Bread & Circuses

GOVERNOR Christine Todd Whitman, who built her political career by challenging out-of-touch incumbents, now faces an unexpected struggle in her own New Jersey re-election bid. Winning a second term was not supposed to be this hard, especially against State Sen. Jim McGreevey, a candidate unknown to most voters less than a month before the election. “She’s certainly not running as well as we thought she would a year ago. . . . We thought it’d be a landslide against anybody. . . . Our hopes were too high,” explains Donald DiFrancesco, GOP President of the New Jersey Senate.

Those high hopes were widely shared. The national GOP hoped to tap into the Whitman “magic” by showcasing her as co-chairman of the convention last year. And even before Bob Dole had popped the vice-presidential question, Mrs. Whitman rejected him, explaining that she was going to devote her time and attention to the folk of New Jersey.

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Kate O'Beirne

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GOVERNOR Christine Todd Whitman, who built her political career by challenging out-of-touch incumbents, now faces an unexpected struggle in her own New Jersey re-election bid. Winning a second term was not supposed to be this hard, especially against State Sen. Jim McGreevey, a candidate unknown to most voters less than a month before the election. “She’s certainly not running as well as we thought she would a year ago. . . . We thought it’d be a landslide against anybody. . . . Our hopes were too high,” explains Donald DiFrancesco, GOP President of the New Jersey Senate.

Those high hopes were widely shared. The national GOP hoped to tap into the Whitman “magic” by showcasing her as co-chairman of the convention last year. And even before Bob Dole had popped the vice-presidential question, Mrs. Whitman rejected him, explaining that she was going to devote her time and attention to the folk of New Jersey.