Posted on 09/12/2004 5:04:20 PM PDT by Liz
TRENTON, Sept. 10 -In the month since he announced his resignation, Gov. James E. McGreevey has been publicly cast into so many new roles - as unlikely gay trailblazer, symbol of New Jersey's tainted political culture and punch line for late-night comics - that it would be easy to overlook his day job as chief executive of the nation's ninth most populous state.
Despite the intense strong-arming from both Republicans and Democratic leaders, Mr. McGreevey is determined to remain in office until Nov. 15, insisting that he needs three months to ease the transition and accomplish several important tasks that will cement his legacy. But a review of his official actions during the past month suggests that Mr. McGreevey's time-lapsed exit from the political stage will provide few of the policy breakthroughs he and his aides have hinted at.
During the first two weeks of his odd interregnum, Mr. McGreevey cloistered himself in his office, hoping to outlast the photographers, television camera crews and reporters staked out in Trenton, eager to document the activities of the nation's first openly gay governor.
Since then, the media horde has disappeared from the State House parking lot, and Mr. McGreevey has begun venturing out to a smattering of public functions. On several occasions however, the bill signings and ceremonial events have been overwhelmed by reporters' questions about the extramarital affair that led to the governor's downfall.
From the relative safety of his office, and on public stages where the press is kept at bay, Mr. McGreevey has still been able to use bits of the enormous power of New Jersey's governor's office. He has made ceremonial appearances, issued a handful of executive orders and signed bills on subjects from a property tax reform commission to tolls on the Garden State Parkway.
Yet most bills the departing governor has signed have the support of his successor, Senate President Richard Codey, and would have been enacted anyway had Mr. McGreevey left office when he announced his resignation on Aug. 12.
And while Mr. McGreevey's advisers once suggested that his swan song would include groundbreaking new initiatives like tough campaign finance regulations and a plan to legalize hypodermic needle exchanges, the executive orders he has signed have involved less ambitious matters like a plan to penalize companies that outsource jobs to foreign countries.
Now that legislators have little incentive to deal with Mr. McGreevey, and many members of his administration are scrambling to determine whether they will still be employed when Mr. Codey becomes acting governor, his dwindling leverage is likely to diminish further as his announced departure date grows nearer.
"The New Jersey governor's office is inherently strong, but once you announce you're leaving, you become a lame duck," said Ross K. Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University. "In Jim McGreevey's case, because of the circumstances of his resignation, he's become this phantom, a fleeting figure, really, who has basically been reduced to ribbon-cutting."
In an interview this week, Mr. Codey said that the transition was proceeding smoothly. Many elected officials say it is ludicrous for Mr. McGreevey to suggest that the New Jersey governor's office would require a longer period of transition than the office of the president of the United States. But Mr. Codey has been unwavering in his contention that Mr. McGreevey should not be pushed from office before he is ready to go.
"He's still getting business done," Mr. Codey said.
Republicans, meanwhile, are incensed that Mr. McGreevey stayed beyond the Sept. 3 deadline that would have brought about a special election this fall. If Mr. McGreevey were to step down any time before October, Republicans would almost certainly go to court to ask that a special election be held. But even if a court challenge were to fail, Republicans argue that Mr. McGreevey owes it to voters to turn over the governor's office to someone who has not been hobbled by scandal.
"The next couple of months just aren't going to be productive for him or the taxpayers," said Brian Nelson, executive director of the New Jersey Republican State Committee. Even if Dick Codey were in there, at least you'd have someone who isn't distracted by the problems of his personal life."
Mr. McGreevey's staff disputes the notion that the governor's extended status as a lame duck status has rendered him irrelevant. His communication director, Kathy Ellis, points out that among other things, Mr. McGreevey has signed a bill enacting his overhaul of the child welfare agency, announced lawsuits against oil companies accused of polluting Linden and Bayonne and taken steps to steer development money into Atlantic City and blighted sections of Newark, Camden and New Brunswick.
At an appearance at the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Wednesday, Mr. McGreevey said he had been buoyed by the support of constituents since announcing his resignation, and pledged to make the most of his remaining two months in office.
"My goal, obligation and task is to work hard to be the best governor I can be," he said. "And while my personal decision has provided a certain clarity for me personally, that is distinct from my obligation as governor."
