''Dean says CIA leak scandal could backfire on Forrester''

From the campaign trail in the Garden State: "MORRISTOWN -- Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean predicted that voter disgust at the CIA leak scandal would help "do in" Doug Forrester, the Republican candidate for governor. Dean, making a campaign stop Saturday on behalf of Democrat Jon Corzine, also said in a Daily Record interview that allusions to Corzine's failed marriage and other allegations would boomerang against Republicans.

"It's always better not to do that sort of thing," Dean, the former Vermont governor who rose to national prominence during his 2004 presidential run, said outside the Famished Frog restaurant on Washington Street. "Corzine's trying to avoid going that low, which I think is a good thing," Dean said, adding that "property taxes are going to be an overriding issue for New Jersey people."

Forrester's spokeswoman, Sherry Sylvester, responded Saturday that Democrats were in no position to claim the high road. Forrester, on Friday, accused Corzine's campaign of spreading rumors about an affair that he denied. "That's probably going to do in Forrester in the long run," Dean said. "He's on the wrong team." The investigation has hurt Bush's approval ratings and Democrats are hoping voter disapproval will work in their favor on Election Day.

Sylvester shot back that Rove's fundraising visits in New Jersey were not specifically on Forrester's behalf. "Karl Rove raised money in New Jersey for the New Jersey Republican Party state committee," she said.

Dean, who made several stops in New Jersey on Saturday, arrived in Morristown after 3 p.m. He waited outside the restaurant, away from view, while several speakers, including U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-Hopewell, warmed up the crowd. Across the street, two dozen Republicans were waving Forrester signs. Democrats awaiting Dean's entrance briefly stepped outside and waved their own signs in response. Upon entering the restaurant -- aides cleared a path through a packed room by the bar -- Dean gave a 20-minute pep talk to about 200 Democratic activists.

Democratic candidates in attendance included Thom Jackson, running in the 25th Assembly District, and freeholder candidate Dana Wefer. Dean started by noting the national significance of the Corzine/Forrester race -- one of only two gubernatorial elections on Tuesday. He noted that the 2008 presidential primary in New Jersey will be held in March, much earlier than in previous years. "You're going to be big players. We'd like to have a Democratic governor here," Dean said. Dean described Corzine as "an honest, decent person who will do what he says he will do," before segueing into public education, poverty, the war in Iraq and other issues that defined his initially front-running presidential campaign.

"We believe it is immoral to lie to the American people before sending troops abroad," Dean said, getting loud applause at almost every line."-from the story in the Daily Record (NJ).