JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN’T HEAR: Democrats want to replace Torricelli with Frank Lautenberg.
Why do I think I’ll soon be tired of hearing about this?
UPDATE: Hugh Hewitt, who had Dave Kopel on his show tonight, adds another twist: the military absentee ballots have already gone out.
I repeat what I said yesterday: How does history repeat itself when it was farce the first time?
UNEXPECTEDLY! The Torricelli Option Is On the Table: Leftwing Bloomberg Begins Polling Trump v. Kamala Harris, Anticipating a Biden Departure.
As Michael Graham sagely cautioned in 2004 (the year Torricelli was swapped out and replaced by a fossilized Frank Lautenberg on the NJ ballot), “Don’t assume you know who’s on the Democratic ticket until Election Day.”
As Glenn noted in February, “But it is, and they can’t hide it anymore. It was an issue in 2020 too, but they could hide it.”
Flashback: The ‘cabal’ that bragged of foisting Joe Biden on us must answer for his failed presidency.
BOB TORRICELLI ISN’T AN OPTION? Ted Cruz predicts Democrats will dump Joe Biden for Michelle Obama right before the election.
As Michael Graham sagely cautioned in 2004 (the year Torricelli was swapped out and replaced by a fossilized Frank Lautenberg on the NJ ballot), “Don’t assume you know who’s on the Democratic ticket until Election Day.”
OLD AND BUSTED: The Torricelli Gambit.
The New Hotness? Rolling Stone: Gisele Fetterman became the “de facto candidate” after husband’s stroke.
As Michael Graham wrote in 2004 after Frank Lautenberg was swapped in to replace Bob Torricelli on the Democrats’ Senate ticket in NJ, “Don’t assume you know who’s on the Democratic ticket until Election Day.”
BOB TORRICELLI IS PREPARED TO PARACHUTE IN AT A MOMENT’S NOTICE: SC Democrats call on their party’s US Senate nominee to quit.
The South Carolina Democrat vying to oust Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott is facing calls from within her own party to fold her campaign, following the publication of additional leaked audio in which she appears to make disparaging remarks about her constituents.
The calls for state Rep. Krystle Matthews to withdraw just two months ahead of the general election came Thursday in reaction to leaked audio published by conservative activist group Project Veritas of Matthews speaking to one of its members, without her knowledge.
Sitting in a restaurant, Matthews, who is Black, is heard saying that she represents a “mostly white” district, adding, of white voters: “I keep them right here — like under my thumbs. … Otherwise, they get out of control — like kids.”
In a statement, Matthews acknowledged her voice on the recording, calling Project Veritas a “satirical MAGA Powered news outlet.”
The compilation also features more of Matthews’ conversation, parts of which were previously published by Project Veritas, in which she spoke to an inmate about funding her campaign with “dope boy money” and having Democrats run as Republicans, saying “secret sleepers” represent “the only way you’re gonna change the dynamics in South Carolina.”
As Michael Graham wrote in 2004 after Frank Lautenberg was swapped in to replace Bob Torricelli on the Democrats’ Senate ticket in NJ, “Don’t assume you know who’s on the Democratic ticket until Election Day.”
BOB TORRICELLI, TANNED, RESTED, AND READY: Whoa. Chicago Tribune writer: Democrats should tell Hillary to step aside.
As Michael Graham sagely cautioned in 2004 (the year Torricelli was swapped out and replaced by a fossilized Frank Lautenberg on the NJ ballot), “Don’t assume you know who’s on the Democratic ticket until Election Day.”
THE TRUNALIMUNUMAPRZURE TWINS: Panic in the Fetterman Camp.
“After my stroke,” Fetterman opens, “I was just grateful to see Giselle and my kids.” In the soft-focus spot, Fetterman denounces “politicians” who “spend so much time fighting about the things that don’t matter.” What does matter, says Fetterman, is having the economic security to be able to spend time with loved ones because we never know how much time we have.
It’s a touching message, but it hardly allays concerns about Fetterman’s ailments. The point of an ad like this is to “hang a lantern” on the candidate’s negatives, thereby reframing the issue in more favorable terms. That’s a workable strategy, but it comes at the cost of conceding that the negative in question is a real and pressing concern for voters.
More ominously, from the perspective of Pennsylvania’s Democratic voters, is the prospect of President Joe Biden’s imminent return to the state.
