Menendez: Good For Me But Not For Thee

Tom Kean and Bob Menendez have both received campaign contributions from casino interests, according to their campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission. So has Linda Stender (D-Union) who sits on the Tourism and Gaming committee in the New Jersey Assembly and who is currently running for Congress.

Several Democratic state legislators have done the same. West New York Assemblyman Albio Sires, until recently the top Democrat in the lower house, has taken casino money to fund his run for Menendez's former congressional seat. Other Democratic legislators who have accepted casino money for federal campaigns include state Sen. John Adler of Camden County, who is exploring a later U.S. Senate run, and Assemblywoman Linda Stender of Union County, who is seeking a congressional seat.

So why is Menendez running an attack ad implying Kean has flouted the law by accepting contributions from the gaming industry for his U.S. Senate campaign?

"It may be technically legal, but it's certainly unethical," Menendez spokesman Matt Miller said of Kean's casino contributions. When asked whether the principle applies to Democrats, Miller said, "That's the principle we believe in, but we're in a campaign against Tom Kean Jr."

Tom Kean must be squeaky clean if Menendez had to resort to a bogus attack that paints Linda Stender and other members of his party as unethical.