Jeff Gardner's good night in Hawthorne

this is great (0.00 / 0)

Congrats even if they are early.

Frank LoBiondo Record and Jon Runyan Watch

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by: Hopeful @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 01:24:07 AM UTC

Congrats! (4.00 / 2)

Great news.  

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by: JackHarris @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 01:30:22 AM UTC

Congrats (0.00 / 0)

I'm enjoying everyone's committee voters even though I was unable to run myself (some day)


http://outspokenliberal.blogsp...

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by: tabbycat31 @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 02:30:55 AM UTC

I guess (0.00 / 0)

we'll have something to talk about on Blue Jersey Radio next week. Congrats!

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by: Jason Springer @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 02:33:17 AM UTC

Don't jinx it. (4.00 / 2)

Real Bergen Dems won Bergenfield toppling Bergen County Dem Org line candidates.  I smell victory.

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by: Got Kids @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 02:34:48 AM UTC

Congrats. (4.00 / 2)

You're next, Shirley Turner.

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by: Scott Weingart @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 02:51:48 AM UTC

It was a good night in Bergenfield Too! (4.00 / 3)

It's where it all started.....the place where the FORMER Municipal Chair, Elaine Rabbit, is under indictment for forging signatures in the convention which selected me for the State Senate....BERGENFIELD!  We won nominations for 2 Council seats and won the majority of County Committee seats.  It's taken Real Begen Dems 4 years to clean house in Bergenfield.  Congrats to Council candidates Ora Kornbluth and Charles Steinel and to all those hard working County Committee candidates.  It's been a long hard road!  Now it's on to victory in November!

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by: Senator Loretta Weinberg @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 03:18:39 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Congratulations, Jeff! (0.00 / 0)

Great work, Mr. Municipal Chair!  Is there any truth to the rumor that you will be taking on John Currie as well when Passaic County reorganizes?  I hope so.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 03:34:31 AM UTC

oops....I almost forgot. (4.00 / 2)

Congratulations to Jeff and his hardworking team. We're proud of you;

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by: Senator Loretta Weinberg @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 03:42:46 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks Everybody! (4.00 / 2)

This one took a village, and was worth it. :)

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by: Jeff Gardner @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 04:07:25 AM UTC

Thank YOU Jeff....... (0.00 / 0)

You, and your team/village, actually DID what I've only been talking about and pushing for for years!

The truth is that the people of NJ are desperate for decent honest progressive leadership and solutions.

Any time our ideas are actually heard and understood, they prevail!  

Jeff, it's not far fetched imho that you might be running against Christie in a few years!   I don't see anyone else in the party willing to truly take him on.

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by: Nick Lento @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 18:56:41 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Revenge is better than therapy (4.00 / 1)

and God knows I've been in a lot of therapy since January 7, 2010, the day of the Senate vote on marriage equality.  Jeff honey, because of you, I get to reclaim three hours a week.  God bless you.  Love ya man.  This is a huge achievement for you personally and for the entire progressive movement.

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by: Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality chair @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 04:08:49 AM UTC

Proper Sewage Treatment Isn't Revenge...... (0.00 / 0)

....just good sanitation.

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by: Nick Lento @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 18:59:40 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Perhaps overstated, Nick, eh? (0.00 / 0)

It's not a particularly snappy signature, but here's what I think we need in the next NJ Democratic State Chair.  

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by: Rosi Efthim @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 20:16:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Granted, The Metaphor Is Extreme.... (0.00 / 0)

...but the principle is positive.    Revenge, from my pov, isn't productive.    We have a political establishment in NJ and the rest of the nation that is rife with self serving legalized corruption.   These machines are toxic to democracy and wasteful of all of our resources and they need to be cleaned up.

When you take an antibiotic to clear up an infection, it's not to "revenge" against the bugs....it's to heal.     When you treat sewage, you're not taking "revenge" against the waste...it's to clean up what needs to be eliminated.

When a surgeon cuts out a cancer.......it's not about revenge, it's about survival.

What I'm saying is that the entrenched interests that oppose progressive reforms and that support the existing pay to play systems of legalized corruption are a kind of toxic cancerous waste and need to be cleaned up.....and if that sounds extreme, it's because the status quo is extremely messed up....and that applies to the entrenched corporatist owned establishments of both parties.

Revenge is a far more offensive activity/metaphor to me....but, hey......that's just my pov.    

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by: Nick Lento @ Thu Jun 10, 2010 at 00:43:51 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

So proud... (4.00 / 2)

of everyone in Hawthorne (and Haledon too, we also ousted a terrible Municipal Leader there also) - the hugs were flying all over Passaic County tonight.  Just a great group of people running a really classy campaign.

Democracy is pretty sweet sometimes.  

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by: Matthew Jordan @ Wed Jun 09, 2010 at 04:17:25 AM UTC

Wonderful!!! (0.00 / 0)

Once again, does all of this change in Passaic County mean the end of John Currie's reign as well?  He is as bad as any of the worst Municipal Chairs in the county.  He is less than worthless.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Thu Jun 10, 2010 at 02:04:02 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

"Less than worthless" (0.00 / 0)

What do you base this comment off of? Have you talked to John Currie....even once? Do you realize from the late 1990s to 2009 he turned an all Republican Freeholder Board into an all Democratic Freeholder Board, and up until this last cycle hadn't lost a race in a decade?

Now I'm not saying I don't disagree with some things he does, but please, don't comment on things you clearly have no idea about.  

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by: Matthew Jordan @ Thu Jun 10, 2010 at 14:09:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yes (4.00 / 2)

Yes, I have spoken to the man on numerous occasions and yes I am aware of the election results in the county, but as a progressive, winning is not the only determinant of a good County Chair.  Joe Ferriero was a winner too, but was he a good County Chair?  I don't think so.

I worked on Congressman Pascrell's re-election campaign in 2000 and since then have remained in contact with many Democrats in the county and district since then and I know that John Currie is a puppet.

I also know that the county party is run almost exclusively through its Executive Committee, giving individual County Committee members virtually no say over the candidates who are placed on the county line.

As a result of this closed party system, many of the "victories" that you give him credit for over the last decade have come as a result of him and others recruiting and supporting former Republicans and conservative Democrats for offices that progressives could have won if they were given the opportunity.

Also, most of the county party's success over the last decade can be attributed to the collapse of the former Republican Sheriff's political infrastructure and deep divisions within the Republican Party that have more or less been resolved and allowed the party to rejuvenate itself.

If you want to let Currie and the people who pull his strings continue to run the county party into the ground, that is your business.  I would expect more from someone who is part of a successful insurgent movement, especially if you want to take Girgenti down next year.  Do you really expect Currie to be an ally in such an effort?

I am not saying that an insurgent will necessarily be able to defeat Currie, but unless someone steps forward to run against him when the county reorganizes, you will never now how much or little actual support he has.

My prediction is that anybody who steps forward to take him on will get at least 30% of the vote.  If you can get a well respected, high-profile candidate to take him on, I think that the guys who are pulling the strings will cut him loose and support an insurgent in an effort to co-opt him/her or find a better puppet.

But if you want to pat yourself on the back and rest on your laurels, be my guest.  You have earned the right to do that with your great work this year.  But don't bitch and moan about the party establishment screwing you over next year if you are not successful at taking Girgenti down, because the only person you will have to blame for that is yourself.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Thu Jun 10, 2010 at 16:27:27 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Awesome! (4.00 / 1)

Congratulations, Jeff! Go git 'em!

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by: laur @ Fri Jun 11, 2010 at 11:06:17 AM UTC