Eddie Konczal, Published in The Courier-News on June 26, 2005

Douglas Forrester, 2005 Republican nominee for governor, has been a candidate without ideas since his failed Senate run in 2002. The entire theme of Forrester's senate campaign was "I'm Not Torricelli." When Torricelli dropped out of the race, Forrester was left with no platform, and Frank Lautenberg came out of retirement to easily defeat Forrester.

Forrester hasn't overcome his addiction to negative campaigning in the three years since his loss to Lautenberg. He hammered away at fellow Republican Bret Schundler en route to the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Shortly after winning the Republican primary, Forrester began dredging up old dirt about Democratic nominee Jon Corzine, focusing on a 2003 bid by Corzine to keep the New Jersey Nets in the Garden State.

While Forrester has kept busy by attacking other candidates, Jon Corzine has spent his time developing plans to benefit the residents of New Jersey. Corzine recently proposed a plan to provide property-tax relief to more than 90 percent of taxpayers. Corzine will enforce ethics in state government by ending the practice of single-bid and no-bid contracts. And Corzine has developed a comprehensive plan to enhance our state's economy and create thousands of jobs for New Jerseyans.

This November, New Jerseyans can reject the politics of negative campaigning and elect a governor who has real plans to help our state: Jon Corzine.