NEWARK, N.J., March 21 (UPI) -- Democrats are saying U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is so unpopular that a candidate he raised funds for didn't appear at the event until Cheney had left.
"It's true that Dick Cheney is radioactive and it's true that his political affliction is contagious," New Jersey Democratic Party spokesman Richard McGrath told The New York Times.
By other standards the fundraiser was a success -- raising about $400,000 for the campaign of state Sen. Thomas Kean Jr., R-Union. Kean is running against U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and is fighting a substantial deficit in fundraising, the Times said.
Kean said he wasn't able to get to the Monday early evening event because he was voting on several issues in Trenton. He arrived, having taken perhaps not the most direct route, the Times said, about 15 minutes after Cheney left.
Democrats said it was so Kean wouldn't be photographed with Cheney; Republicans pointed to the New Jersey Senate schedule.
The Times said that Cheney's trip to New Jersey for the fundraiser was an indication that the Senate seat isn't completely safe for the Democrats.
