We're letting the people vote

Sadly - looks like the BCDO Bosses are (0.00 / 0)

at it again.  STAND  YOUR GROUND, Jeff.  

How dare they once again tell you you aren't welcome in their little club.  It ain't their little club anymore.  These are the same folks who thought it would be a good idea for walking Thomas Nast cartoon James Carroll to run for Freeholder last year.

They haven't got the memo from Dems in Bergen County that the old ways of smothering debate and freedom and CHOICE of candidates is passe.

They already lost the Freeholder board to the Republicans because they just can't help themselves.  Do they want to lose the 38th because they still are showing that they don't know how to do democracy anymore??

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Fri Apr 08, 2011 at 19:45:51 PM UTC

i'm making calls from home for Jeff (4.00 / 3)

it's a fiercely satisfying way to spend a rainy friday.

tomorrow i'll head up to HQ in the flesh...

activist for hire.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Fri Apr 08, 2011 at 19:57:34 PM UTC

We're calling folks from the car. (4.00 / 3)

Right now! Safely, hands-free, and in support of Jeff's amazing Bergen-Passaic team on the ground.

Team Gardner: I'm proud of your honorable, democratic and respectful approach to Sunday's Bergen Democratic County Committee decision.  

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 @ Fri Apr 08, 2011 at 20:18:25 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

For all those folks who need a refresher (0.00 / 0)

on exactly how Bob Gordon and Connie wound up in those positions - and WHO helped them - I offer up this diary.

Sadly it appears VERY LITTLE has changed at the BCDO.

http://www.bluejersey.com/diar...

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Fri Apr 08, 2011 at 19:58:53 PM UTC

Unsavory beginning n/t (0.00 / 0)

activist for hire.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Sat Apr 09, 2011 at 10:49:33 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

not entirely fair (0.00 / 0)

First and foremost, it is unclear at this time if Lou Stellato has been able to rebuild the kind of pay-to-play political machine that Joe Ferriero constructed, which enabled him to dominate Bergen County politics in every part of the county except LD37.

Second, I am not sure if any of us are familiar enough with the CC rosters in the new LD37 to know the degree to which they are beholden to Senator Gordon, Assemblywoman Wagner, or the current BCDO leadership.  If they vote for Tim over Jeff, it is just as likely that their vote was based on their respect for these elected officials and the weight that their endorsement carries than any external pressure or unfair influence that they might have had on the CC members in question.

The situation in LD38 is not unlike that which transpired in LD35 recently.  If anything, the two aspiring State Assembly candidates from Garfield, who were not even considered by the PCDO and told to back off by the BCDO were treated far worse than Jeff, who has been given every opportunity to run and make his case to the CC members in LD38.  I hope that they go into Sunday's convention with an open mind, but if they don't, I think that the progressive community in NJ as a whole is as much to blame as any machine politics that might be at work in LD38.

It is one thing to talk about the power of the progressive grassroots and it is another thing entirely to put it into action.  BCDO CC members in LD38 have seen progressives standing around outside their county conventions in the past, but they have never seen us organize a truly grassroots effort to transform their CC or any aspect of the BCDO so it would be reasonable for them to dismiss or at the very least underestimate our power and ability to deliver victories for Democratic candidates in November.

Also, if instead of being two of very few members of the progressive grassroots, running for legislative offices, Jeff, Marie Corfield, and a scant few others were part of a statewide movement to run candidates throughout the state, I think that it might have given Bob Gordon and Connie Waner a reason to think twice before endorsing anyone other than Jeff.

However, the fact remains that the progressive community is not feared by the Democratic establishment in NJ in the same way that that the TPM is feared by the Republican establishment and until we are, we are going to continue to be dismissed and taken for granted and great candidates like Jeff will not get the kind of consideration that they deserve.

I also think that if a truly progressive elected official like Reed Gusciora believed in the power and strength of the progressive grassroots, he might have been more inclined to stay in LD16 and run against Kip Bateman for his State Senate seat instead of taking the easy way out and carpetbagging his way back into LD15.

