Sun., March 28, 1999

Gov. Christie Whitman -
State Sen. Robert Martin -
Rep. Frank Pallone-
Jim Florio -
State Sen. Shirley Turner -

Gov. Christie Whitman has been out of sight for a couple of weeks traveling on trade missions and the like, but she definitely has not been out of mind, particularly for Democrats who are scrambling to find a way to beat her in next year's Senate election.

Two numbers have dominated the Democratic conversation surrounding Whitman since she's been in South America: 15 million and one.

Whitman's fund raisers have promised to raise $15 million for the governor's run for the U.S. Senate, an imposing sum to match even for Jersey Democrats who have put themselves on the national map with their fund-raising expertise. To get an idea of how many commercials $15 million will buy, consider that Whitman and Democrat Jim McGreevey together spent about $10 million for the last gubernatorial election.

The other number, one, is New Jersey's ranking in economic growth in the Northeast. The Washington Post noted last week that Republican governors are doing well for the same reason Bill Clinton didn't get impeached -- the economy is terrific. New Jersey Democrats have been saying for months that Whitman is surfing on the success of the national economy, but this week's economic reports blow up that argument. New Jersey is doing better economically than other states in the region, and fair or not, folks will probably give Whitman credit for that.

Fifteen million and one adds up to a positive arrow for the governor's economic politics.

Meanwhile, State Sen. Robert Martin, R-Morris Plains, gets an up arrow for reality politics. We don't understand why Martin is so opposed to Whitman's property tax relief rebate.

Anytime the government sends money back to people, it cuts down on government waste. But Martin hit the nail on the head when he told his colleagues in the State Senate that "we don't have the guts to tackle property tax reform."

Annoying State Senate President Don DiFrancesco, R-Scotch Plains, Martin brought up the pesky little facts about the huge debt load that the state has taken on. His GOP colleague, Bill Schluter, R-Pennington, also fired a good shot, saying that Republicans have promised that once the property tax rebate is passed, they'll tackle property tax reform. "Does anybody believe that?" Schluter asked.

The Republican borrow-and-spend property tax reform plan looks like a total disgrace to anyone who cares about reducing government spending until you compare it to the Democratic property tax relief pan, which is: "Send us more money." Senators Wayne Bryant, D-Camden; Bernie Kenney, D-Hoboken and John Lynch, D-New Brunswick, deserve something for voting against the rebate, but the arrow-pointers aren't exactly sure yet how to reward them.

We were poised to give Rep. Frank Pallone, D-Ocean, a down arrow for telling us last week that Democratic party bosses wouldn't take a millionaire candidate like Jon Corzine, seriously. At the same time that Pallone was pooh-poohing the Corzine scheme, the bosses were meeting to lay the groundwork for a Corzine candidacy. But Pallone still makes the strongest case that he's the best alternative to Jim Florio for the Senate nomination, so his arrow is sideways.

But Florio still insists there's no need for an alternative and he gets an unqualified up arrow for the week. Democratic Party chairman, Tom Giblin hinted that Florio's nomination is ultimately "inevitable," and the former governor officially put his fund-raising team in place headed by the crafty George Zoffinger, who used to run the Commerce Dept.

Michael Murphy sort of entered the Democratic senate nomination this week too, but so far there's no evidence that Democrats will change the standing rule that in their party which dictates that nice guys finish last.

Finally, an up arrow for State Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Lawrenceville, for cracking one of the best jokes, in a joke-filled property tax relief debate in the State Senate last week. Warning against impending fiscal doom, Turner laughingly told the presiding DiFrancesco that she "felt sorry for whoever would be the governor five years from now."

DiFrancesco is so focused on being governor in 2004, that he could hardly keep from smiling and officially accepting her condolences. For the record, Turner voted in favor of the property tax rebate.

FATE LANDS GORMLEY IN SPOTLIGHT

Gov. Christie Whitman -
Attorney General Peter Verniero -
State Sen. Bill Gormley -
Rep. Bob Franks -
Senator Bob Torricelli -

We didn't expect Gov. Christie Whitman to admit that The Trentonian was right when we reported that she's told more than a couple of top Republicans that she's definitely making a run for Frank Lautenberg's Senate seat. As state Sen. William Gormley, R-Atlantic, keeps saying, "It's her announcement to make."

But the arrow-pointers think she's making a mistake by staying so long in South America.

