The
blog left is attempting to tie Tom Kean Sr.'s role as a consultant to "Path to 9/11" to Tom Kean Jr.'s Senate run:
Here's something that should be quite
obvious to reporters, but isn't. Tom Kean Sr is pushing this movie to help his son, Tom Kean Jr, in a Senate campaign in New Jersey. Fred Snowflack of the Daily Record explains the dynamic.
In off-hand conversations recently with two friends of mine, the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democrat Robert Menendez and Republican challenger Thomas H. Kean Jr. came up. In wading into discussing the race, one thing immediately became clear. Both my friends thought the Republican candidate was the former governor of New Jersey. That would be Thomas H. Kean Sr.
Not only is Kean Sr. a onetime governor — he's the former president of Drew University in Madison and the acclaimed chairman of the federal 9/11 Commission that investigated the terrorist attacks. That's a great resume for the U.S. Senate.
The candidate, however, is his son, Kean Jr., a state senator.
Whether some voters will confuse Kean Jr. and Kean Sr. is a topic that was raised just about as soon as "Young Tom" got in the race.
Recent polls show the race a statistical dead heat. That defies conventional wisdom. New Jersey is a solid "blue state." Democratic presidential candidates have won New Jersey four times in a row and Republicans have not won a U.S. Senate race in the state in more than 30 years. Add in President Bush's dismal poll ratings and Menendez should be comfortably ahead.
But that isn't the case.
Funny that Bob Menendez doesn't see it this way. On
June 6th, Senator Menendez called for the immediate implementation of all of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations. Democrats are trying to portray Tom Kean Sr. as a political hack and a noble public servant interested in defending the US. This is ridiculous, as it's impossible to be both.
