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Schundler gets boost from D.C. coalition
Originally appeared in the Star Ledger on 09/05/01
A Washington-based conservative group yesterday revealed plans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on billboards and cable television ads in support of GOP candidate Bret Schundler.
The Club For Growth, a fervent supply-side economic advocacy group, plans to spend up to $40,000 on the billboards and as much as $500,000 on the cable spots to help Schundler's lagging campaign against Democrat Jim McGreevey, according to Stephen Moore, the organization's president.
This infusion of cash from The Club for Growth renews the debate over the potential influence of third-party spending in the publicly financed gubernatorial race, which limits spending by McGreevey and Schundler at $8.4 million each.
"The New Jersey public financing laws will require a significant overhaul to limit, and where appropriate prohibit, expenditures by third-party groups," said Harry Pozycki, chairman of New Jersey Common Cause, a government watchdog group. "Otherwise, the level playing field envisioned by New Jersey's campaign financing law will be destroyed."
Such third-party expenditures are legal, provided there is no coordination between the groups and the campaigns. Additionally, the spending cannot explicitly advocate the victory or defeat of any candidates.
Moore said a billboard on Route 1 in Trenton and another on the Garden State Parkway in North Jersey went up last week, highlighting Schundler's promise to remove the Parkway tolls. A cable television ad blitz touting Schundler's tax-cutting record and criticizing McGreevey's tax hikes will begin airing this week, he said.
"We think tolls and taxes are the two best issues," said Moore, who is concerned that Schundler trails McGreevey significantly in the polls with just two months to go. "The idea is to refocus this debate, which hasn't been going so well for Schundler. . . . It sounds like McGreevey has really taken the momentum away."
Recent polls show McGreevey with a commanding 19-point lead.
Bill Guhl, a Schundler spokesman, said the campaign was unaware of the group's plans, but added, "Sounds like a good message."
In recent days, Schundler has focused hard on his call for an end to tolls on the Parkway and also criticized McGreevey's tax record in full page ads in The Star-Ledger and The Trentonian.
The Club for Growth, formed in 1982, has roughly 5,000 members nationwide, with between 300 and 500 in New Jersey, said Moore. The Club's mission statement offers the goal of "helping elect candidates who are advocates of the Reagan vision of limited government and lower taxes."
The group, which has contributed money to other New Jersey conservatives, including Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-7th Dist.) and former Rep. Dick Zimmer (R-12th Dist.), is making its second foray into New Jersey political advertising. The group's PAC spent roughly $150,000 on radio commercials during the unsuccessful bid of Assemblyman Scott Garrett (R-Sussex) to unseat Rep. Marge Roukema (R-5th Dist.) in the 2000 Republican primary. Group members also contributed more than $100,000 directly to Garrett.
"These guys are political kamikazes," said Steve Some, a Republican lobbyist and fund-raiser. "I welcome a healthy debate on whether or not the taxes are going to be raised next year."
The McGreevey campaign decried the group's actions.
"We believe the election should be about New Jersey," said Richard McGrath, McGreevey's spokesman. "If arch-conservative groups are funneling money into the state on behalf of Mr. Schundler, it further underscores the fact that he is outside the mainstream of New Jersey politics."
Lobbyist Some is predicting a rash of spending by outside groups this fall.
"This race has national implications," said Some. "The President's prestige is on the line. The Democrats are going to be investing heavily here because they want to be setting the stage for next year's Congressional elections."
In addition to Moore, a former official with the conservative Cato Institute think tank, other members of The Club For Growth include Lawrence Kudlow, an economist who helped former Gov. Christie Whitman develop her 30-percent tax cut plan in 1993, and Arthur Laffer, another prominent fiscal theorist who believes tax cuts spur growth.
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