Only retired politicians schedule trips out of the country for more than five days. With the racial-profiling stuff boiling over, she could make some points by cutting her trip short, rushing back to New Jersey and holding some kind of air-clearing summit. As it is, she plans to return to the states on Wednesday, but she's only coming as far as Florida, where she's meeting with her family and campaign media people over next weekend.

Meanwhile, her tax rebate advertising campaign (which looks like a campaign ad) was launched too soon for no apparent reason, and Peter Verniero, her attorney general and Supreme Court nominee, continues to slowly twist in the wind.

Whitman should come home. Sideways arrow.

While the governor's out of town, the attorney general continues to be out of touch. Verniero could still prove to be a good guy in the racial-profiling controversy, but his bumbling ineptitude in keeping the public informed on this controversial issue is frustrating even those loyal Republicans who are determined to get him on the high court.

Verniero could be holding daily "tough guy prosecutor" press conferences, keeping folks up to date on efforts to root out any state police behavior that is less than honorable. But instead, his bunker mentality on this and other issues makes him easy for Democrats to attack.

His hint that part of the problem with the state police investigation is that the data is questionable was a good start. But he didn't follow up. The dismissal of the charges in the Michael Francis case didn't help his credibility, either. Down arrow.

In contrast, Gormley wants to put everything out on the table. Gormley chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and he told us on Friday that he will convene hearings on the racial- profiling investigation that Verniero is conducting as soon as a draft is released (and prior to Verniero's confirmation hearings.)

"What New Jersey doesn't want is a recreation of the partisan finger-pointing that we've seen out of Washington for the past year," Gormley said, noting that he expects both Democrats and Republicans on the committee to focus on the problem and not the politics. We don't think that will happen, but he get an up arrow for laying out the standard.

Rep. Robert Franks, R-Union, gets an up arrow, too, for making sure that all the federal money for additional police isn't sucked up in urban areas. Community-policing efforts have been really successful in suburban communities throughout New Jersey, and it's a terrible idea to pull the financial plug on them now.

Senator Bob Torricelli gets an up arrow, too, but for completely different reasons. Last week, Torricelli turned up as the No. 2 guy on "Slate" magazine's list of potential boyfriends for Hillary Clinton should she decide to dump the president. This week, Torricelli is spotlighted in "Capital Style" magazine for being a top Washington dog in the art of what they call "power dating."

We've already noted that the Torch has been fearless in challenging his president's opposition to tax cuts. We're glad he's getting credit for taking out smart women, too.

Palmer's jocularity welcomed

Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer -

Secretary of State DeForrest "Buster" Soaries -

State Sen. Shirley Turner -

State Sen. John Lynch -

Senator Frank Lautenberg -

Governor Whitman left for Brazil last night, leaving state Senate President Donald DiFrancesco in charge as "acting governor" until March 29.

What the arrow-pointers want to know is whether or not the "acting governor" gets to vote for the Oscars?

This week's first up arrow goes to Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer, for adding a little levity into the sad and serious debate that has been going on in the state regarding alleged racial profiling by the state police.

Palmer is Trenton's first African-American mayor and a strong force in the struggle for full equality for everyone in New Jersey. He told The Trentonian last week that he had not personally experienced any stop by the state police he believed was racial profiling.

"I have to say that when the police have stopped me, I've been speeding," Palmer admitted sheepishly.

The mayor gets an up arrow for breaking the tension.

State Sec. of State Buster Soaries gets an up arrow, too, for stepping out as the governor's point man on the racial-profiling allegations. Soaries held a press conference on Thursday and blasted attempts by Democrats to use the state police probe against Whitman and state Attorney General Peter Verniero. Soaries pointed out that the Gloucester County case that is at the center of the racial-profiling allegations was actually decided during former Gov. Jim Florio's term.

"No one used that case to label the previous administration as racist," Soaries said.

We're only sorry state Sen. John Lynch, D-Middlesex, and state Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Mercer, didn't bother to drop by to hear Soaries' sermon. Both went off the deep end in trying to scapegoat Whitman and Verniero with the racial-profiling allegations. Turner blamed Whitman for causing low morale in the state police force by failing to cooperate with the federal investigation that is being conducted, even though the feds said they'd received everything they've asked for from the state.

