Is that Dan Mulligan, or Lieutenant Dan?
Far behind in his stated goal of visiting every residence in Cranbury prior to Election Day, Republican Township Committee (TC) candidate Dan Mulligan has confirmed he has hired actor Gary Sinese as a campaign doppelganger.
Sinese, who received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Lt. Dan Taylor in the movie Forrest Gump, will begin his portrayal of Mulligan starting next week in Shadow Oaks. Mulligan said he chose the actor because of his political leanings and because “he just sort of looks like me.”
Mulligan, who will pay for Senise’s services out of his own money, said Cranbury residents will hear the same campaign message regardless of which “Dan” knocks on their door.
“Gary’s a great actor, and it’s no surprise he’s picked up my talking points very quickly,” said Mulligan. “To be honest, he may be a bit more polished than I am.”
Upon announcing his candidacy for TC, Mulligan told Cranbury voters he would visit every home in the township before the 2 November election. As of yesterday, however, Mulligan had visited just 48 of the town’s 1,386 residences.
“On paper it seems easy to knock on 1,400 doors in three months,” said Mulligan. “But all my calculations got thrown off when people started answering their doors. With Gary’s help I’ll be able to uphold my promise to voters.”
Despite the hiring of Senise, a number of political pundits around the state doubt Mulligan’s efforts will yield success in November.
“Every step he’s taken in this year’s campaign is really just over-compensation for his loss last year,” said said Ben Dworkin, Director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. “I mean, I don’t think Forrest Gump himself could save this campaign at this point.”
Mulligan also ran for one of two seats in last year’s TC election, but finished third behind Jay Taylor (no relation to Lt. Taylor) and David Cook.
Mulligan’s opponents in November are Arthur Hasselbach, a Republican, and Glenn Johnson, a Democrat. To date neither has hired a stunt double.
Photo: Gary Senise as Dan Mulligan
