Dear Editor:
When I look back on my life, I can’t remember a time when my father wasn’t a politician. But I sat beside him on Wednesday as he announced not only that he would withdraw from the race for Governor, but that he would never seek elected office again. We are the closest family I know and we felt not only the pain of our father, but the irony in the best man being the candidate that is wrongly maligned, thus no longer giving him desire to run for office.
I have been bombarded today with phone calls from old colleagues and friends on how my father was wronged by the press and the Schundler campaign. The reason it was so difficult to withdraw from the race was because we wholeheartedly believe in our father. He is truly the best governor that this state could have. He is a real person that listens to others when deciding how to carry forth a true vision for our state. He is a person like your neighbor that feels with his heart and compassion the burdens of this state and works endlessly to make a better life for all New Jerseyans. Now my father has pledged once again to work hard to leave a great legacy of tax reduction, clean water, open space, better education and children’s programs.
I also feel that my father has not been vindicated from the innuendos and manipulations of the truth that has surfaced over the past few months.
People want to know and should know the truth. The truth here is that my father never breached any code of ethics. If he had he would have been faulted as Senate President. In fact, I find the maligning of his character to be quite unethical. I read in the NYT that he was faulted for ethics, this is a blatant lie. Years ago, a democrat tried to remove my father from the office of township attorney. Let me be clear, the documents were politically motivated with no real truth behind them and that is why Scotch Plains never asked him to resign from office. They decided the allegations were politically motivated and the facts in the article were inaccurate. I find it very unfair that most papers would print stories that were so biased and only told one side of the story. Some journalists are motivated more by the idea of a Pulitzer than reporting the real truth.
Last night upon returning home, I heard on the radio and have read in several papers that my father was pushed out by the party. That is just a lie. Most of the party stood behind my father and many even tried to talk him out of withdrawing on Wednesday. In fact, even today, my father holds a lot of support within the party and even among many democrats.
The real reason that we as a family decided to end this campaign was for nothing more than to seek peace that we have so wrongly been denied. My father and my mother will work for the rest of the year to accomplish amazing things and then we will move onto a private life. Many people of this state will be and have been positively affected by the policies that my father has put into place for many years, and we feel good about that. While many people think about him as a hero in cutting taxes, I believe his biggest impact has been on the lives of children.
This is a sad day for New Jersey. If you really knew my father you would love him the way his supporters do. He is the best father that I could have ever dreamed of having. He is a man I admire and aspire to be and one that I am so proud of. He conducted this campaign with honor and integrity. I wish you knew the selfless man that I do. One who never asks for anything for himself, always putting others first. I wish you knew the man he is and has been for this state. My sisters and I love our dad. He will always be my hero.
Tracy DiFrancesco