SLEAZE WATCH : Don’t Get Out the Vote

Earlier this week Republican political consultant Edward J. Rollins bragged to reporters in Washington that he had helped to elect Christine Todd Whitman governor of New Jersey on Nov. 2 by spreading around about $500,000 among certain of the state’s black ministers. The point of this largess was to induce the ministers to soft-pedal their backing of Democratic incumbent Gov. James J. Florio. Rollins, in other words, was financing a kind of keep-in-the-vote campaign, specifically targeting urban blacks who had been an important part of Florio’s constituency four years ago. The firestorm of protest this claim set off prompted Rollins to describe his initial statement as an “exaggeration” and to apologize to everyone concerned “for any embarrassment or mistaken impressions my remarks created.”

The ethical and political questions raised by Rollins’ conduct won’t, however, be put to rest by an apology. Whether or not federal law specifically forbids what Rollins boasted about doing (Justice Department lawyers are still searching the statutes), a powerful stench of impropriety hovers over this whole affair. One black minister confirmed on Wednesday that money was offered. How extensive was this payola, and what was done in exchange for the cash? The integrity of the political process as well as the good name of the clergy who refused to be bought point to the need for a full airing of this sleazy business. Old hands say that all that happened was traditional politics, New Jersey-style. If so, it’s time to expose just how corrupted those politics are.