Taking on `the torch': Democratic Senator Bob Torricelli of New Jersey once looked unbeatable in his bid for re-election, but the specter of a recent ethics ruling has the incumbent—and his party—vulnerable to defeat in a year when the Republicans are one seat away from regaining a majority in the U.S. Senate

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Sept 23, 2002 | by Jamie Dettmer

The complaints of the ethics committee are not about misunderstandings concerning complex Senate rules, and they don't concern a momentary lapse of judgment, as he describes it. If you read the text of the letter it is very damning, and there are specific comments that for years he knowingly represented a man before our government and foreign governments while that man was ingratiating himself with the senator, his family and friends. It talks about a pattern of deliberate behavior over years. When people understand and then see the conflicts and incongruities and inconsistencies in what Bob Torricelli has said and in his testimony ...

Insight: And policy differences?

DF: We are talking also about his voting record. For example, we think it is important to look at his conflict with the CIA and intelligence services down in Central America about the hiring of agents and sources. He still is defending his position even though every professional thinks it is silly and counterproductive to U.S. national security. He still says it is a good idea.

On environmental issues there is some agreement between us, but the differences are great, too. For instance, how to fund the Superfund. Then there is the issue of storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nev. He has been trying to block the transportation of radioactive waste out of New Jersey--which is unwise and shortsighted. If there were to be a problem with the waste-storage facilities in New Jersey everyone in the state would be at risk. But he is willing to keep it here.

And we disagree on prescription drugs and investment security. One of the things that jumps out is how much gaming he has done of the investment apparatus--issues involving day-trading, borrowing money from contributors, and investing and securing a huge windfall and returning money. That kind of stuff has occurred more than once. If Martha Stewart can get into hot water for alleged sharp practice, anyone who looks at Bob Torricelli's record will say this is worse.

Insight: Torricelli already is working the following line: "I might have made mistakes, but on the issues I am sound. My opponent is a CEO, and we all know what they are like." Can you explain what your business does?

DF: My company wins contracts by gaining recommendations from independent consultants and brokers. If we have offered the lowest cost and best value we get hired. All the dust Bob Torricelli has been throwing about our company is easily blown away by the truth that we lowered drug costs.

You were up with me at Johanna Foods--a great company and very entrepreneurial. They make money when they deliver a product for a good price, and that is what a good business is meant to do. Sometimes politicians wade in and try to make businesses look bad, forgetting that it is businesses that create jobs and produce services and products. This idea that we all know what CEOs are like is astonishing. I would like to think that I am one of the vast number of CEOs who try very hard to ensure that we satisfy clients and consumers by delivering a better product at a lower price. Bob Torricelli is trying to use the misbehavior of a handful of CEOs in publicly traded companies to attack American businessmen on Main Street and Wall Street in a way that has nothing to do with my company or the business we visited this morning.--JD