How Low Can Politics Go?

by: mikeshapiro

Thu Jun 07, 2007 at 12:19:55 AM EDT

Recently, the Bergen County Republican Organization (BCRO) developed and funded campaign literature that stated that Deputy Minority Leader/State Assemblyman Kevin O?Toole (R-40) was ?the Republican Al Sharpton.?  The paid mailer claimed that when it came to redistricting, O?Toole?s seat was protected because of his ?Asian/Korean? descent.  The mailer included a grainy, black and white side by side photo of Assemblyman O?Toole and Reverend Al Sharpton.  The photo of Mr. O?Toole is one that showed him a bit unshaven, so that his facial hair was comparable to Mr. Sharpton?s. 

Is it any wonder that the BCRO under Chairman Guy Talarico had a track record of evisceration by the Bergen County Democratic Organization (BCDO) under current Chairman Joe Ferriero?  What kind of Party Chairman would resort to such tactics against a sitting Assemblyman of his own Party?  Furthermore, what kind of political organization would allow such a mailing to go out under its name?  Considering the large number of Asian-Americans in Bergen County, this campaign strategy was one of the most foolish tactics in recent times.

The mailer and the people who sanctioned it brought politics to a new low, and that?s a difficult feat to accomplish.  The mailer was not only an affront to Asian-Americans throughout New Jersey but was offensive to all residents of New Jersey -- Republican, Democrat and unaffiliated, of all races and religions.  It has no place in politics.  Assemblyman O?Toole and the residents who received this abhorrent mailing deserve an apology.