And...
Democrats are assessing the damage to McGreevey
Thursday, July 15, 2004
By SHANNON D. HARRINGTON
STAFF WRITERS
northjersey.com
How much more can he take?
That's the question many Democrats and political observers were asking Wednesday about Governor McGreevey - a day after his top campaign contributor was put in handcuffs and a week after another big fund-raiser was indicted.
By late afternoon, the question took on added significance when one of the governor's Cabinet officers resigned amid controversy.
But the answer won't come any time soon, those same Democrats cautioned. November 2005, when McGreevey is up for reelection, is a political eternity - and a presidential election - away.
Despite the recent ruckus, McGreevey's poll numbers have been rising - on the heels of what so far seems to be popular policies, such as taxing the rich to create bigger property tax rebates, and a proposed constitutional convention to address those high property taxes.
And so, most Democrats sought to distance McGreevey and the party from the scandals.
"I think it's incredibly unfair to suggest the governor bears any responsibility for these alleged bad actions," said Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Roberts, D-Camden.
"There's a lot of noise and smoke, but there doesn't seem to be anything solid there," said Mercer County Democratic Chairman Richard McClellan. "It will be interesting to see what the polling is out there, but I haven't seen any sea change in what the rank and file thinks of the governor. ... On the issues that really matter to New Jersey residents, we're doing spectacular."
Nonetheless, with screaming headlines such as "N.J. GOV PAL IN HOOKER 'SETUP'Ÿ" - from Wednesday's New York Post - an increasing number of Democrats were expressing frustration at the beating their party is taking.
"I feel like I'm swimming in a sewer," said a prominent Democrat, who asked not to be identified.
That frustration began to boil over Tuesday afternoon when McGreevey's biggest donor, real estate mogul Charles Kushner, appeared in handcuffs and shackles in a Newark courtroom after being charged with interfering with an investigation into his campaign fund-raising and business practices.
Prosecutors say Kushner hired a call girl to seduce a witness in that investigation, had the sex act taped, and then had the tape mailed to the witness and the witness' wife - who, according to sources, happened to be Kushner's sister.
U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie charged that Kushner tried unsuccessfully to set up a similar sex sting with another federal witness.
Kushner's arrest came a week after a federal grand jury indicted Democratic fund-raiser and longtime McGreevey friend David D'Amiano on charges that he extorted $40,000 in cash and campaign contributions from a Middlesex County farmer in exchange for arranging a better deal for the man's family farm. The indictment says McGreevey met with the farmer and the fund-raiser and used the word "Machiavelli," which prosecutors allege was a code to indicate knowledge of the farmer's wishes.
Several other McGreevey fund-raisers and former aides are under criminal investigation for their fund-raising activities.
Adding to the stream of bad news, McGreevey's commerce secretary, William Watley, resigned Wednesday after reports that he directed public money to his own businesses and relatives. The state had canceled an $11.5 million loan offered to a church affiliated with Watley, a Newark pastor, because he was in the partnership that would have received the money. McGreevey said he accepted the resignation "with great sadness."
Some political insiders blamed the fund-raising scandals on a "dog-eat-dog" environment that Democratic power brokers created a few years ago as they became determined to retake control of a State House that Republicans ruled for a decade.
McGreevey rode to power in 2001 on a wave of $42.8 million in campaign spending by Democrats. Kushner and his web of companies alone gave hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Democratic fund-raisers haven't looked back since McGreevey's election, raising more than $22 million in the final weeks before last year's legislative elections, in which Democrats took full control of the State House and out-raised Republicans 3 to 1.
A few fund-raisers speculated Wednesday that this month's arrests and the ongoing investigations could have a chilling effect on future contributions.
"You've got to believe everyone and their brother is wearing a wire right now," one Republican operative said.
A Democratic fund-raiser disagreed, saying he expects no significant drop-off in contributions. But he said the scandals could serve as a cautionary tale.
"All it tells you is do it the right way," the fund-raiser said.
Because the governor was having what Democrats viewed as a good year in terms of public policy, the recent scandals only frustrated party members who have proudly stood beside McGreevey at bill signings and news conferences.
"What angers me is that I know that this governor has provided really good governmental leadership," said Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck. "Whether I talk about mammograms for women, after-school programs for our kids ... property tax relief for everyone, stem cell research ... Ø he's been there on every single one of these things."
Weinberg said she hopes, at the very least, that the spate of scandals and charges, if they turn out to be true, "will be a lesson |for all of us."
"We all have to be very careful with the kind of people we surround ourselves with," she said.
At a public appearance Wednesday, McGreevey said little about the issue. "I just pray for him and his family," he said of Kushner.
Privately, though, aides continued to question the motives of Christie, a Republican who hasn't dismissed speculation that he might run for governor in 2005.
An aide reiterated that McGreevey himself has not been accused of wrongdoing but that Christie is trying to tar the governor anyway.
"This is death by a thousand cuts, with the enemy hoping through enough guilt by association to do damage to someone," the aide said.
"We haven't changed our schedule and we're not going to. If we were to run and hide, it sends a message and we're not going to let that happen because the governor has done nothing wrong."
Meanwhile, political observers say they will wait to see how McGreevey responds to the scandals and how his poll numbers are affected.
If party bosses begin to smell trouble, Rider University political science professor David Rebovich said, they likely will not want to risk losing power to the Republicans again.
The political gossip mill has been buzzing with rumors that Democratic leaders are quietly working to persuade U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine - the state's most popular Democrat and a leading party fund-raiser in Washington - to run for governor next year.
Then again, Rebovich said, Corzine could quickly end those rumors if Democrats take control of the U.S. Senate or the White House in November's elections and he is offered a more tantalizing leadership role in Washington.
"What Jim McGreevey has to demonstrate now is that he is in control and that he can weather the storm," Rebovich said. "I know he needs to say something. It's just too many instances - too many people - to say 'It doesn't directly involve me.'
"We want to hear from the governor: 'Are you going to insulate yourself from this? Are you going to vet donors any better, or do you recognize that there is a real problem?'Ÿ"
Staff Writers Herb Jackson and John Dyer contributed to this article, which contains material from The Associated Press. |