Or at the very least, if we actually stood for anything other than an election or issue du jour and didn't enforce our principles (assuming that we have any) so selectively, Reed might have thought twice about doing what he is doing and preventing a progressive like Dave DelVecchio from having the opportunity to run and serve in LD15 in the same way that he has.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Sat Apr 09, 2011 at 19:56:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It is LD38 we are talking about (4.00 / 1)

not LD37 - that is Loretta's district.  As in my previous diary, I am not disparaging Gordon and Wagner.  

As for them trying to rebuild Joe Ferriero's machine.  It is still there and very much intact.  Joe was vindicated, remember? By the Citizen's United free speech ruling.  And the folks currently at the BCDO and running the place who are still there under the new guy, popped champagne corks over that.

My point, which is quite evident in my previous diary about LD38, is not to disparage Gordon and Wagner - but the process by which they were chosen.

THAT is my point.  Regardless of how much money the BCDO raises now that Joe is gone - the CC members in LD38 were robbed of even a choice last time.  

THIS time - they have a choice in LD38, and perhaps they will appreciate that today.

One Vote.  Yours.  It really does matter.

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by: carolh @ Sun Apr 10, 2011 at 12:36:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

My reference to LD37... (4.00 / 1)

...in the 2nd paragraph was a typo.  Aside from that, it is unclear that what is going in LD38 right now is anything like what took place over the last decade.

Since it is unlikely that elected officials and party leaders, even progressive ones, are ever going to refrain from making endorsements and trying to influence how others vote, the only way to ensure that conventions like these are fair is to challenge any and all CC members who are not independent thinkers and voters when their seats are up for re-election in the same way that Jeff did in Hawthorne.

What he did in Hawthorne should be a model for progressives in every town and county in the state and if we are unwilling to do this, we have no right to complain if we do not believe that our elected officials and party leaders are not acting fairly and in a manner that is consistent with our principles and values.

And we also have to be willing to stand up for our principles and values, even when they are being violated by fellow progressives like Reed Gusciora.  Otherwise, why should anybody take us seriously when we only stand up against our enemies and give our friends a pass.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Sun Apr 10, 2011 at 17:40:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's nice... (4.00 / 2)

It's nice to see someone with as much class as Jeff running for office. Best of luck this weekend, Jeff.

Blog: http://www.deciminyan.org

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by: deciminyan @ Fri Apr 08, 2011 at 20:21:27 PM UTC

Thanks! :) (0.00 / 0)

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by: Jeff Gardner @ Sat Apr 09, 2011 at 02:21:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

It Was A Pleasure Putting In A Few Hours..... (4.00 / 1)

...volunteering today.  The folks I met were all top notch!

While I fully understand the concerns/issues raised by Carol and Bertin, I also believe we need to see what happens at Sunday's convention.

I believe Jeff has a solid shot at winning tomorrow and an even stronger shot at winning the general.    I also agree with Jeff that no matter who wins the convention, we need to support the Democratic candidates......lest we wind up with an emboldened Christie leading a Republican dominated legislature, looking to obliterate elements of progressive laws as is now being done in places like Wisconsin.

If the delegates/committee-people are looking for the best candidate and the one most likely and most able to win....that candidate is clearly Jeff Gardner!

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by: Nick Lento @ Sun Apr 10, 2011 at 06:11:33 AM UTC

No matter what happens... (4.00 / 2)

...I give you credit, Jeff, for getting people like me inspired enough to want to give money when, ordinarily, I wouldn't. I've been disappointed often enough with Democrats who are all talk but don't actually seem to believe in progressive values. But you haven't run away from those values. Quite the contrary. Thank you for reminding me that there are still some decent people in New Jersey politics who deserve financial backing from people on the outside like me.

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by: Alex @ Sun Apr 10, 2011 at 15:56:31 PM UTC