But there are still times when it appears as if he is governing under a state of siege. On Thursday, when Mr. McGreevey appeared in the governor's outer office to sign the executive order to discourage outsourcing, he was cheered by a group of union leaders who had been invited to the ceremony. Once speeches had ended however, reporters began peppering Mr. McGreevey with questions about Golan Cipel, the former aide whose threat to file a sexual harassment lawsuit led to the governor's resignation.
After several heated exchanges, one labor leader stood up and tried to shout down the reporters, saying they were spoiling what should be a joyous occasion. But the questioning continued, and Mr. McGreevey provided a few more answers before his aides whisked him away.
Watta laugh. Who's kidding who. McGay is cleaning up after himself, and his partners in crime, destroying evidence, removing hard drives, and the like. He needed three months ro do it, that gives everyone an idea how corrupt he is, and how much dirt he's gotta coverup.
Legacy, (snort). McGay's another depraved, sexually obsessed Clinton Dumbocrat.
"Cement his legacy"????
Isn't that what they do in Jersey just before they throw you over the side of the bridge to sleep with the fishes?
Maybe they meant "Pack his fudgacy".
Wait until the real poop on Osama Barack comes out!
LOL......... you been watching too many Sopranos episodes. However, I would not rule it out. McG's made a lot if enemies I hear.
Homosexual Agenda Slash Criminal Thug Alert.
Poor people in NJ who suffer under this idiot/criminal/thug/deviant dressed up as a Governor. And condemnation on those who voted for him.
Let me and ItsOurTimeNow know if anyone wants on/off this pinglist.
Plus, it's kind of funny - here's a supposedly "gay" politician, had two wives, at least one kid, and he's "gay", and the liberals can't figure out if it's an asset or a liability. They can't criticize him for his sexual perversion as that would be blasphemy, but they can't really praise him for it either.
What to do, what to do...
Furthermore, there are more instances of financial corruption in this Administration that do NOT involve boyfriends, than those that do. McGreevey is just playing the Queer Card to distract people from the real story, which is that McGreevey is a common crook, and was even before he got to Trenton.
This less-than-complete story from the Times is their favorable response to the Queer Card. They perk up for reasons of their own when that card appears in the political tarot deck. And McGreevey was counting on that response when he made homosexuality the lead in his resignation statement.
Congressman Billybob
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I notice how the Old Gray Whore conveniently forgets his biggest "role", one of the most corrupt politicians in recent memory!
That title sure fits the Dumbocrat.
At least McGreedy is getting a retirement gift from the Damnocrats. A solid gold buttplug.
This is a breathtaking example of the magnitude of Dumbocrat corruption......a first in the pantheon of political corruption.
McGay's hiding behind homosexuality to coverup massive crimes............... although Dumbocrats calculatingly make themselves into "victims" when the going gets rough.
McG's activities portend something horrendous........what he's hiding from voters must be incalcuably criminal.
O-o-o-o-h.....that's nice. LOL.
McGreevey's line "I am a gay American" was aimed specifically at the New York Times for sympathy, and how else could the Times respond but getting behind him all the way?
Buzz was that McGay consulted with gay groups on what to say.......to manipulate viewers.
But it didn't go over that well.........except for obeisant Dim like the Times, which is still giving McG BJ's.
1. Set up McGreevey Protological Research Institute at Rutgers
2. Decide if really want to promote Ben & Jerry's new fudge ice-cream
3. Broadcast one of my weekly colo-rectal exams live on njn
4. Meet with Rosie O'Donnel re possible business ventures
5. Pitch new game show to cbs news division - "Fudge Factor"
6. Ask Cipel to marry me, again.
>>>Despite the intense strong-arming from both Republicans and Democratic leaders, Mr. McGreevey is determined to remain in office until Nov. 15, insisting that he needs three months to ease the transition and accomplish several important tasks that will cement his legacy.
Local news has been floating the rumor more and more frequently that he may not step down at all.
>>>and taken steps to steer development money into Atlantic City
Boy, did that get massaged!
>>>and blighted sections of Newark
The sports arena that utilized allocated homeland defense funds
>>>tolls on the Garden State Parkway
Yes, good job. Now you pay .70 cents per toll in one direct vs. .35 cents to and from. Brilliant.
>>>New Brunswick
Yes, the further condemning of area businesses and homes for Robert Wood Johnson expansion.
>>>And condemnation on those who voted for him.
His cronies are the only votes. County by county voter registrar books have been getting subpoened. NJ hasn't has a legitimate election is YEARS.
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