'Democrats for Kean' may actually vote for Menendez

by: Juan Melli

Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 08:59:20 PM EDT

The Republican candidate for U.S. Senate appeared alongside two people identified as "Democrats for Kean" on Wednesday in an effort to show that he can attract voters of both parties. Trouble is, Tom Kean Jr. might not get the vote of either one.

The two Democrats who appeared with Kean thought the event was a chance to publicize their own beef over local corruption. Kean, however, staged the event to advance his own campaign.

Daisy Vega, a member of the parents' group Families United for Students of Elizabeth, said Wednesday she was a lifelong registered Democrat who has never voted Republican. She said she had not yet made up her mind whether to vote for Kean or his Democratic opponent, Sen. Robert Menendez, on Nov. 7, before adding, "I've never crossed over before."

The other "Democrat for Kean," former Elizabeth Councilman Bob Jaspan, said he, too, had not yet decided whom to vote for in the Senate race. He said he "was asked to attend and say a few words about my feelings on corruption. I did not know the label of the press conference."

Vega, 45, said she appeared with Kean after he responded to her invitation to support Elizabeth school children. She said the group, known by the acronym FUSE, invited Kean in the hope of triggering an investigation into the sale of two city properties to a private developer at a discount. The group believes the parcels should have been deeded to the Board of Education for construction of new schools.

She said she did not know the Kean campaign dubbed the event "Democrats for Kean" in its press release, but said she did not feel as if her group was being used. "Did it bring out the press? Good. What I had to say was heard," she said.