New Jersey Democrats Put Tea Party Spoiler In House Race

mrkramer · Oct 8, 2010

This is just wonderful.

Quote

On a balmy evening last May, about three dozen members of the South Jersey Young Democrats convened at the Camden County Democratic Committee Headquarters in Cherry Hill.

Freeholder Jeffrey Nash warned the assembled crowd of party volunteers and legislative aides that the sour economy would make the coming election season difficult for the Democratic majority.

He told the young activists they had to get out the vote for Democrats in the fall.

Then Steve Ayscue -- a paid CCDC consultant -- took the floor with a bearded, flame-haired man few had seen before. The latter was Geoff Mackler, dispatched from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to lead freshman Rep. John Adler's re-election campaign.
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Ayscue and Mackler had a plan to ensure Adler's victory. They just needed volunteers.

Internal numbers-crunching showed the difference between Adler and his Republican opponent -- then undetermined -- would hover around 5 percent. To give Adler an edge, Ayscue had recruited a then-unidentified man to run as a third-party candidate.

That candidate would act as a conservative spoiler to confuse voters and pull votes from Adler's eventual Republican challenger. But first he had to get on the ballot. With the filing deadline just weeks away, CCDC needed volunteers to hit the streets and collect signatures -- fast.

Some of the SJYD members were stunned. Others willingly signed on.

By June 8, more than the 100 valid signatures needed were collected and received by the state Division of Elections.

That candidate was Peter DeStefano, a picture framer from Mount Laurel. On Nov. 2, he will appear on the "NJ Tea Party" line on the ballot.
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I really hope this backfires on them.

Mac'nCheese · Oct 8, 2010

They must have listened to Rush Limbaugh. But when Republicans do it, you probably love it.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1723756,00.html

freeny · Oct 8, 2010

How could it backfire?
It will either work or it won't...

mrkramer · Oct 8, 2010

stevensteven123 said: ↑

They must have listened to Rush Limbaugh. But when Republicans do it, you probably love it.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1723756,00.html
Click to expand...

No, I think it's just as bad when republicans do it, this time it just happened to be a democrat.

freeny said: ↑

How could it backfire?
It will either work or it won't...
Click to expand...

It could backfire because it sounds like the republican is doing an awful job of running his campaign and this could be enough to make the Dem candidate lose some votes.

Quote

But with the Nov. 2 election less than a month away, revelations about Camden County Democrats' complicity in the DeStefano affair could backfire on Adler, some sources said.

"Obviously this kind of thing would certainly be classified as a dirty trick, just broadly speaking," said David Redlawsk, director of the Rutgers Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling. "Historically, third-party candidates lose strength as we get closer to Election Day."

Depending on how the Runyan campaign is able to use the issue to their advantage, Redlawsk added, "this could override everything else that's going on in the campaign. Then Adler could find himself in trouble."

The irony here may be that Adler could have been just fine without DeStefano, Democrats said.

"That was all the more reason not to do this," said one, recalling the discussions at Top Dog in May.

Adler's significant cash advantage -- nearly $2 million cash on hand to Runyan's $472,000 as of June 30 -- could have been leveraged for a media blitz that would have overwhelmed the Republicans' message, some Democrats said.

"It's been a terrible campaign in an environment that should be strong for a Republican," Redlawsk agreed, pointing to the Runyan campaign's dominant tactic of tying Adler with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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benbondu · Oct 8, 2010

You know, this would be a non-issue if we had a real electoral system (e.g. instant run-off).

Rt&Dzine · Oct 8, 2010

freeny said: ↑

How could it backfire?
It will either work or it won't...
Click to expand...

It could backfire on Limbaugh?

Don't panic · Oct 8, 2010

stevensteven123 said: ↑

They must have listened to Rush Limbaugh. But when Republicans do it, you probably love it.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1723756,00.html
Click to expand...

still, it is a dishonest, sad, dirty approach, even if 'they did it first'.

Mac'nCheese · Oct 8, 2010

mrkramer said: ↑

No, I think it's just as bad when republicans do it, this time it just happened to be a democrat.
Click to expand...

I apologize.

And to don't panic:

Agreed. Just always love it when the Dems finally catch up to the Repubs dirty tricks and the Repubs start crying about it.

New Jersey Democrats Put Tea Party Spoiler In House Race

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