More Than a Senate Race

October 6, 2002

by Christopher G. Adamo

Next month’s mid-term elections will carry a much greater weight than any since 1994, when that year’s elections stood as a national refutation of Bill and Hillary’s vision for a "brave new world". From the moment Bill Clinton was elected in 1992 with only forty-three percent of the popular vote, America had needed to make a strong statement against his efforts to ramrod such programs as nationalized healthcare. This it did in November of ‘94 by shifting the House of Representatives to Republican control for the first time in over forty years. Simultaneously, the Senate was placed firmly back into the hands of Republicans.

Conversely, the 2002 elections present an opportunity, not only to show support for President Bush’s efforts to make America safe from terrorists and the threat of attack by rogue states, but also to allow the country to begin healing from the moral and ethical wounds inflicted on it during the thoroughly corrupt Clinton years. Americans, post 9-11, have done some serious soul searching, and reasserted many of the traditional values that made the country great. Indeed, character does matter, and it bears a direct correlation to a candidate’s fitness for office. And nowhere does this sea change present itself with more clarity than in the State of New Jersey.

New Jersey’s Democratic Senator, Robert Torricelli, was running for re-election. But this incumbent Senator could not run away from his past. It seems that Korean businessman David Chang sought influence with Torricelli by bestowing illegal gifts and campaign donations on him. However, though Chang was tried, convicted, and is now serving time for his actions, Torricelli received no punishment other than a purely symbolic Senate "slap on the wrist."

Furthermore, in an act which can only be called "classic Clinton", Torricelli attempted to vindicate himself through the total destruction of Chang, whom he derided as a "liar" and a "convicted felon and perjurer." (One has to wonder how a man who will express such apparent outrage can reconcile these epithets to his past support for the liar and perjurer who occupied the Oval Office...)

While Chang’s actions plainly put him on the wrong side of the law, it is abundantly clear that he had found a willing recipient for his wares. The pious indignation expressed by Torricelli in response to all this did little to gain him credibility, but instead only served to highlight his hypocrisy. Meanwhile, the federal government had decided against any further pursuit of Torricelli, based on its contention that, as a witness, Chang lacked sufficient credibility for his testimony to be presented as concrete evidence.

Recently, a federal appeals court released a memo that, according to federal prosecutors, establishes David Chang’s testimony as "credible in most material aspects." In reality however, no new surprises had been unearthed. The nature of Torricelli’s conduct was already well known. But the indifference of Senate Democrats to Torricelli’s misdeeds unequivocally proved that such ethical deficiencies were not confined to the New Jersey Senator. Sadly, it has been business as usual for all those Democratic Senators who, only a few years ago, had unanimously voted to support the abuses of power and rampant corruption within the administration of the former president.

As the evidence of wrongdoing continued to mount, Torricelli attempted to reconcile himself with past professions of total innocence by engaging in such nauseatingly familiar verbal gymnastics as his claim that "character is a complex issue." Actually, it isn’t. Character simply amounts to doing the right thing... a concept that appears to be beyond the grasp of not only this New Jersey Senator, but his Democratic Senate colleagues as well. Hopes of cleaning up even such an obvious offense seemed to be quickly fading.

Enter the people of New Jersey. Blatantly disregarding the pleas of Democratic operatives to put party above principle, they abandoned Torricelli in droves. Support for his campaign evaporated, and he was forced to quit the race. For the people of New Jersey, character mattered to a sufficient degree for an unscrupulous individual to be eliminated from the political arena. No doubt many had hoped for a Democrat victory, and many still do. Now however, regardless of who wins in the New Jersey Senate race one thing is for certain. Last minute Democratic tricks notwithstanding, the people of New Jersey have, by maintaining their own integrity, raised the standards for anyone who seeks to represent their state.

_________________________________________

Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer who lives in southeastern Wyoming with his wife and sons. He has been involved in grassroots political activity for many years. Chris was the editor of the Wyoming Christian from 1994 to 1996, and his columns can also been seen at CheyenneNetwork.com.

Send the author an E mail at Adamo@ConservativeTruth.org.

For more of Christopher's articles, visit his archives.