Republican Shame in Bergenfield, New Jersey
The following is an unpublished letter to the editor which I recently sent to The Record newspaper in northern New Jersey. It is a response to the thoughtless and disrespectful antics of Bret Schundler and Doug Forrester, two Republican candidates for Governor in the Garden State. While marching in a Memorial Day parade the two engaged in a political argument with each other regarding their TV advertising campaigns. The Mayor of Bergenfield had to separate them and remind them of the solemn nature of the occasion. Since I originally wrote this piece, Forrester has won the GOP Primary and will face US Senator Jon Corzine in November's Gubernatorial Election:
I am writing in response to your article of May 31, regarding the shameful actions of Bret Schundler and Doug Forrester at the Bergenfield Memorial Day parade. If these two fools are indeed the Republican frontrunners for Governor, I feel very sad for New Jersey Republicans.
It’s bad enough that these politicians worm their way into such commemorative events and use them for campaign purposes. The idea that Schundler and Forrester have so little respect for the meaning of Memorial Day that they would engage in political bickering with Bergenfield’s war veterans as a backdrop is disgusting. In the process they also terribly embarrassed Bergenfield’s Mayor, who doubtless invited both.
During my tenure as Press Secretary for Anne Wolfe, I coined the unflattering nickname “Photo-Op Patriot” for Congressman Scott Garrett. This was in response to Mr. Garrett’s bad habit of getting himself photographed with every veteran or service member possible and saying all the right words about our soldiers while voting in the House to over-extend our current troops and under-fund veterans’ health care. As hypocritical as I believe Garrett is, he at least sometimes manages to show appropriate respect. Apparently Schundler and Forrester are incapable of even this much.
Being a partisan Democrat, I am already certain that I will vote for Senator Corzine in November. However, I hope that North Jersey’s Republicans will also strongly consider rejecting these pathetic excuses for candidates in favor of an individual of the character and integrity of Jon Corzine.
I am writing in response to your article of May 31, regarding the shameful actions of Bret Schundler and Doug Forrester at the Bergenfield Memorial Day parade. If these two fools are indeed the Republican frontrunners for Governor, I feel very sad for New Jersey Republicans.
It’s bad enough that these politicians worm their way into such commemorative events and use them for campaign purposes. The idea that Schundler and Forrester have so little respect for the meaning of Memorial Day that they would engage in political bickering with Bergenfield’s war veterans as a backdrop is disgusting. In the process they also terribly embarrassed Bergenfield’s Mayor, who doubtless invited both.
During my tenure as Press Secretary for Anne Wolfe, I coined the unflattering nickname “Photo-Op Patriot” for Congressman Scott Garrett. This was in response to Mr. Garrett’s bad habit of getting himself photographed with every veteran or service member possible and saying all the right words about our soldiers while voting in the House to over-extend our current troops and under-fund veterans’ health care. As hypocritical as I believe Garrett is, he at least sometimes manages to show appropriate respect. Apparently Schundler and Forrester are incapable of even this much.
Being a partisan Democrat, I am already certain that I will vote for Senator Corzine in November. However, I hope that North Jersey’s Republicans will also strongly consider rejecting these pathetic excuses for candidates in favor of an individual of the character and integrity of Jon Corzine.
posted by Paul_NJ | 3:09 PM
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