| Sires destroyed Vas - whose claim to fame (that he never raised taxes ) was destroyed when he had to face a sad, sad, sad municipal budget just after the primary was finished. As Sires moved up to become the 13th District's Congressman, he left an open seat in the Assembly. The calendar flips to 2007.
This sets up Hudson with no one with enough mojo to settle disputes (since Bob Menendez tells everyone - reportedly - that he will no longer play peacekeeper/kingmaker). Brian Stack, Assemblyman for the 33rd District, is known to be antsy about the declining health of State Senator Bernie Kenny. Kenny dissembles - or alternately, shows signs of dementia - and can't say whether he will run or not. Stack gets all sideways and says "Screw the HCDO, I'm going to challenge Kenny in the primary."
Stack spends some of his cashwad and his time finding pols who are not happy with the HCDO. It isn't hard to find them. The names fly. Joe Doria retires and then there's Bernie.
Good old dependable Bernie. In a story straight out of The Sopranos, he goes out for a jog in the middle of the night, twists his ankle in a non-existant pothole, and lays in the street for a few hours before some nameless Good Samaritan calls 911. At the hospital, his wounds say that he was hit by a car. Bernie, good old dependable Bernie, doesn't remember any car being involved. He retires, though. Message received?
At this point, the only State Senate seat that isn't open is quadruple-dipper Nicholas Sacco's. In an attempt to quash Jersey City Mayor Jeramiah Healy's rival, Lou Manzo (recruited by Stack), the HCDO recruits Sandra Bolden Cunningham to run for the State Senate. The more cynical among us see this as a move to curry favor with Jersey City's black community - which Healy completely ignored during his election bid (see also: Why would Healy endorse Barack Obama so early?)
While Stack manages to field a full slate of candidates in each of the three legislative districts, he is only truly successful in the 33rd (sorry, Lou Manzo). Stack faces the truly laughable campaign of Sal Vega and his hastily recruited team (including Carol Marsh, who only two years earlier had railed against the "HCDO machine" when she ran for Mayor of Hoboken). Stack sweeps the district, showing that he has enough mojo in North Hudson to be a serious threat - even if Mayor Healy has the chair of the HCDO and Bill Gaughan (Jersey City City Councilman and HudCo Executive Tom Deguise's Chief of Staff) runs Jersey City.
Is your head spinning yet?
Recap: After Bob Menendez leaves the HCDO to govern itself (however you want to take that), it devolves into a series of challenges. The first challenge is to control NJ-13 - will it stay in Hudco or can Joe Vas "steal" it? No, he can't. There will be no serious challenge from beyond the county borders.
Now Hudson devolves into a challenge between North Hudco and South Hudco - and between old and new (sort of - no one is truly new here). Stack shows that he can wipe out the competition in North Hudco and can make campaigns work to win in South Hudco (central Hudson County remains unchanged - no ambition? Do they just know where the bread gets buttered?).
Joe Doria and Bernie Kenny retire - allowing new names to take their slots. This solidifies Stack's organization in the north and Healy's organization in the south. The lines are drawn (anyone looking at Secaucus? Harrison? Kearny? Yeah - but we'll get to those in another cycle).
So, basically, Hudson County Democrats are split into two competing factions. And some of the coalition partners have competing ambitions - for example, running mates Sandra Bolden Cunningham and L. Harvey Smith are thought to be eyeing their own run at being Mayor of Jersey City. Lou Manzo, waiting in the wings, is known to want it (he ran for it last time and lost).
So if the Democrats split their votes between Healy (who is definitely running) and Manzo (presumably with Stack's backing) and either Smith or Cunningham (and some would add Steve Fulop's name to that list)...what happens to the election? Brett Schundler hope it allows that rarest of birds, the Hudson County Republican, to unite behind his candidacy and allow him to pick off enough people who hate each of the other candidates to win the Mayor's office.
It happened once before.
Is there a lesson to be had here? A big one? Yeah. But it is beyond the reach of anyone in New Jersey to tap Hillary Clinton on the shoulder and point out that the only way she wins the primary this year is if Frosty the Snowman and Jack Frost stage a successful revolution in Hell. There are worse things than having your ambition blunted - like having it sharpened to the point where it becomes a dagger in the heart of your own party.
It's also a lesson for Gov. Corzine and the Democrats in the NJ Legislature. They are elected to represent their constituencies, of course - but they are also elected to provide leadership. They hold a majority in this state, but that represents a faith in the Democratic Party that often seems to be reluctant rather than heartfelt. If they embrace the example of the HCDO and use backroom deals to stifle ambition and build individual fifedoms; then they are opening the door to their own defeat as the party divides around them.
Of course, Hudson County still has time. They can heal wounds and get over petty ambitions to rule the world. Or they can let their dying thought be, "At least my enemy is dead, too." It's their choice. |
