointment.

Lynch's 7 page letter is seen by some as a kind of mini-Starr report and the Democratic
spear carriers who are criticizing Verniero are starting to sound a little like those "mean-spirited" house managers in Congress who didn't seem to realize that in the public's mind, all politicians are more or less alike.

Gormley's pledge from the beginning that he would hold open hearings has put the
Democrats in the slightly silly position of demanding something they've already been assured they'll get.

Gormley has said that "time will be set aside for anyone who wants to voice their opinion
about the nominee." He has also said he'll hold a separate hearing on racial profiling if it appears necessary.

The only time that Gormley bristled was when Lynch charged that perhaps Republicans were in no position to focus on Verniero's confirmation hearings because they were distracted by the politics of the U.S. Senate race.

"Nothing's distracting me," Gormley responded gruffly, "so obviously he wasn't talking about me."

So as Whitman launches her Senate campaign, Gormley will be getting a big chunk of New Jersey press time conducting a big time Judicial Committee hearing, Jersey style. With his wit and gentlemanly manners, he'll undoubtedly enhance his statewide name recognition and reputation.

"Ain't it funny how you're walking through life and it turns on a dime."

Tues.,March 16, 1999

GOP: CHRISTIE WOULD WIN...but Gov still coy about plans to seek Senate seat

Gov. Whitman denied an exclusive story in Sunday's Trentonian reporting that she has made a decision to run for the U.S. Senate.

Speaking in Rio de Janeiro, Whitman told the Associated Press that she was looking closely at the Senate race.

"I haven't finalized any decision yet. I am looking at it very closely. I expect that when I get back, (to New Jersey) within a week or so, to make a definitive statement one way or the other," Whitman said.

However, sources who have spoken with the governor say she's already made up her mind and is laying out plans for the announcement that she has established an exploratory committee. Whitman is scheduled to travel directly from South America to Florida on May 24th where she will meet with family members over a long weekend to chart the next chapter in her political career.

Even those who believe the governor is still mulling the decision, think that she will ultimately decide to run.

Rep. Bob Franks, R-Union, told the Trentonian yesterday that he thinks she will run and win.

"The record she will run on in 2000 will be based on her agenda and what the Legislature has done, and I believe people will affirm her record," Franks said.

Tom Wilson, a Republican consultant who managed Whitman's successful re-election campaign said he "would not be at all surprised" by an announcement.

"There's a lot on the line and she'll be running to win," Wilson said.

State GOP Chairman Chuck Haytaian believes the governor is still weighing the choice but he has urged her to run from the beginning. Haytaian responded to a poll released by South Jersey Democrats late last week which indicated that former governor Jim Florio, who is pondering a Senate run on the Democratic side, could beat Whitman.

"Florio's their strongest candidate," Haytaian said. But he brushed off Democratic boasts that they could beat Whitman with any candidate they run.

"I'm glad if that's what they think," Haytaian said. "But if they're so good at winning elections how come we've controlled the governor's office and both houses of the Legislature for the past eight years?"

Mike Murphy, the Washington media consultant who worked on Whitman's re-election campaign was even blunter, saying that in a rematch, Whitman "beats Florio like a slow mule."

"New Jersey Democrats are pretty stupid and Trenton is full of hot air artists," said Murphy. "I've made a good career betting against them."

Bill Palatucci, a Republican political strategist who is working closely with the George W. Bush presidential campaign said that the Texas governor was "ecstatic" about the potential of a Whitman candidacy for the Senate because of the GOP chances for taking over a Democratic seat. Palatucci said that Whitman would win the Senate seat "hands down" against any Democratic canidate.

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-Ocean is considered the strongest Democrat, other than Florio, to be interested in the Senate seat. Pallone's pollster, Mark Mellman, said yesterday that "there is no question that Pallone could beat Whitman."

"Christie Whitman is a lot more popular in Washington than she is in New Jersey,"

Mellman said. "She's run statewide three times, lost once and never won by more than two percentage points. Florio was a ‘deeply flawed' candidate and he almost beat her."

Tues., March 16, 1999

Rep. Smith lauds Nelson as ‘hero'

Rep. Chris Smith, R-Hamilton called Rosemary Nelson, the human rights advocate and defense attorney who was killed by a car bomb in Northern Ireland yesterday, a "hero."

