Oh, Bob Menendez, Will You Just Go Away!

He lacks the self-awareness of Kyrsten Sinema.

Felony indictment collector Bob Menendez remains a sitting senator from New Jersey. He shamelessly refuses to resign, even though he and his wife, Nadine, are facing 18 federal counts and are charged with taking bribes. He was hit with 12 more felony charges a few days ago that allege he attempted to obstruct a federal investigation into his corruption. Nonetheless, he hasn’t ruled out running for re-election in November.

Menendez’s current term ends in January, but his Senate career should effectively end on June 4 when he’s certain to lose the Democratic primary. Menendez is a distant third in most primary polls, far behind Rep. Andy Kim and First Lady Tammy Murphy, neither of whom are accused of acting as foreign agents or stuffing their clothing with wads of cash. However, Menendez isn’t ready yet to throw in the towel or prioritize the public’s interests above his own. Sources claim that Menendez is considering running as an independent.

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He’s reportedly buttering up his remaining allies and preparing to collect the necessary petitions to run as a solo act in November. As a Democrat, Menendez would need 1,000 signatures — from real people who’ve heard of him — by March 25, but as an independent candidate, he’d have until June 4 to come up with just 800 signatures.

NBC News asked Menendez on Thursday about his plans, and the senator’s response was testy, as if he bore the weight of numerous gold bars he’d acquired through perfectly legitimate means.

“I don’t have to declare what I am doing,” he said. “When I do, everybody will know.”

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Will Menendez shiv Senate Democrats?

It’s no secret that Menendez believes his Democratic colleagues haven’t been there for him, neither when the rain starts to fall nor after multiple indictments for bribery. Back in January, he whined for 20 minutes on the Senate floor “that the greatest and most ardent defenders of the Constitution in this body are the most vociferous in calling for my resignation. They’ll deny me due process and undermine the fundamental principle in our law that in America, you are innocent until proven otherwise by a jury of your peers.”

This was perhaps a pointed dig at ardent democracy defender Cory Booker, the junior senator from New Jersey who suggested Menendez resign in September. Alas, he’s still here. It seems as if Menendez only listens to the gold bars clanging in his head.

Menendez might think he can beat the charges against him and somehow prevail in the November election. He was indicted once before in 2015 on charges of receiving gifts and $660,000 in campaign contributions from Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen. That case ended in a mistrial and Menendez won re-election in 2018. The latest charges are substantially different.

“The earlier case proved Menendez got limited stuff and that political contributions were made. But there was scant proof, it seems, that whatever Menendez did over the years for the eye doctor friend was because of the (political) contributions and gifts,” explained former New York prosecutor Marc Scholl. “Here, if the indictment can be proved, the evidence of getting stuff for doing stuff is far more brazen, direct, and clear.”

The Menendez trial is scheduled for May 6, so the senator could be a convicted felon by Election Day. This is probably why his Democratic colleague John Fetterman isn’t bullish on his chances.

“I dare him. Go ahead. Go ahead, dude,” Fetterman said. “If that sleaze ball wants to pull seven percent, go right ahead. And that’s going to be strange trying to campaign while you’re in your trial.”

Fetterman has endorsed Rep. Kim, who considers the prospect of a third party Menendez run less comical than “really alarming.”

“There is no way that he can win this seat,” he said. “But what he could do is jeopardize this seat and give Republicans a chance.”

Menendez won his last Senate race by 12 points, and Booker won in 2020 with a 16-point margin. It does not seem likely that Menendez, running as an independent, could peel off enough votes to elect a Republican, but we shouldn’t take anything for granted.

It’s still uncertain who’ll win the Democratic primary for Senate. Kim maintains a lead over Murphy, but according to a recent poll, more than a third of primary voters remain undecided. Pollster Dan Casino told the New Jersey Monitor that key demos in the party are deeply divided over the candidates.

“We’ve got basically white liberals and progressives lining up very much in the Kim camp, and African American voters and Latino voters very much in the Murphy camp,” Casino said. “What that means is that the numbers here really vary depending on what you think turnout is going to look like.”

The poll shows Kim leading with white primary voters 47 to 15 percent, while Murphy edges out Kim among Black voters 24 to 16 percent. She also leads Hispanic voters 26 to 10 percent.

Thursday, Kim argued that he’s the more electable candidate. I’m not sure that’s the best look when you’re struggling with Black and Hispanic voters.

“If Sen Menendez runs as an independent, Dems must put forward the strongest general election candidate,” he posted on social media. “I’m a Dem that won a district Trump won twice and am currently appealing to independent voters by far bigger numbers than my competitors. I can win this Nov no matter what Menendez decides to do.”

Even if he knows he won’t win, Menendez might view a doomed re-election campaign as his personal legal defense fund. He can’t legally fundraise unless he’s a candidate, and his legal bills are mounting. It’s unlikely he would feel bad about using campaign contributions to keep himself out of jail.

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