Cory Booker vs. Sharpe James part II

We finished watching the documentary Street Fight today in class after starting it Friday and posting a blog on the positive/negative/neutral tactics used by both campaigns. As the campaign for mayor of Newark reached election day, the campaign tactics used started to become incredibly ugly

"Street Fight" DVD cover

The Booker campaign had struggled throughout the election to raise sufficient funds to keep in the running. The Booker campaign stated that it had been able to raise $3 million thus far. However, Mayor James began to claim in public that Booker had been able to raise $10 million. Using this supposed estimate, James stated that the Booker campaign was attempting to "buy" the election. In other bizarre attacks by the James campaign, Booker was accused of "conspiring with Jews" to take over the mayor's office. The mayor accused Booker of having contacts and support from conservative Republicans. This claim in particular made many citizens wonder whether Booker was a Democrat at all or if he even shared the values of inner city black residents. The Booker campaign retaliated to these accusations with attack ads which smeared the mayor for his alleged excesses. However, Booker had to be careful with personal attacks on Sharpe James, who might spin the attacks to be on the city of Newark itself. Come election day, despite monitoring by the New Jersey District Attorney's office, James campaign workers were seen in various acts of sabotage against Booker, including tearing down Booker signs in defiance of a court ruling.

In what may seem more postive or neutral, each side attempted to win the black vote. To do this, international black leaders and figures were courted by both campaigns. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton both supported Sharpe James, who even attempted to get Bill Clinton to endores him.