"She was a friend of mine and this is what she feared the most," Smith said.

Nelson testified before Smith's Subcommittee on International Human Rights in 1998. She told the Committee that she had received death threats from the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the police force in Northern Ireland.

"I have three young children at home and, obviously that's a cause for great concern," she told the panel, adding, "although I've tried to ignore these threats, inevitably, I have to take account of the possible consequences to my family and also for the staff that I have in the office."

Smith immediately called on British Prime Minister Tony Blair to investigate the murder and challenged him to "follow every lead, even if it implicates the security forces and the police."

Smith said that unless Blair moves for an independent investigation, Nelson's murder will be investigated by the same group of people who had been threatening her life.

"It is obvious that the RUC cannot be entrusted with this investigation," Smith said.

Smith told the Trentonian that he had met Nelson in 1997 on a visit to Northern Ireland where they had discussed her work defending innocent people in Northern Ireland who call for human rights and are arrested for terrorism. "This is as heroic as it gets," Smith said. "She was not part of any paramilitary organization or anything else. She worked non-violently for a systemic reform of the police."

Kevin Meara, President of the Trenton based Irish Lobby and James MacFarland, President of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, met Nelson last September. Both groups had committed to organizing a special event for the family of Robert Hamill, one of Nelson's clients who also was murdered in Northern Ireland.

"We had hoped to get Rosemary to Trenton to speak at a fundraiser this spring," MacFarland said.

Sun., March 14, 1999

AND SHE'S OFF!: Insiders say Gov's hat is in ring

Before Gov. Whitman took off last night for a 10-day trade mission to Brazil, she left a half-dozen of the state's top Republicans with something to think about while she's gone: She has decided to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Frank Lautenberg.

Several sources close to the governor, who agreed to speak off the record, confirmed that Whitman has told key Republican insiders she has made the decision to make the run. She is expected to complete her South American trip, return to New Jersey and announce that she has formed an exploratory committee. Sources say Whitman has two fund-raising events scheduled in California in early April.

Whitman spokesman Peter McDonough denied that the governor has revealed her decision to anyone, but did admit that she was likely to make an announcement soon after her South American trip.

"I fully expect there will be an announcement soon after she returns," McDonough said yesterday.

Whitman is scheduled to travel from South America to Florida on March 24. She will return to New Jersey on March 28.

Republicans in Whitman's home county of Somerset were buzzing with the news at political and social events on Friday night. State Sen. Walter Kavanaugh, R-Somerset, admitted that he had spoken with the governor, but declined to comment about her campaign plans.

Whitman reportedly has spoken with Republican fund-raisers and has notified state Sen. William Gormley, R-Atlantic, and Essex County Executive James Treffinger of her intentions.

Both Republicans have indicated that they would seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate if Whitman decided to pass on the race.

After initially expressing interest in the seat when Lautenberg announced his retirement, Whitman has been mum about her intentions for the last couple of weeks, fueling speculation that she would decline to enter the race. Whitman has expressed concern that the Senate race would not give her time to complete the agenda she has set for her second term as governor.

If Whitman is elected, she will have to resign as governor one year before her term is scheduled to end in 2002. But the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Whitman has met twice with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, head of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, who has repeatedly urged her to run.

Ironically, Whitman also had a private dinner with New Jersey's Sen. Bob Torricelli at Drumthwacket last week. Torricelli heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and it will be his job to make sure that Democrats have a candidate strong enough to defeat her. A Quinnipiac College Poll conducted in February before Lautenberg announced he wasn't running again in 2000 showed Whitman defeating him by 9 percentage points.

State Senate President Donald DiFrancesco, R-Union, also declined to comment on Whitman's plans, although he has the most to gain from her decision. If Whitman is elected to the Senate, DiFrancesco will become acting governor, allowing him to serve in the top job for a year before he has to run for election in 2001.

Former Gov. Jim Florio is currently the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for senator. A poll released last week by Florio supporters in several southern New Jersey counties showed the former governor defeating all other Democratic candidates by a 4-to- 1 decision.

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-Ocean, has assembled a campaign team and is expected to enter the race. Tom Byrne, former Democratic state chairman and son of former Gov. Brendan Byrne; state Senate Minority Leader Richard Codey, D-Essex; and Cherry Hill Mayor Susan Bass Levin are also considering running.

