Torricelli considered the most vulnerable Senate incumbent.
By: Jennifer Potash
TRENTON With his domestic agenda stalled in the Senate, President George W. Bush extolled New Jersey voters to send Republican candidate Douglas Forrester to Washington to break up the legislative logjam during two appearances in Mercer County on Monday.
Democrats responded to the president’s visit by bringing out Senate Majority Tom Daschle to rally the party faithful in what has become a hot race for the state’s U.S. Senate seat.
Senator Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) is widely considered the most vulnerable Senate incumbent after the Senate Ethics Committee severely admonished him in July for accepting illegal gifts.
Monday’s visit marked President Bush’s second trip to New Jersey in three months. He campaigned for freshman U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-7) in June.
About 5,000 people, including busloads of school children, welcomed the president Monday morning in Ewing Township.
The president gave two similar speeches a policy address inside a National Guard airplane hangar near the Trenton-Mercer Airport and a campaign pep talk at the Sovereign Bank Arena as part of a fund-raiser for Mr. Forrester.
The president addressed a range of topics from homeland security to encouraging faith-based initiatives to get people off the welfare rolls.
While the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill establishing a new Department of Homeland Security the president supports, the Senate has a different version of the bill.
President Bush said he would veto any bill that does not provide him and future presidents with greater discretion to hire and fire employees in the new department.
In blunt terms, the president said the United Nations needs to prove itself to be more than a "debating society" and must push Iraq to comply with demands to inspect its weapons arsenal. He pointed out the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, "gassed his own people with weapons of mass destruction" and invaded two countries since 1980.
"However, for the sake of freedom and peace, if the United Nations will not deal with Saddam Hussein, the United States and our friends will," President Bush said.
The president also prodded the Senate to take action on several key bills before the chamber is slated to recess Oct. 4. He cited a bill to provide insurance coverage for terrorist attacks and legislation permitting oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Such an energy bill would create new jobs, encourage new renewable energy sources and promote less reliance on foreign oil, he said.
At a luncheon fund-raiser for Mr. Forrester, President Bush praised the former West Windsor mayor and Princeton Theological Seminary graduate as a "breath of fresh air for New Jersey and the United States Senate."
Mr. Forrester, if elected, would fight for the president’s economic recovery plan, including making last year’s tax cuts permanent and ensuring the Senate is fiscally responsible in setting spending priorities, the president said. "And Doug understands this, that’s why I’m standing by his side," President Bush said.
While the president did not mention Mr. Forrester’s Democratic opponent by name, he did cast the Republican challenger as the anti-Torricelli.
"He’s going to keep his commitments when he he’s the kind of fellow, when he says he’s going to do something, that’s what he’s going to do," President Bush said. "(Mr. Forrester is) somebody who speaks plainly and just was running to get something done, as opposed to running just for the sake of holding the office."
Mr. Forrester, who borrowed the president’s line, "Help is on the way," took another page from the 2000 campaign play book.
"Similarly, Mr. President, this campaign is about restoring honesty and integrity to the office of the United States senator from New Jersey," he said.
The president’s visit funneled more cash to the coffers of Mr. Forrester’s campaign. The fund-raiser should bring in about $1.5 million, said state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos Jr. (R-Middletown), who is chairman of the New Jersey Republicans.
And other Republicans running in competitive races, including Rep. Ferguson and the Rev. Deforest "Buster" Soaries, who is challenging Rep. Rush Holt (D-12), said they appreciated the boost to their campaigns from the president’s visit.
Marching bands from the two West Windsor-Plainsboro high schools serenaded the crowd at the airport and heralded the president’s arrival at the airport with patriotic standards.
"The kids are so excited," said Tony Pappalardo, a music director in the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district.
An area couple, Joseph and Gloria Teti, former Lawrence Township Council members and longtime Republicans, were invited to sit on the dais with President Bush by Mr. Forrester’s campaign.
As President Bush crossed the stage on his way to the speaker’s podium, he stopped to speak to Mr. and Mrs. Teti, who were seated in the front row.
"My husband said to President Bush, ‘It’s a privilege to see you,’" Mrs. Teti said. "When the president crossed the stage (after his speech), I told him, ‘Continue to do what you are doing, you are doing the right thing.’ He gave me a hug. He said, ‘I won’t let you down.’"
Packet Group Staff Writer Lea Kahn contributed to this article.