If Rickey Nelson, the 1950s pop star who wrote the song “Garden Party,” were alive, he might have written about the gathering of Democrats at the Jersey City Hyatt, since few gatherings of the Hudson County Democratic Organization had such diversity or such an undercurrent of innuendo.
Perhaps Joe Caulfield was only joking when he suggested that former aide to Rep. Bob Menendez (and current development consultant) Kay Licausi run for mayor of Hoboken. One can only imagine Hoboken Mayor Dave Roberts doing the Rodney Dangerfield shtick, “I don’t get no respect.”
Bayonne Mayor Joe Doria might say the same thing, claiming the local daily newspaper had misquoted him about seeking a job as a state lobbyist for the county.
“I didn’t ask them for it,” Doria said during a later interview. “Some other people suggested I would make a good lobbyist. But I’m not looking for a job. I like it just fine here in Bayonne.”
Last spring, Doria lost his Assembly seat to Democratic challengers former Freeholder Lou Manzo and Bayonne Councilman Anthony Chiappone.
Chiappone has been a harsh critic of Doria’s dual jobs as mayor and assemblyman, begging many Doria loyalists to wonder just when Chiappone will offer to resign his post as councilman-at-large in Bayonne, since he is an assemblyman too.
The Hyatt event also brought a contingent of loyalists to former County Executive Robert Janiszewski, led by former County Administrator Geoff Perselay, his sidekick Bill Northgrave, the always congenial Joe Lauro, and some members of their Secaucus fan club.
Instead of John Lennon and his wife, the Hyatt saw the arrival of U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg and his new wife. Lautenberg could not have been happy finding his former political rival Robert Torricelli featured on the cover of the Jersey City Reporter – which, because the publication was in the lobby, nearly everyone was reading.
U.S. Senator Jon Corzine also arrived, although apparently rushing from other election activities. As predicted in last month’s Between the Lines, Corzine’s name has been on everybody’s lips as a possible Democratic gubernatorial candidate.
Corzine is a kind of bow shot fired at possible Republican opposition. Supported by state Sen. Ray Lesniak and Torricelli in his initial bid for U.S. Senate, Corzine brings to the election table a powerful presence that could intimidate many of the more prominent Republicans. Corzine does not need to raise money, and faced with Corzine’s ability to dump $25 million on a campaign as an out-of-pocket expense, challengers like former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler may not even consider a run.
Republican U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie – whose elective record is spotty at best – can present a challenge if he chooses to run, said Torricelli.
“Democrats face a difficult fight for the governor,” Torricelli said. “Christie is a very good attorney. He has good management skills. He has integrity. If he decides to run, he’ll be a formidable foe.”
Torricelli likewise said if Gov. Jim McGreevey is the Democratic choice, the Republicans would likely win.
“McGreevey is faced with schools funding issue and a rising cost of living,” he said. “And the school issue won’t be fixed around the edges. It will need fundamental reconstruction.”
This, of course, is the same issue that helped bring down another Democratic governor, Jim Florio, in the early 1990s – although Doria said mistiming helped defeat the Democrats.
“We gave the Republicans the issues on which to run,” Doria said. “We were right in our issues, but our timing was off.”
During a brief interview last week, Doria reflected on the Florio defeat and said challenging the National Rifle Association on assault weapons was the beginning of the end.
“They didn’t beat us by challenging us with the gun issue,” Doria said. “They knew they would lose that. They came after us on every other issue.”
This included the need to raise taxes.
“We just tried to do too much at once,” Doria recalled.
But several sources believe Christie will not run for governor if Republican President George W. Bush is re-elected. If Democrats take back the White House later this year, then Christie will likely seek the State House.
Meanwhile, local Democrats are going to have to make up their mind as to which Democratic presidential candidate they intend to support. While Torricelli came out early to support John Kerry, most of the other prominent Democrats jumped on the Howard Dean bandwagon when it looked good. Mayor Glenn Cunningham supported Wesley Clark, who dropped out after Tuesday’s primaries. Jersey City Councilman Junior Maldonado came out last week for Kerry. Corzine is expected to announce on Sunday that he will take over the Kerry campaign in New Jersey.
You can expect a rash of last-minute endorsements to flow in from around the county and the state over the next few weeks, struggling to make up for the initial mistake. No one is going to want to be known as the last politico to endorse Kerry – especially if Kerry pulls off the Democratic miracle and steals back the White House from a powerful Republican president.