Democrats are estimating that primary candidates will need to raise at least $2 million to compete effectively for the nomination. Lautenberg estimated that it could cost the nominees as much as $12 million to run in the general election next year. Torricelli spent $9 million on his winning campaign against former Rep. Richard Zimmer in 1996.

Republicans in New Jersey and nationally have assured Whitman that she will be able to raise all the money she needs.

MORALE MORASS? Pol: Troopers failing to issue summonses

State Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Lawrence, charged yesterday that morale in the State Police had fallen so low that officers were failing to issue summonses on New Jersey roads.

Turner cited the Whitman administration's attempt to "stonewall" the federal investigation into alleged racial profiling by the police as the cause of the "protest slowdown" and the police work slowdown.

"If the Justice Department hadn't been stonewalled by the Administration for months, the federal probe could have been over by now and the vast majority of good troopers would have been exonerated," Turner said in a prepared statement.

State police spokesman John Hagerty acknowledged that there have been rumors of a slowdown among state troopers since the ouster of State Police Superintendent Col. Carl Williams Feb. 28 for making comments linking drug trafficking to minorities.

The rumors are now being investigated, Hagerty said.

"We heard that rumor as early as last week and have implemented a review to determine whether or not troopers are doing their job," Hagerty said.

According to Hagerty, the trooper stations submit reports on summonses, warnings and arrests to the division on a monthly cycle, so numbers from March are not yet available He said State Police supervisors were currently examining the level and extent of trooper activity to see if there had been any fluctuations in performance.

But Turner, who was briefed in Washington on the U.S. Department of Justice probe of the New Jersey State Police on Tuesday, said that she had been informed that on some roads in North Jersey, the number of summonses normally issued had been reduced from 1,000 a month to a few hundred during the first days of March and that there were dramatic reductions in driving while intoxicated arrests.

"It's hard to imagine that good driving behavior is the sole explanation," Turner said.

Meanwhile, the Rev. Reginald Jackson, executive director of the Black Ministers Council, which first raised questions about racial profiling by State Police, said yesterday that police sources had told him that the video cameras installed in State Police cars to monitor officer behavior were not being used.

Jackson said that he'd been told some of the cameras had no film and that officers were circumventing the system by failing to use their red lights, which activate the cameras.

Hagerty said that the State Police was unaware of any abuses of the video camera monitoring system, which was installed in most State Police cars last November, but is "most concerned" about Jackson's allegations. He said they would definitely look into them.

"There are very strict rules in place to make sure the system is used," Hagerty said. "The tape is in a locked box in the trunk of the vehicle which the trooper cannot access."

But Hagerty acknowledged that morale among some state troopers is currently low.

"Given the entirety of the circumstances and the allegations, that naturally impacts morale," Hagerty said.

However, he said troopers are "professionals who will do their job regardless of the circumstances."

The U.S. Justice Department and the state attorney general are both investigating state police practices to determine if officers are stopping minorities on the New Jersey Turnpike without cause.

Wendi Patella, spokesman for Gov. Whitman, denied that the state had "stonewalled" the federal investigation into racial profiling. Chuck Davis, a spokesman for Attorney General Peter Verniero, said, "Delays? There's been an ongoing dialogue with the Justice Department for the past two years. When they have requested information, we have sent it to them."

Turner also charged Verniero with "micro-managing" the State Police by signing off on all promotions, but Hagerty said that the attorney general's signature had been required on promotions for years.

"The promotional list is prepared by State Police and referred to the AG for final approval. That has been the process for many superintendents and many attorney generals," Hagerty said.

VERNIERO WATCH: Time out for top court game

March Madness has been postponed. Senate President Don DiFrancesco, R-Scotch Plains, said yesterday that there would be no Senate Judiciary Committee hearings this month on Attorney General Peter Verniero's nomination to the Supreme Court.

DiFrancesco was his usual cool and collected self when he announced that the hearings on Verniero's nomination would begin on May 6, as soon as the Senate comes back from its April vacation.

There was no detectable sign of defensiveness or irritation in the voice of Gov. Whitman's chief spokesman, Peter McDonough, either.

McDonough said that it, in fact, would have been impossible to hold the hearings any sooner because Whitman is off to Brazil this weekend and she won't be back until the end of the month. According to McDonough, anybody who thought the hearings were going to be held next week was just wrong.

