September 30, 2002

SNUFFED:

Sen. Torricelli Might Resign, Drop Re-Election Bid (Reuters, 9/30/02)
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli, slumping in the polls amid a barrage of corruption allegations, is considering dropping his bid for re-election and resigning, a Democratic source said on Monday.

Torricelli was expected to hold a news conference later today [2pm] to announce his decision. [...]

If Torricelli resigned his seat, New Jersey's Democratic Gov. James McGreevey could appoint his replacement. While the deadline for being listed on the New Jersey ballot passed earlier this month, that deadline might be waived, although it could take a court ruling, a Democratic source said.


He's notoriously scummy, but at least he has a greater sense of shame and of honor than Bill Clinton did. On the other hand, he may just be doing it so he can keep his campaign funds. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 30, 2002 12:53 PM
Comments

If Torricelli does resign it might not be good news for the GOP.



Forrester looked to have a good shot to take this seat against Torricelli. However, most of his support appears to be anti-Torricelli votes rather than pro-Forrester votes.



If the Dems can come up with a suitable replacement with statewide name recognition then the Dems may vote for this person instead of for Forrester and enable the Dems to retain a seat that looked very promising for the GOP.



Of course there's the matter of the ballot deadlines already passed, etc. but one can't expect the Dems to let that stop them.

Posted by: AWW at September 30, 2002 1:47 PM

America is a better place for the Senate being rid of Toricelli, regardless of whether it hurts the GOP.

Posted by: oj at September 30, 2002 2:04 PM

Orrin -



I agree - good senators, regardless of their party affiliation, are better than bad ones. I am currently impressed with Zell Miller, for example.

Posted by: AWW at September 30, 2002 2:11 PM

Ben Nelson (NE), Bob Graham (FL), there are a very few others. I still find it hard to believe though that not a single Democrat respected himself and his country enough to vote for impeachment.

Posted by: oj at September 30, 2002 2:14 PM

If being able to keep the campaign funds encourages long term Congress critters to bug out, then that's one campaign finance law I support. Dumping the Torch would be cheap at twice the cost.

Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at September 30, 2002 3:16 PM

I'm going by very hazy memory here, but didn't they change the laws a few years ago so that politicians were no longer allowed to keep their campaign funds after they left office, and didn't a couple resign ahead of time for that very reason?

Posted by: David Cohen at September 30, 2002 3:42 PM
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