Corzine Headed Off Lamont-Like Challenges

[rusty charly]

IF you want to know why Gov. Jon S. Corzine picked Robert Menendez to succeed him in the United States Senate, take a look at what happened in Connecticut last week. In a political upset for the ages, an unheralded businessman, Ned Lamont, toppled Senator Joseph I. Lieberman in the Democratic primary, largely on the basis of voters’ anger over Mr. Lieberman’s support of President Bush’s Iraq policies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/13njpol.html

In New Jersey, the real Democratic primary occurred behind closed doors last November and December, as members of the state’s Congressional delegation lobbied Mr. Corzine for the job. The two strongest contenders — Mr. Menendez and Representative Robert E. Andrews — were Washington veterans and proven fund-raisers, but Mr. Corzine has said there was one key difference between them: Mr. Menendez voted against the resolution authorizing the use of force, and Mr. Andrews voted for it.

Since the Republican nominee, State Senator Thomas H. Kean Jr., has said that he would have voted for the war and has offered qualified support for Mr. Bush’s Iraq policies, the contrast is something that Mr. Menendez has tried to exploit.

“By appointing someone who had taken a very forthright stand against the war, Corzine really insulated Menendez against a possible insurgency on the left, which is entirely possible in a state like New Jersey,” said Ross K. Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University. “I think it strengthens him against Kean, and it makes George Bush a greater burden for Kean to shoulder.”

[AX10]

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