OLD TAPPAN – Andy Kim just put up a TV ad stressing his support for clean, uncorrupt government. Yep, this is the one where he mimics Tony Soprano (sans cigar) by driving a car out of the Lincoln Tunnel to his house.
But wait a minute, one woman asked him Saturday morning at a town hall in this Bergen County town.
Aren’t there many idealistic young candidates who go to Washington saying all the right things? And then, 10 years later, they’re part of the same system they once condemned.
Her point was obvious, especially since Kim wants to replace Bob Menendez in the Senate.
Why Andy Kim, are you going to be different?
Kim said he knows the history and what’s more, he does not expect people to believe him when he says, “trust me.”
The problem, he said, revolves around money and the loads of it a congressional candidate needs just to compete.
“It’s crazy, it’s absurd, it’s ridiculous,” he said.
Kim pointed out that beginning with his first race for Congress in 2018 – against Tom MacArthur – he was always up against self-funded candidates.
So, raising cash was imperative for him. But he still resisted – and continues to resist – accepting corporate PAC donations.
And as the ad points out, Kim has proposed legislation prohibiting members of Congress from trading stocks while in office. He said that idea has not made him all that popular in the House cafeteria.
But he said it is vital that he “guards” himself from the temptations of his office.
Kim also reminded his listeners of his dedication and commitment to this Senate election.
When he first decided to run – soon after Menendez was indicted – he said some told him he was “crazy,” After all, he would be giving up his House seat to do it.
But he did it anyway, saying, “I put it all on the line.”
The CD-3 congressman and U.S. Senate candidate against Republican Curtis Bashaw spoke to a bit more than 100 people at the local high school, which for trivia buffs, was the one that Cory Booker, the state’s other senator, attended.
Notwithstanding the question from the audience, most of the questions were submitted, which is never a good thing.
As is the norm when that happens, Kim was asked relatively easy questions that allowed him to state the standard Democratic position.
For example, he backs expanding Medicare to include dental, vision and hearing coverage, the child care tax credit and stronger gun laws in the form of more background checks and a ban on semi-automatic weapons.
The crowd included Anthony Cureton, the county sheriff, John Hogan, the county clerk, and Paul Juliano, the Bergen County Democratic Chair.
Things change in politics – quickly some time.
Just a few months ago, the county Democratic organization endorsed Tammy Murphy for Senate, which was a big deal at the time.
We know now what happened. Murphy never truly built momentum and backed out of the race in late March, giving Kim a clear field to the nomination.
Kim seems to have put it all behind him. Asked about the convention, he said:
“It was nothing personal.”
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