Sen. Frank Lautenberg addresses members of the Highland Park Conservative Temple-Congregation Anshe Emeth on May 4 after a groundbreaking ceremony to replace a portion of the synagogue destroyed almost two years ago in a fire. Photo by Debra Rubin
May 08, 2008
Sen. Frank Lautenberg insists fellow Democrats should judge him “not on age but effectiveness.”
The 84-year-old incumbent said his opponent in the June 3 primary, Rep. Rob Andrews (Dist. 1), “wants to throw age in there because he doesn’t have a lot to talk about. Remember, he’s been in the House for almost 18 years. If we look at his record and my record we see a fairly pronounced difference.”
Lautenberg spoke to NJ Jewish News on a cell phone en route to Washington, DC, from a campaign stop, hammering some consistent themes intended to stave off the challenge by a lawmaker 34 years younger than he.
Running off a list of legislation he has sponsored that ranges from anti-smoking laws to securing more homeland security funds for New Jersey to taking guns away from domestic abusers, Lautenberg took aim at his opponent.
“Rob Andrews stood with the president when the president signed the resolution to go to war. Hell, he was a member of the House of Representatives. He had a chance to hear the military people. He had a chance to hear the intelligence people. Apparently, he didn’t feel bothered with that,” said Lautenberg.
Andrews has said he voted for the war because the intelligence indicated Saddam Hussein had the ability to use chemical and biological weapons.
Lautenberg also declined to endorse a Democratic candidate for president, maintaining a diplomatic silence ahead of this week’s North Carolina and Indiana primaries.
Lautenberg said he “does not know when” he will endorse either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, “but as a superdelegate, I cannot ignore the fact that Hillary Clinton was elected overwhelmingly by the Democrats in New Jersey. I know Barack Obama very well. I know Hillary very well. Each of them is an intelligent, quick-thinking leadership-type person.”
But Lautenberg registered an oblique criticism of Clinton’s pledge to employ “massive retaliation” against Iran if Iran were to attack Israel.
“When it comes to planning to go to war, it has to be an option that exists, but it is a premature moment for going to war,” said Lautenberg. “It sounds good to the ears, but there is a question that we are terribly overstrained right now.”
Turning to Obama’s severed relationship with his Chicago pastor, Jeremiah Wright, the senator joined those who were critical of Wright’s comments that the U.S. government may have developed the AIDS virus to infect the black community and that the United States had invited the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “When I heard Wright’s statements, my blood curdled,” said Lautenberg.
But, he added, “the polls said Obama has done very well with handling the Wright issue.”
Asked whether Obama’s association with Wright has cost the Illinois senator support in the Jewish community, Lautenberg said he “put trust in friends and longtime [Jewish] acquaintances from Illinois who know about Obama from years past and have fully endorsed his candidacy. One thing Obama knows is the need for America to have a strong Israel.”
Lautenberg said he “would be satisfied” with either Clinton or Obama as a presidential candidate.
“I think we will do very well, whether it is Obama or Clinton against John McCain,” the presumptive GOP nominee. “I know John McCain very well. I know he has a temperament problem. I know he is on the other side of issues. He is the most active opponent of Amtrak, which affects our daily lives significantly.”
Touting a bill he coauthored with Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), Lautenberg said it “got almost $15 billion in grants and bonds for Amtrak while McCain stood on the Senate floor time after time railing against Amtrak as a ‘cash-guzzler.’ He has no right to make those decisions from where he comes from — Arizona.”
On another transportation issue, Lautenberg said he supported a proposal introduced by McCain, supported by Clinton, and opposed by Obama that would suspend federal gasoline taxes to cut soaring fuel bills during the summer months.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, right, receives a silver seder plate from activist Lionel Kaplan at a National Jewish Democratic Council breakfast in New Brunswick April 6.
“I think if we can get any relief, even if it is temporary, to the average American family, it is a good idea,” Lautenberg said before taking a swing at oil suppliers.
“What we need to do is step back, take the deepest of breaths, and talk to the oil companies in a serious way, and talk to the oil-producing countries in a serious way. We should go to them one-by-one and say, ‘Look, don’t ever dial 911 for us again — Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt. Don’t come to us while you have a conspiracy to put our economy in jeopardy by putting families in America in places so difficult for them,” Lautenberg said.
Lautenberg said a tax break must not preclude a long-term plan of consumer relief.
“There is a huge amount of commuting in our country and when you see what is happening to the average family because of gasoline costs, it is punitive,” he added. “We have to do something different, and it is not just a tax assistance. We have a lot of work to do, but we have to remember it requires more than just a temporary adjustment.”
Asked whether he was willing to debate Andrews, Lautenberg said, “We will have to see. He will have to make sure that he conducts himself with a little more honor than he does. Every time he says, ‘Oh, we are not going to argue about Frank Lautenberg’s age,’ I would hope the reportorial community would ask ‘what about his effectiveness?’ Rob, not subconsciously but consciously, wants to talk about my age. There are a lot of people in this state who resent it.”
On Tuesday, Lautenberg accepted New Jersey Network’s invitation to a May 30 debate.
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