With impending defeat staring them in the face, conservatives are launching a last ditch, desperate smear campaign to try to derail Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cory Booker. Charles C. Johnson at the Daily Caller published a piece that implies that the Newark mayor has never lived in the city and that instead he lives in New York City. Johnson states:
Multiple residents of Newark told The Daily Caller that the longtime mayor [Cory Booker] doesn’t live at any of the addresses he has claimed as home. The mayor is believed to live in New York even though he is registered to run for New Jersey’s special senate election.
The source of the allegations is “independent film maker” Joel Gilbert, the man who produced the conspiracy riddled fake documentary “Dreams From My Real Father,” that alleged that Barack Obama’s real dad was Communist Frank Davis, and that his mother was an?adult film model for bondage magazines. Gilbert also directed the conspiratorial documentary “Paul McCartney Really is Dead” that alleges that McCartney was killed in a 1966 car crash and replaced with a plastic surgery double. In case that was not far-fetched enough, the documentary also contends that John Lennon was assassinated because he was going to leak clues that McCartney was dead in his next album. Yet, despite the sheer lunacy of Gilbert’s past work, the Daily Caller ran the story and merely referred to him as an independent film maker.
The Daily Caller of course made news earlier this year for a botched smear campaign against Democratic New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez. Prior to the 2012 Election, The Daily Caller alleged that Robert Menendez paid to have sex with Dominican prostitutes, but the story later unraveled when investigators discovered that the Daily Caller may have paid individuals 5000 dollars each to lie about Senator Menendez.
Republican candidate Steve Lonegan has been quick to embrace the conspiracy theory, stating on Monday:
?I don’t believe he (Booker) lives in Newark.”
In addition, Stuart Varney at FOX News has propagated the bizarre conspiracy theory that Cory Booker does not live in Newark as well. Apparently, FOX has no interest in vetting sources as long as they slam a Democrat.
Of course, while the crazy theory may gain traction with right-wingers, it probably will remain unpersuasive to residents of Newark, especially those who were invited into Cory Booker’s home during Super storm Sandy. The woman he rescued from a fire might also have reason to belief Cory Booker lives in the city.
In addition, Mayor Cory Booker also has provided receipts for rental expenses from Newark, but for people who think Paul McCartney was replaced by a stunt double who had a great plastic surgeon, that will not matter.
Tonight, New Jersey voters have a choice. They can elect Cory Booker, the Mayor of Newark to be the next US Senator for New Jersey or they can tie their state’s future (and the nation’s) to a Republican who is willing to align himself with the Tea Party and fringe conspiracy nuts. The choice should be a simple one.
Edited by SS