As the midterm election season heads into the home stretch, the president will host a fundraiser in Pennsylvania alongside Fetterman. Biden hasn’t been seen with Fetterman in any capacity since September 5; indeed, the president hasn’t campaigned much at all of late. “Biden doesn’t appear eager to land Air Force One in states where he’s underwater in the polls, and incumbent Democratic senators are fighting to hang on,” Axios reported on Friday. “And he’s yet to headline any campaign rallies this month where he is in front of big audiences to make his closing argument.” Pennsylvania is just such a state where Biden’s presence could do more to harm than good for Democratic prospects.
September’s Franklin & Marshall Poll of the Keystone State showed that only 28 percent of Pennsylvania’s registered voters say the president is doing a “good” or “excellent” job. Seventy percent describe his performance in office as “fair” or “poor.” While that poll showed the race for Senate tightening significantly from August, Fetterman maintains a narrow lead over his Republican opponent. Moreover, the Fetterman campaign has outraised and continues to outspend Mehmet Oz, who has pumped at least $17 million of his own wealth into his campaign. The wisdom of the Fetterman camp’s decision to tether itself to the Democratic Party’s unpopular figurehead is questionable unless we assume that Democratic wallets are starting to tighten up as enthusiasm for the candidate wanes.
The media are doing all that they can to bail Captain Pike out: Rolling Stone: Gisele Fetterman became the “de facto candidate” after husband’s stroke.
As Michael Graham wrote in 2004 after Frank Lautenberg was swapped in to replace Bob Torricelli on the Democrats’ Senate ticket in NJ, “Don’t assume you know who’s on the Democratic ticket until Election Day.”
WEEKEND AT BIDEN’S: The Democrat’s mental decline is a bigger problem than sex accusations.
Sleepy Joe has spent the past six weeks quarantined in his basement in Delaware, but if he’s really going to be the Democrats’ nominee, he’ll have to go out on the campaign trail sooner or later, and eventually face Trump on the debate stage. Does anyone really believe Biden is up to such a challenge? Or is this campaign turning into a dark comedy we might call “Weekend at Biden’s”? Given the probability that such a farce would conclude with Trump’s reelection, Democrats might yet decide to rewrite the script.
Related: NYT op-ed: Time for a “plan B” that doesn’t include Biden.
As Michael Graham wrote in 2004 after Frank Lautenberg was swapped in to replace Bob Torricelli on the Democrats’ Senate ticket in NJ, “Don’t assume you know who’s on the Democratic ticket until Election Day.”
For pure entertainment value, not much can compete with the blood sport of New Jersey politics. Last week federal investigators launched a probe into whether U.S. Senator Robert Menendez illegally benefited to the tune of more than $300,000 from a rental-income deal he had with a nonprofit agency that received millions of dollars in federal contracts. Even liberal good government groups agree that the relationship may have violated congressional conflict-of-interest rules.
The allegations have sparked a mini-panic among state Democratic operatives, who not so long ago thought Mr. Menendez — who was appointed by Jon Corzine to complete his Senate term after being elected Governor in 2005 — had the November election in the bag. Now they see Republican Tom Kean Jr. surging into a lead. If Republicans were to pick up a seat in this deep blue state, Democrats’ chances of winning control of the Senate would be all but slammed shut.
That’s why, as reported by the Newark Star-Ledger, there’s now widespread speculation that the party brass may decide to throw Mr. Menendez overboard and replace him with an alternative — nine-term Rep. Rob Andrews, perhaps — who is regarded as more electable. This has become a familiar practice in the Garden State and has become known derisively as the New Jersey Switcheroo. . . .
If this story seems like déjà vu all over again, it should. This isn’t the first time New Jersey Democrats have nominated ethically challenged candidates for high office. Last year Jim McGreevey resigned the governorship after he hired his gay lover as the state’s national security director. In 2002, Senator Robert Torricelli was implicated in a bribery and campaign finance scandal, prompting the party oligarchs to throw him off the ballot and handpick Frank Lautenberg as his replacement on the ticket. Never mind that the deadline for ballot changes had passed. Senator Lautenberg kept the Senate seat from falling into Republican hands.
You’d think that the Jersey Democrats might try nominating people who aren’t crooks.
PATRICK RUFFINI thinks that Forrester can still win in New Jersey. Reason: “On the whole, Lautenberg has been a pretty lousy politician.”
Yes, Forrester’s big advantage has been that he’s Mr. Not Torricelli. But, of course, that’s Lautenberg’s main claim to fame, too. Yeah, he used to be a Senator, but, well, that can cut both ways.
Ruffini has a lot more analysis. Check it out.
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