At long last, Forrester, have you no decency?

A similar group of words to this one was once directed at the late Senator Joseph McCarthy, as he chaired Senate Committee hearings which routinely destroyed lives and reputations. Today, I am directing these words to New Jersey Republican Gubernatorial candidate Doug Forrester, he richly deserves it.

In the last week, the Forrester campaign has begun broadcasting an ad which features his wife saying, "Doug never let his family down and he won't let New Jersey down either". It sounds harmless enough until you understand that the underlying message here refers to his opponent, Democratic US Senator Jon Corzine, and his divorced marital status. Forrester is not only so pathetic as to stoop this low but he is also cowardly enough to put these words into the mouth of his own wife, rather than do it himself.

Worsening this sick controversy was a comment later made by Sen. Corzine's ex-wife to the New York Times in which she essentially stated that she had seen the commercial and yes, in fact, she believed Corzine would let New Jersey down, just as he had her. Although Corzine's ex-wife is certainly entitled to her opinion and divorces aren't always congenial, the political overtone within her comment sounds awfully fishy. The entire chain of events literally stinks of a far, far too convenient coincidence.

With less than a week until the election, Forrester has found himself trailing badly in the polls. If nothing were to shake up the race dramatically, and soon, he would lose his second statewide election in less than four years and his career in Garden State politics would probably be over. Is Doug Forrester willing to exploit not only his opponent's divorce and his own wife, but also engage Corzine's bitter ex-wife in a last chance effort to save his career? I hope not. As I said before, though, the whole thing seems just a little too convenient, for Doug Forrester anyway.

On Primary day back in June, I happened to meet a Forrester volunteer who was out putting up lawn signs on public property. When I told her that I thought her guy was going to win that evening but would have little chance against Corzine, she immediately fired back that they had plenty of "dirt" on Corzine and they were going to "get him". Little wonder then that this has become the entire theme of the Forrester campaign. As far as I'm concerned, any New Jersey voter who walks into a polling place next Tuesday intending to pull the lever for Mr. Forrester, will have to check their humanity at the door first.

Paul Roth, Jr.