Lynch issued a seven-page letter of charges against Verniero that read like the Starr Report. The former state Senate minority leader sounded a lot like the ill-fated House managers when he said he was concerned about Verniero's "character and fitness" to serve on the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Rumor has it that the Middlesex County Democratic boss has a hot personal grudge against Verniero and couldn't pass up the chance to blast him. His lack of political self-control has earned him a down arrow.

Same goes for U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who couldn't resist using dirty words when he told a reporter from the New Yorker magazine what Sen. Bob Torricelli called him during their most recent fight. We heard the Torch used dirty words, too, but so far, he hasn't felt it necessary to repeat them to the press.

Blessed are the fundraisers

Gov. Christie Whitman -

President Bill Clinton -
Senator Bob Torricelli -
Attorney General Peter Verniero -
State Sen. Shirley Turner -
Bill Bradley -

New Jersey politics feels a lot like the stock market these days. Anyone who says they understand what's going on isn't paying attention.

Whitman gets a sideways arrow in what was a tough call for the arrow pointers. The governor is maintaining the strong line against racial profiling that she established last Sunday when she fired Superintendent Carl Williams for making dumb comments about crime and race.

But we believe Whitman should be doing more to demonstrate her commitment to ridding the State Police of racial profiling practices if they are found to exist. Whitman has lots of important allies in this fight, including Rev. Jesse Jackson who congratulated her on her commitment to the issue last week. Whitman's people say that they believe the way to deal with tough problems like this is "do the right thing." But in politics, the right thing doesn't count unless people know about it.

Senator Bob Torricelli gets an up arrow for hitting the edge of the campaign fund-raising envelope. He collected $2.15 million at a little party in Newark on Wednesday night featuring President Clinton. That's more than any other congressman had ever raised in one night.

But Clinton gets a down arrow for continuing to pretend he's a victim in his secret love scandal. The president gave Torricelli a syrupy thanks "for standing by me in good times and in bad" as if he'd survived cancer or the death of a family member. Now that we know Monica's side of the story, even the most loyal Democrat shouldn't have to pretend Clinton didn't deserve everything he got and more.

Attorney General Peter Verniero gets a down arrow for his latest defensive move in the racial profiling investigations... asking for an extension in the appeal of the Gloucester County racial profiling case. Verniero has taken a number of aggressive anti-profiling steps, but he's been very stingy about giving out any information about what he's up to. It makes it hard to tell which side he's on, and at this crucial point in his career, there should be no doubt about that.

Meanwhile, Senator Shirley Turner has turned out to be the most articulate legislative spokesperson on the racial profiling issue. Unlike some of her colleagues, whose partisan motives and lack of information are sometimes embarrassing, Turner has been stateswoman-like in her remarks, some of which ended up on New York TV last week. Up arrow.

Bradley gets an up arrow too for managing to win the "gala war" with Senator Torricelli even though he didn't raise as much money. Torricelli has been mad that Bradley scheduled his big party the night after his. Both cost a $1,000 dollars a ticket and Torricelli had twice as many people. But those who attended both agreed that Bradley's was more fun. The food was better and they got to see the big guy. Folks at Torricelli's party didn't get to see the president unless they paid enough to qualify for the high roller rooms.

The arrow pointers don't know what to say about Rep. Bob Menendez, D-Hudson, dropping out of the Senate race, but we think things are looking up for Rep. Frank Pallone's chances since he brought on one of Washington's best (and wittiest) Democratic pollsters, Mark Mellman. Mellman's been polling for Pallone, Torricelli and Lautenberg for years and has only lost one race in New Jersey. Mellman laughed off the idea that Jim Florio might defeat the Ocean County congressman.

This week, we have some special "blinded by the light of other arrows" awards. C. Vivian Stringer, the coach of the Rutgers Women's Basketball team is not sweating out an invitation to the NCAA Tournament today. She knows her team is going to the Big Dance while the Rutgers men are still biting their nails. But Rutgers men's coach Kevin Bannon has gotten twice the press for being half as good. Why is that?

Same goes for State Senator Joe Kyrillos, R-Middletown, who had a slam dunk $400K fund-raiser for New Jersey Republicans on the same night that Bill Bradley decided to return to New Jersey for his million dollar bash. Senate President Don DiFrancesco, R-Scotch Plains, won a big open space award and participated in the national reading of "Cat in the Hat" at the same time that President Clinton was in town. Some folks get the arrows and some get green eggs and ham.