Posted on 08/15/2004 1:18:27 PM PDT by Libloather
Post-McGreevey power struggle roils Dems
Sunday, August 15, 2004
Friday the 13th of August 2004, New Jersey woke up as the first state in the history of the United States to be led by an openly gay governor.
It will be weeks before the aftershocks subside from Gov. James E. McGreevey's admission that he is a "gay American" who had committed adultery with a man he hired for a $110,000-a-year state job.
The assumption then was McGreevey would resign on Nov. 15, with state Senate President Richard Codey, D-West Orange, serving as acting governor until January 2006.
Two days later, Democrats, many of whom have no love for Codey, were calculating whether it was in their interest to force McGreevey out sooner, clearing the way for a special election in November.
Codey was expected to serve as a caretaker for a year and then step aside.
But his associates now say Codey has long wanted to be governor and likely would want to run for governor on his own next year.
Codey would inherit a disaster from McGreevey - a $2.5 billion budget gap for example. But his genteel personality combined with the power of incumbency - which in his case would be leading two branches of government - could make him tough to defeat in a primary.
That has some Democratic powerbrokers, none of whom are close to Codey and several who are outright hostile to him, rethinking whether a special election might be in their best interest.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Hey, in a perfect world, I could get behind that. But no such dream candidate will emerge within the next 14 months. Chris Christie might work, but he is still an untested candidate.
I've only seen one newspaper tell McGreevey to lay low for a few months. I have a feeling letters to the editor to any of the papers and phone calls to the state house will do damage. Talk radio will keep it alive and the internet is a great ways to bump these stories. The NJ Repubs should attempt to teach the citizens what would happen during a special election and explain how McGreevey's self-centered political move hurts the state.
I've checked in with a non-mob acquaintance in NJ and his opinion was that McGreevey can't possibly hang on until November.
>>>I've only seen one newspaper tell McGreevey to lay low for a few months. I have a feeling letters to the editor to any of the papers and phone calls to the state house will do damage.
No problem!
>>>The NJ Repubs should attempt to teach the citizens what would happen during a special election and explain how McGreevey's self-centered political move hurts the state.
This is what I want to know! This situation is a little bigger than a freep.
>>>I've checked in with a non-mob acquaintance in NJ and his opinion was that McGreevey can't possibly hang on until November.
This part is true. The Gay Announcement is a media circus to distract from the financial investigations.
We are really getting to a point here where freepers need some sort of 'tool box' site. Where it is here at FR, linked to FR, or preferrably at our FR Network site.
I think we need more expert guidence on how to fight these political figures. Steps to take, someone to answer questions et al.
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