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Location: Nashville, Tennessee, United States

10/09/2002

How to Torch Lautenberg
Ramesh Ponnuru explains why Doug Forrester, whose campaighn has already bagged the sleazy corrupt Sen. Robert Toricelli, will also defeat Frank Lautenberg, the Dem's replacement from the cast list of the Night of the Living Dead.

"It's not impossible for him to beat Lautenberg. Forrester should challenge him to two debates a week for the rest of the campaign; judging from his initial campaign statements, Lautenberg's not up to it. How many people really believe that Lautenberg is going to serve out a six-year term? The alternatives before New Jersey voters aren't really Forrester and Lautenberg. It's Forrester and Senator X," writes Ponnuru. "While Forrester can't run against Torricelli, he can run against Torricelli-ism. His tack should be that he is running for Senate and is happy to run against whomever the Democrats throw at him. But he can, at the same time, make the case that the Democratic machine is pulling a fast one and that voters should reject its manipulations. He should work too see that the Lautenberg shuffle inspires a political backlash, that is, rather than a legal reversal."

That's the guts of it. I just saved you the time it would've taken you to read the whole thing.