Our Digital Archive from 2000 – 2016
“One of the evils of democracy,” political comic Will Rogers once said, “is you have to put up with the man you elected, whether you want him or not.” This is largely what runoff elections are about – deciding which candidate comes closest to the one you voted for, but didn’t get. In Hoboken, battle …
Continue reading “The new old Hoboken?
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For those supporting Peter Cammarano for mayor, the game plan worked. The strategy all along was to keep the machine vote close in the Hoboken runoff election, then make up the difference with absentee ballots. Of course, Cammarano people would have been thrilled if he had won on the machines. But with Dawn Zimmer’s high-tech …
Continue reading “Too close for comfort
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A North Hudson fan of Steve Lonegan called last week to promote the book Atlas Shrugged, a 1957 novel by Ayn Rand that has since become the political Bible of the conservative right. A classic piece of propaganda, the book celebrates the virtues of the individualist, and paints government as an evil empire designed to …
Continue reading “Searching for the heart of the Republican Party”
What the heck does it all mean? It’s the day after the school board elections throughout Hudson County, and people are still scratching their heads, wondering what this all bodes for the future municipal elections. Several sources say they overheard Michael Lenz at an election party after the very decisive victory of the Kids First …
Continue reading “School elections mean all or nothing?
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Saying that he has to concentrate on winning his reelection to the Hoboken School Board, Frank Raia said he won’t be endorsing – at this time – any of the six candidates running for mayor. This comes after several sources claimed Raia would endorse Councilman Peter Cammarano and send a mass mailing to state powerbrokers …
Continue reading “Raia won’t endorse any mayoral candidate – at this time”
Although politics may be Hoboken’s favorite sport, until recently, most people seemed to be more concerned with finding a parking spot. That changed this year when taxpayers heard they would get a 47 percent hike in their taxes. This is enough to get anyone’s mind off petty troubles such as war and recession. One criterion …
Continue reading “When is a tax increase not a tax increase?”
Many Democratic Committee people in Secaucus never had to defend committee seats, so they were shocked last week when mayoral challenger Peter Weiner filed petitions for a group of candidates who will challenge all of the seats. Each ward in town is divided into districts, and requires two committee members, a man and a woman, …
Continue reading “Secaucus gearing up for a committee fight”
Will Rogers once noted that unemployment started well before the great crash of 1929, but no one noticed. Part of it was hidden by flush economic times. But in some ways, many of those who lost a job in industry got a job in government. When tough times hit, people take notice of who has …
Continue reading “The recession before the recession3/22/09”
Perhaps the only people who are not confused by this year’s political scene are those who aren’t keeping up with what’s going on. Hoboken retains its title for the most confusing political scene in Hudson County since it changes so often. Last week, we got to look at the final lineup of school board candidates, …
Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell seems to have come out on top in a dogfight over control of the Town Council now that the Secaucus Democratic Committee has elected Dawn McAdam, giving new meaning to the concept of letting “sleeping dogs lie.” With McAdam replacing the departing Richard Kane as council member, Elwell gets a pit …