Sat Nov 05, 2011 at 11:45:02 AM EDT
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| Can you get yourself re-elected by lying to voters?
 Of course you can. Candidates circling the ethics drain do it all the time. And that's what Republicans Caroline Casagrande & Mary Pat Angelini are banking on; if they suggest to enough voters that rising Democrat Vin Gopal is a crook, maybe they can keep their jobs.
The GOP's clearly concerned that Gopal might win. He's an effective, eloquent and inspiring candidate. Gopal's entire team, among other nods, won Democracy for America's national endorsement (disclosure: it was my pleasure to alert DFA to their strengths). Asbury Park Press endorsed Gopal, too, urging voters to consider him over Mary Pat Angelini.
So. What did Casagrande and Angelini do? They sent mail , produced by NJ GOP but approved by the two of them, that attempt to tar Gopal with the crimes of Perth Amboy Mayor Joe Vas, who went to jail for corruption. This kind of crap is right out of the Karl Rove playbook; create a scary-enough bogeyman and the voters will do what you want. |
| Rosi Efthim :: LD-11 GOP Liars Caroline Casagrande & Mary Pat Angelini can't smear Vin Gopal |
But what's different this time? The piece is so heavy with its own bullshit that APP, LD-11's paper of record, is calling out Casagrande and Angelini, blasting out this headline:
Decency absent in GOP mailing
The recent campaign flier approved by Republicans Caroline Casagrande and Mary Pat Angelini in the 11th District Assembly race seeking to smear Democrat Vin Gopal was beyond the pale - even by New Jersey standards. - APP
Star-Ledger agrees. Its PolitiFact gives the GOP a rare Pants on Fire! rating.
The GOP mail proclaims: Welcome to the World of Vin Gopal and depicts a man's hands, handcuffed behind his back and clutching money. Newspaper clippings on stark black read: Aide to former Perth Amboy Mayor Joseph Vas pleads guilty to money laundering. Does the mail explicitly say the aide was Gopal? No, but it sure as hell suggests it was. Republicans know most people will only scan, and not sit down to read. The truth? Gopal was a 20-year-old Penn State University student who got 4 college credits and modest salary as Vas' campaign manager in 2006, where he worked with volunteers. Gopal did not handle any illegal money, and had no part in the scandal. The facts? The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office said it had never heard of Gopal and the New Jersey Attorney General's Office confirmed that Gopal had no connection to the Vas case.
How do the Republicans answer for themselves? They point out that they never technically said Gopal went to jail. "Everything in the mailer is 100 percent true," said Tom Fitzsimmons of the GOP's campaign. That's the political ethics of Casagrande and Angelini: slide out from the rock of responsibility on your own slippery slime.
Got some time to help out? Volunteer for Vin and his team. |
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