Opinion
By Alec Solotorovsky
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November 6, 2002
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Frank Lautenberg is on his way back to the U.S. Senate tonight, defeating his Republican opponent Douglas Forrester by 64 to 36 percent of the vote in a truncated campaign defined more by legal and ethical questions than any issues of substance.
Lautenberg, who replaced the ethically challenged incumbent Robert Torricelli a month ago, fought a lengthy court battle to get his name on the ballot and Forrester has made the legality of his candidacy a campaign issue much as he did Torricelli's ethical lapses.
But if there is any lesson to be drawn from Forrester's defeat, it is that a campaign of moral indignation is sufficient only to defeat an opponent who is already thoroughly discredited.