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Drooling on the Pillow

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Farewell to the Lov Gov 

Parkway Rest Stop makes the depressing prediction that Jim McGreevey will write a book and make the talk show rounds as "the governor who was hounded out of office for his sexual preference."

Anyone who's been paying any attention at all knows what a steaming pile that is. There's no question at all in my mind he could have survived a gay affair. It was the little matter of appointing his boyfriend to be his homeland security director four months after 9/11 that did him in. Not only was the guy an Israeli citizen and thus ineligible for security briefings, his only real experience was as a flack. You could throw a brick at Newport Mall and hit a more qualified person.

Holding onto the job until now enabled the Democrats to let the Majority Leader (an individual elected by the good people of Essex County) to be governor for the next two years. They obviously wanted to avoid an election, but this brings up a couple of questions.

This move pissed off a lot of people. Like the Torricelli/Lautenberg switch a couple years ago this is not a move that helps their brand loyalty.

New Jersey is the last bastion of the progressive wing of the Republican Party. Christie Whitman is about as right wing as they get. I don't count the downstate reps because they don't count. The Dems weren't really afraid Bret Schundler would get elected, were they?

Bret was my guy, as mayor of Jersey City and as gubernatorial candidate. I fear he has a long way to go to be a viable statewide presence, though. The Republican establishment hates him far more than the Democrats.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that there are 40-some federal probes current involving state officials. Nothing is going to change here until some other party is competitive statewide.
Posted by: Sluggo / 11:22 AM
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