Dennis Shulman for U.S. Congress: Sensible Leadership for New Jersey’s 5th District

October 24th, 2008

Friday, October 24, 2008

BY KAREN SUDOL
STAFF WRITER

The 5th Congressional District race has taken on a nastier tone as the election draws nearer, with a TV spot and mailer that charge the Democratic challenger with being an “extremist” who wants to negotiate with terrorists.

The mailer from Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, claims Dennis Shulman, a rabbi and psychologist from Demarest, supports negotiations with “the terrorist organization Hamas” and favors “reaching out to rogue regimes like Iran.”

The attack ad and mailer drew an immediate response from Shulman’s camp, which said Garrett had reached new lows.

“Garrett’s ad and direct-mail piece not only attack me as an extremist, they directly suggest that I am in league with Hamas terrorists and Holocaust denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,” Shulman said in a statement released Thursday. “As an American and a rabbi, it is beyond the pale to question my love of Israel and my desire to end terror and promote security for the Israeli people and for us here at home.”

Shulman’s campaign manager, Jeff Hauser, called on Garrett to pull the ad.

“Dennis Shulman only releases ads that are truthful and that he can stand by, proudly, and that is why unlike Scott Garrett, Dennis Shulman makes the same arguments in debates that he does on TV. Scott Garrett needs to take down a TV ad he is too embarrassed to defend in person,” he said in a statement Thursday.

But Shulman has also issued his fair share of attack ads against Garrett. One accuses Garrett of being “just another corrupt politician” for receiving “a huge property tax break” related to a lower farmland assessment on his Sussex County property.

Another accuses Garrett of being corrupt for receiving contributions from companies he regulates — something Shulman has vowed not to do if elected.

Garrett’s 30-second attack ad, which began airing Monday, begins with, “What do we really know about Dennis Shulman, the man smearing Scott Garrett? Shulman is an extremist who believes America must negotiate with terrorists.”

Accompanying an image of Shulman is a picture of Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran.

Garrett says in the mailer that he “will never support attempts to appease hostile governments like Iran.”

The attacks were based on comments made by Shulman to the Forward, a Jewish-American weekly newspaper, in a Sept. 19, 2007, article, Garrett’s campaign manager, Amanda Gasperino said in an e-mail.

The Forward story paraphrased Shulman’s stance by saying, “Regarding foreign policy, Shulman said, the United States should maintain a strong alliance with Israel and reinvigorate diplomatic efforts to engage such adversaries as Hamas and Iranian regime.”

It then quoted Shulman as saying, “I guess I’m all for thinking and communications and talking and trying to work these things out.”

“Both Dennis Shulman and Scott Garrett love America and want to ensure security for Israel, but Garrett and 5th District voters reject Shulman’s position, articulated in the The Forward on September 19, 2007, of support for negotiating with known terrorist organizations,” Gasperino said in the e-mailed response.

When he learned of the ad, flier and the Forward article, Robert Yudin, chairman of the Bergen County Republican Organization, said he believed Garrett had a reasonable charge to make.

“It would seem to me there is truthfulness in the Garrett position. How can you talk with someone who wants to kill you?” Yudin said. “My position and the position of John McCain and the position of people who really fear for the state of Israel is how can anyone favor talking to terrorists? These people want to destroy us and our way of life.”

Bill Maer, spokesman for the Bergen County Democratic Organization, said, “Unfortunately this is another page out of the desperate GOP playbook. If it wasn’t such a serious subject, it’d be comical.”

Richard McGrath, spokesman for the New Jersey Democratic Committee, said accusing a rabbi of being sympathetic to terrorists is despicable.

“Mr. Garrett is really embarrassing himself and insulting the intelligence of the voters,” he said. “Mr. Shulman is giving Congressman Garrett a real fight and Garrett is showing his true colors now and they’re not very attractive.”

The ad comes as the race appears to be tightening based on a National Republican Congressional Committee memo — leaked to Politico.com — that requests volunteers to man phone banks including for Garrett’s race.

Garrett also released another television ad in which he said he has worked to protect and preserve the Musconetcong River. A national environmental group, Friends of the Earth Action — which has endorsed Shulman — has called for the ad to be pulled, saying Garrett “has the worst environmental record of any member of New Jersey’s congressional delegation.”

Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson contributed to this story. E-mail: sudol@northjersey.com
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The 5th Congressional District race has taken on a nastier tone as the election draws nearer, with a TV spot and mailer that charge the Democratic challenger with being an “extremist” who wants to negotiate with terrorists.
FILE PHOTO
Rep. Scott Garrett

The mailer from Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, claims Dennis Shulman, a rabbi and psychologist from Demarest, supports negotiations with “the terrorist organization Hamas” and favors “reaching out to rogue regimes like Iran.”

The attack ad and mailer drew an immediate response from Shulman’s camp, which said Garrett had reached new lows.

“Garrett’s ad and direct-mail piece not only attack me as an extremist, they directly suggest that I am in league with Hamas terrorists and Holocaust denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,” Shulman said in a statement released Thursday. “As an American and a rabbi, it is beyond the pale to question my love of Israel and my desire to end terror and promote security for the Israeli people and for us here at home.”

Shulman’s campaign manager, Jeff Hauser, called on Garrett to pull the ad.
FILE PHOTO
Dennis Shulman

“Dennis Shulman only releases ads that are truthful and that he can stand by, proudly, and that is why unlike Scott Garrett, Dennis Shulman makes the same arguments in debates that he does on TV. Scott Garrett needs to take down a TV ad he is too embarrassed to defend in person,” he said in a statement Thursday.

But Shulman has also issued his fair share of attack ads against Garrett. One accuses Garrett of being “just another corrupt politician” for receiving “a huge property tax break” related to a lower farmland assessment on his Sussex County property.

Another accuses Garrett of being corrupt for receiving contributions from companies he regulates — something Shulman has vowed not to do if elected.

Garrett’s 30-second attack ad, which began airing Monday, begins with, “What do we really know about Dennis Shulman, the man smearing Scott Garrett? Shulman is an extremist who believes America must negotiate with terrorists.”

Accompanying an image of Shulman is a picture of Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran.

Garrett says in the mailer that he “will never support attempts to appease hostile governments like Iran.”

The attacks were based on comments made by Shulman to the Forward, a Jewish-American weekly newspaper, in a Sept. 19, 2007, article, Garrett’s campaign manager, Amanda Gasperino said in an e-mail.

The Forward story paraphrased Shulman’s stance by saying, “Regarding foreign policy, Shulman said, the United States should maintain a strong alliance with Israel and reinvigorate diplomatic efforts to engage such adversaries as Hamas and Iranian regime.”

It then quoted Shulman as saying, “I guess I’m all for thinking and communications and talking and trying to work these things out.”

“Both Dennis Shulman and Scott Garrett love America and want to ensure security for Israel, but Garrett and 5th District voters reject Shulman’s position, articulated in the The Forward on September 19, 2007, of support for negotiating with known terrorist organizations,” Gasperino said in the e-mailed response.

When he learned of the ad, flier and the Forward article, Robert Yudin, chairman of the Bergen County Republican Organization, said he believed Garrett had a reasonable charge to make.

“It would seem to me there is truthfulness in the Garrett position. How can you talk with someone who wants to kill you?” Yudin said. “My position and the position of John McCain and the position of people who really fear for the state of Israel is how can anyone favor talking to terrorists? These people want to destroy us and our way of life.”

Bill Maer, spokesman for the Bergen County Democratic Organization, said, “Unfortunately this is another page out of the desperate GOP playbook. If it wasn’t such a serious subject, it’d be comical.”

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