No Republican remembers ever mentioning March 18 as a possible hearing date even though it was under discussion last week.

It is the governor's prerogative to nominate anyone she wants to the Supreme Court and she wants Verniero. He's got a law degree, which is all you need to be qualified, so that should be the end of it.

But it hasn't worked out that way. Instead, the Verniero nomination has turned into a political mud wrestling match and it's hard to tell who is winning.

Last week when I asked Senate Judiciary Chairman Bill Gormley about the hearings he acknowledged that questions were being raised.

"We know it's going to be hot," Gormley said.

But Gormley noted that it "has been hot before" and he said he was confident that Verniero would be confirmed.

DiFrancesco also said he expected him to be confirmed. Even Democrats expect him to be confirmed. Nobody is saying that Verniero's nomination will be rejected.

In fact, nobody but the Senate Democrats are willing to talk about the nomination at all, at least for the record. Too many people in New Jersey politics are lawyers who say they can't afford to make any enemies. What if they have to go before the Supreme Court someday?

Verniero has not operated with that kind of foresight. He made a number of legislative enemies while serving as Whitman's chief counsel, pushing through budgets that legislators didn't want, stepping on toes, fretting to bow at the right time. A few of those Republicans will get to vote on his appointment and they admit that their feelings for Verniero are less than warm.

That comes on top of the plain old jealousy factor. Many of those same lawyers are older than Verniero, who is only 39, and have a lot more legal experience. They wonder out loud why Verniero gets the black robe and the cushy 9 to 5 job on the top court while they're stuck going to breakfast every weekend with the county chairman.

And there are the questions about whether Verniero should be held responsible for the racial profiling allegations being leveled at the State Police and perhaps the HIP shutdown too. In fact, by late yesterday afternoon, Democrats were holding Verniero responsible for everything from the health care crisis to the school funding formula.

Other questions regarding Verniero's relationship with former Sports Authority Chief Michael Francis and State GOP Chairman Chuck Haytaian are also likely to arise.

Some of this stuff was floating around last year when Verniero was re-confirmed as attorney general but nobody brought it up then. When asked why, one Democratic operative quipped, "that was then, this is now."

Senate Minority Leader Dick Codey, D-West Orange, said yesterday that the May delay wasn't long enough.

But at least there won't be an interruption to the basketball games.

Sun., March 7, 1999

CONCEDING THE TRUTH?: Jackson confident of appeal drop

Rev. Reginald Jackson, Executive Director of the Black Ministers Council, said yesterday that he believes the state is poised to drop their appeal of a 1996 case in Gloucester County in which a court ruled there was evidence that New Jersey State Police were racially profiling when they stopped several individuals who were later convicted of drug dealing.

"It appears they will drop the appeal, at least according to the papers I've seen," Jackson told The Trentonian after reviewing the court documents filed on Friday in which the state asked for an extension. Jackson said such a move was tantamount to an admission that racial profiling does occur on New Jersey's highways.

But Roger Shatskin, spokesman for Attorney General Peter Verniero, said no decision has been made to drop the appeal.

"It's possible," Shatskin said. "We told the Court that we are reconsidering our position, but there has been no decision to drop the appeal at this point."

State Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Trenton, said yesterday that dropping the appeal "makes sense" for the State if they are finally acknowledging that there is a racial profiling problem.

"Up until this point, they've been in denial," Turner said.

This latest move in the investigation into State Police practices follows Gov. Whitman's decision to fire the State Police Superintendent, Carl Williams last Sunday. It also fuels Democratic opposition to Verniero's recent appointment to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Democrats including the Senate Minority Leader, Dick Codey, D-West Orange, and the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus have demanded that Verniero's confirmation be delayed until the investigation into allegations of racial profiling in the New Jersey State Police is completed.

The Black Ministers Council has also asked for a delay in the confirmation process, but Jackson stresses that their concerns are different.

"The report from the team reviewing racial profiling is due in three or four months," Jackson said. "We want him to stay and receive it."

Jackson and other black clergymen have been working with Verniero on the report. He denies any participation in the Democratic opposition to Verniero.

"This has been frustrating for the Council," Jackson said yesterday. "We are not interested at all in this becoming a partisan affair. We are not opposed to his nomination."

But Democrats insist that if racial profiling is proved, Verniero is responsible because he has been the Attorney General for the past two years.

Senate Minority spokesman, Jim Manion said Democrats are planning to "unveil a number of issues regarding his performance as Attorney General about which we have questions including his performance in the health care crisis and his involvement in various law enforcement issues."

Turner said that it wasn't the Democrats fault that the racial profiling probes have been partisan.

"We haven't heard from any Republican legislators on this," Turner said. "Why don't they join with us in trying to lift this cloud. Turner said she introduced a bill immediately following the New Jersey Turnpike shooting for four African American men by state troopers that would have convened bi-partisan hearings into racial profiling but the Republican legislative leaders ignored it.

"They said it was inappropriate until the Grand Jury investigation was completed," Turner said.

Senator Bill Gormley, R-Mays Landing, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee who will preside over Verniero's confirmation hearings, denies there is any rush to move Verniero's nomination through quickly and insists there will be adequate time for all issues to be addressed.

"This will be a very thorough process," Gormley said, "It will be as open as its ever been for the confirmation of a Justice and there will be adequate time set aside for everyone to voice their opinions regarding the nominee."

Gormley said he is meeting with Senate President Don DiFrancesco, R-Scotch Plains, early next week to schedule the hearings.

Jackson and members of the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus are meeting with Assistant Attorney General Eric Holder in Washington on Tuesday regarding the allegations of racial profiling.

"I don't like having to go to Washington, D.C. to look for a resolution to this problem, Turner said. "I don't like having to go outside the state of New Jersey."

Friday, March 5, 1999

THE MONICA SHOW

It was almost embarrassing watching Monica Lewinsky tell the world what it feels like to
have the man you love refer to you as a "critical lapse in judgment."

Smugly we sat in our living rooms and thought how silly she was, how naive.

She should have known he didn't care about her.

She should never have believed that he would leave Hillary to be with her.

She said she felt like "a piece of trash." She said she felt used.

Of course she did.

After Monica's full disclosure, it is easy to see why so many people think this whole  tawdry affair was her fault. She was a pudgy little girl who by her own admission "did not have the self-esteem that a woman should have."

But its not clear exactly how she thought her "lack of self-esteem" led to the problem. If Monica had more self-esteem would she have never gotten involved with the president?

Or, if she had more self-esteem, would she have had sex with him, but never told anybody, like the great and honorable presidential girlfriends of the past?

Or, was she saying that if she had more self-esteem, she would have had sex with the
president when he wanted it, and left him alone after he got tired of her, thereby making herself the ideal woman in the eyes of a man like Bill Clinton.

Barbara Walters should not have let Monica blame herself with the low self-esteem
excuse. Barbara is a woman and she knows better.

Low self-esteem wasn't Monica's problem.
The problem was that she believed a man who was obviously a liar.

She was loyal to a man who has raised infidelity and disloyalty to a lifestyle.

Monica had sex with a man who has sexual relations without feeling, a man who seems to
need to have sex without connection or affection with women who are not his intellectual or professional equal.

Monica gave herself to a man who likes to have sex with women who are much younger
than he is and not very bright.

The president is obviously the one with the self-esteem problem.

While Monica's interview was rolling on ABC, I was in Newark watching Bill Clinton get a standing ovation from New Jersey Democrats who had paid $1000 a shot just for the chance to be in the same room with him.

Almost reverently, Clinton thanked New Jersey Senator Bob Torricelli who he said had "stood by me in good times and bad, and I'll never forget that."

The audience applauded to confirm that Torricelli had done the honorable thing.
Regardless of what he thinks of the president, Torricelli remained a loyal friend.

But Monica made it clear in the interview that she had been loyal too. She was still trying
to keep Clinton out of trouble even after he called her "that woman." Ultimately it didn't work because she was operating under some weird and shaky rules that she has put together for her life that are based on the principal that men and women are sexual equals.

Monica said she believed the president "was her sexual soul mate." She believed that "sex
completes a relationship" and that the president's troubles with women were rooted in the fact that he had been raised with religious convictions which kept him from acting spontaneously on his sexual feelings.

Monica believed she was the right woman for him because, as a woman of passion, she
had no such inhibitions. Even now, she wants the country to know that phone sex is fun.

But Vernon Jordan, another loyal friend of the president, gave her a clue about what the
real rules are. Monica says Jordan told her that Bill Clinton would not leave Hillary after he left the White House. But Jordan assured her that once the president was out of office, she could have an affair with him anyway.

Jordan is another one of those bright older guys with a philandering reputation and a
weakness for younger women. The president told Monica he'd had hundreds of affairs. Jordan probably has too. They're very competitive.

Reports from guys in the locker room say that he and Clinton talked about sex and young women all the time.

So the rule is that men can do it and talk about it and still be seen as strong and honorable.

But a woman who does it and talks about it, as Monica learned, obviously has low self-
esteem--a piece of trash.

The rule is that a man can do it, call it "a critical lapse in judgment" and still get a
standing ovation from New Jersey Democrats.

Monica is looking for a job. There will probably always be jokes about her.

Thurs., March 4, 1999

TORRI ALLELUIA!: Bill's visit a fund-raising bonanza

NEWARK -- When President Clinton came to New Jersey last night for a high-priced Democratic fund-raiser, he was greeted by two disco hits belted out by Garden State native Gloria Gaynor.

"I don't know which song I liked best," Clinton told the laughing crowd at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. "‘I Will Survive' or ‘I Never Want to Say Goodbye.'"

Clinton stopped off for a $1,000-a-plate buffet dinner and party for Sen. Bob Torricelli, D-N.J., which was immediately hailed as the largest-grossing fund-raising event ever held by a member of Congress.

Torricelli said he raised $2.15 million for his re-election campaign, coming up in 2002.

All New Jersey's Democratic political stars were on hand, plus Cissy Houston, who sang "The Star-Spangled Banner," and Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey, who told the crowd he was proud to be born in South Orange.

Torricelli told the 2,000 assembled Democrats that "the cause of America is more important than any partisan victory and his speech was free of any anti-Republican remarks."

"Bill Clinton is my friend," the senator said. "I like him. I respect him for what he's done for America."

Clinton's remarks also lacked the usual Democratic cheerleading that goes along with political fund-raisers.

One of his few partisan remarks came after he thanked Assembly Minority Leader Joe Doria, D-Bayonne, for his help with the event, and drew applause by saying New Jersey Democrats could win back control of the Legislature.

Clinton repeated his comment from the State of the Union address about saving Social Security and education and said his goal is for all Americans to live out their dreams.

Clinton called Torricelli "my friend in good times and bad, and I'll never forget that."

It was Clinton's only allusion to his sex-scandal and impeachment troubles over the last year, in which Torricelli was a vigilant defender of his, and it came on a night when Monica Lewinsky was finally interviewed on TV about the affair.

Clinton told reporters earlier in the day that he would not be watching last night's TV interview featuring Lewinsky because he would be at the Torricelli party.

But the president left the event about 8:30 p.m., well before the "20/20" episode began.

Torricelli said that 95 percent of the contributors at the fund-raiser were from New Jersey. Twenty-four torches illuminated the NJPAC stage in honor of Torricelli -- who is nicknamed "The Torch."

Thurs., March 4, 1999

Turner asks Bill to fight profiling

NEWARK -- State Sen. Shirley Turner asked President Clinton to join the political war surrounding allegations of racial profiling by New Jersey state troopers.

Turner told The Trentonian last night that she asked the president to use the weight of his office to help expedite a federal investigation into allegations that State Police stop minority motorists on New Jersey highways simply because of their race.

"The president was fully apprised of the situation," Turner said, "and he gave us his assurance that he was committed to making sure our concerns are addressed."

Turner, D-Lawrence, and several other members of the state Legislature's Black and Latino Caucus spoke briefly with Clinton when he landed at Newark to attend a fund-raiser for U.S. Sen. Bob Torricelli, D-N.J.

"Sen. Torricelli and Congressman Payne had briefed the president on the situation here in New Jersey," Turner said.

Turner said that Torricelli helped her, Assemblyman Leroy Jones, D-West Orange, and Assemblywoman Nellie Pou, D-Paterson, arrange a meeting Tuesday in Washington with Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder to discuss the federal probe of profiling allegations.

Jim Manion, spokesman for state Senate Democrats, criticized Gov. Whitman's office yesterday for failing to take the Black and Latino Caucus meeting with Clinton seriously.

Whitman's staff had dismissed the meeting as a quick photo opportunity.

"The disparaging remarks regarding the Black Caucus further illustrate the insensitivity of the Whitman administration," Manion said. "Who are they to say what should be the priorities of the Black Caucus?"

Whitman spokesman Jayne O'Connor denied the charge. "Gov. Whitman has been sensitive to these issues for years," O'Connor said. "We've focused on creating more diversity in the state police since the beginning of this administration."

"The fact that they have suddenly decided to focus on it does seem to be political," O'Connor said.

Soaries is important player for Whitman

In the political pandemonium that has surrounded the State House since Gov. Whitman fired the state police superintendent on Sunday, DeForrest "Buster" Soaries, New Jersey's new secretary of state, has a clear point of view.

Soaries says that calls by the Black Ministers Council of New Jersey and Senate Democrats to hold up Attorney General Peter Verniero's nomination to the New Jersey Supreme Court indicates that "partisanship has become more important than outcome" in the racial profiling issue.

"The nomination process of Verniero has nothing to do with the investigation at the state police," Soaries said. "If they oppose Peter, they should just say so."

As a Whitman appointee, Soaries would be expected to defend the administration. But Soaries is also a black minister who has worked with the Black Ministers Council. He heads one of the largest African-American congregations in New Jersey and has spearheaded a comprehensive revitalization effort in the poor, minority community where his church is located that includes everything from affordable housing to crime prevention.

Soaries is no novice when it comes to race relations between minority communities and law enforcement, which is undoubtedly why Whitman asked him to be part of the search committee that is looking for the next state police superintendent. Verniero, attorney general designee John Farmer and Jim Zazille, attorney general under former Gov. Brendan Byrne are the other members of the committee.

Soaries, who took over as secretary of state at the beginning of the year, said that he was impressed with how "forcefully Gov. Whitman responded" to the insensitive comments by Williams but he also lauded the Rev. Reginald Jackson and the members of the Black Ministers Council for being careful "not to incite people into thinking that they can't trust the state police."

"They appreciate the fact that there are hundreds of good troopers who should not be indicted," Soaries said. "They've tried to bring a human perspective, not just a racial perspective."

Still, the secretary of state believes that New Jersey is behind some other states in dealing with race relations, partly because the state's suburban geography hasn't forced issues.

"There's no question about it," Soaries said. "It's been 32 years since the Kerner Commission identified the problems between minority communities and law enforcement. Other states have had to address issues of racial disparity because the problems were so real and visible."

Soaries says that an exhaustive review of state police practices, like the one that is conducted now, is the next step toward changing attitudes police and public perception. He also said he and the search committee "haven't ruled anybody out" in their search to find the next top cop and they are moving quickly

‘Profiles' in politics follow firing

When Gov. Whitman announced that she had fired Col. Carl Williams, the State Police superintendent, she set off a Democratic feeding frenzy.

Politicians usually say "all politics is local," but in New Jersey yesterday, it seemed more like all politics was racial.

The Black Ministers Council of New Jersey asked Whitman to hold up her nomination of Attorney General Peter Verniero to the Supreme Court until he was finished with his report on allegations of racial profiling in the state police.

But the Assistant Senate Minority Leader, John Adler, D-Cherry Hill, said Verniero ought to resign. Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Rep. Robert Menendez, D-Hudson, wrote a letter to Janet Reno asking her to speed up her investigation of New Jersey's state police force and Senate Minority Leader Dick Codey, D-West Orange called his Democratic colleagues and they all agreed that "it would be a mistake to proceed with his [Verniero's] nomination at this time."

Codey sent out a press release: "Senate Democrats United."

Secretary of State DeForrest

"Buster" Soaries, who also is a black minister, called it all "partisan and disingenuous."

"At least one Democrat should have commended the governor for taking swift, decisive action," Soaries said. "When somebody does what you want them to do, even if it's your enemy, you should say ‘amen.'"

So far, Democrats haven't wasted any time with amens. They've been too busy trying to make political points by suggesting, ever so subtly, that Whitman might be soft on racism.

It's easy to see why the Democrats would pounce on the opportunity to take the moral high ground on this one. There's no conclusive data, but lots of people believe state troopers pull over more minorities for no reason than they do white people.

Rev. Reginald Jackson, Executive Director of the Black Ministers Council, said several times yesterday that his organization's stand regarding racial profiling is not political.

"This has existed for a long time," Jackson said. "If you're going to dump on Whitman, you'll have to dump on Florio too."

But Jackson swerved both ways when it came to racial profiling politics and the political contest of the moment -- who will fill Lautenberg's Senate seat next year.

First Jackson said anyone banking on the racial profiling issue as a way to get black support in the next election was making a mistake.

Then he said that whoever is elected to the Senate must have the support of the African-American community.

The Democratic attack plan is obviously based on option B. Trying to make Whitman look like a racist could weaken her as a potential Senate candidate while invigorating their base of minority voters.

But New Jersey Democrats frequently overplay their hand when they accuse Republicans of racism. They thought they had Whitman back in 1993 when her media man boasted that he used street money to bribe black ministers. But Whitman's no-nonsense response won her soaring poll numbers and Jackson endorsed her re-election.

The racial profiling issue is hotter, but there's no evidence that Whitman and Verniero have been less attentive to the problem than Jim Florio was when he was governor. In fact, the anti-profiling tactics along with minority recruitment efforts undertaken during Whitman's administration are far more aggressive than Florio's were, even if you believe she was only acting because of political pressure.

This could be a particularly important political point if Florio turns out to be the Democratic nominee running against Whitman for the Senate.

What is sad about all this "political profiling" is that dealing with actual racism gets lost in politics.

Soaries pointed out yesterday that it's been more than 30 years since the Kerner Commission zeroed in on the serious problems between minority communities, saying there was "no question" the state is behind the times.

"Because of New Jersey's suburban nature ... it has been able to slip by," Soaries said. "There are other states which have had to have had to confront racial issues as a primary agenda. They've been able to put some of this behind them. Here there is still so much naiveté even in people's attitudes."

Soaries is one of the guys on the Search Committee to find a new state police superintendent. He's says he's committed to finding the best person for the job.

After yesterday, he probably shouldn't expect New Jersey's Democrats to say "amen."

Monday March 1, 1999

Why Didn't Whitman Fire Williams Sooner?

Some folks close to Governor Christie Whitman have been saying for several weeks that the governor was outraged at the tepid response from the State Police regarding charges of racial
profiling. They say she had run out of patience when it came to Col Carl Williams, the State
Police Superintendent.

If that's true, Williams made it easy for Whitman yesterday. Reports published in the Newark Star-Ledger quoted Williams making some outrageous statements that reflect the worst
kind of racial stereotyping.

Sounding a lot like Reggie White, Williams explained that metaphetamines are primarily
marketed by white motorcycle gangs while heroin and "stuff like that" is sold "more or less" by
Jamaicans. Williams denied that the State Police used racial profiling in pursuing drug offenders,
but then defended the general practice of profiling as a crime fighting tool.

Whitman apparently fired the Superintendent as soon as she read the paper.

The New Jersey Attorney General and the feds have been investigating allegations of racial profiling in the State Police. In an interview earlier this month, Attorney General Peter Verniero told me that he was extremely concerned that the State Police didn't have the data they needed to determine whether or not racial profiling is one way troopers determine who to stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. Troopers verbally report their visual observation of the race of whomever they stop to the radio dispatcher, but that information had not been kept so it could be easily compiled to determine a pattern.

Verniero obviously couldn't comment when asked about an inside effort to get Williams to go, but a wide circle of administrative and legislative insiders credit Verniero with staring the Superintendent down in the power struggle that frequently goes on between New Jersey
Attorneys General and State Police superintendents.

When Whitman announced on Friday that she was appointing Verniero to the Supreme Court, he stressed that he had already talked with Rev. Reginald Jackson, Executive Director of the Black Ministers Council, to assure him that the investigation on racial profiling would be completed even though he was vacating the office before his report would be finished. Jackson
called on Williams to resign two weeks ago.

Whitman emphasized that she was also personally watching the investigation and would make sure that the report was delivered.

Whitman, who was forced to began her administration fighting racist comments by her
former media man, Ed Rollins, is very sensitive to anything thing that sounds prejudicial.

Williams seemed to be defending himself when he told the Star Ledger reporter that organized crime used to be dominated by Italians, but now Russians and Eastern Europeans are running the show.

Its easy to see why Whitman fired him. The real question is why she hired him in the first place and how come he lasted so long.