NJ Gov. Codey Not Interested in Running for Senate--bad break

[Gloria]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/23/AR2005112301490.html

N.J. Gov. Codey Not Interested in Senate

By ANGELA DELLI SANTI
The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 23, 2005; 2:52 PM

HILLSIDE, N.J. -- Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey announced Wednesday he is not interested in filling the remainder of Gov.-elect Jon Corzine's U.S. Senate term.

Codey has hinted that he wasn't interested in going to Washington, though he's enjoyed widespread popularity since replacing Gov. James E. McGreevey, who resigned after a gay sex scandal a year ago.


By law, Corzine must vacate his Senate seat when he becomes governor in January. The person Corzine appoints will serve in the U.S. Senate for a year, until a regular election for the six-year term is held in November 2006.

Codey, 58, made his announcement Wednesday during a visit to a food bank in Hillside.

He said becoming a U.S. senator would disrupt life for both him and his wife Mary Jo.

Codey was the apparent favorite among voters to fill Corzine's term, a decision Corzine will be able to make himself as incoming governor.

MORE


BAD BREAK for us!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Maybe a blessing in disguise

If Codey really isn't interested in staying on in the Senate, better to appoint someone who will be able to have a track record, do some good things for the Garden State, and then will want to run a vigorous campaign next year.

[bklyncowgirl]

2. Too bad but I guess I understand the guy's reluctance to run.

He's a decent man and decent decent people are often reluctant to drag their families through the mire of a modern media campeign.

[vi5]

3. I don't believe him for a minute...

I think this is more than likely yet another example of this guy, a good and decent man, stepping aside so that the state party can select one of it's more loyal cronies. I would bet money that Codey wanted it, and that Codey would have stood the best chance of beating Kean Jr. but there were more aggressive and more blindly loyal dem career politicians who lobbied more aggressively for it and thus the NJ political bosses convinced Codey to step aside. He did the same thing for Corzine and I'm guessing he's doing it again for Menendez or someone else similar.

Unfortunately it will now more than likely be a dem with a lot of baggage and more than a few skeletons in their closet.

[MrBenchley]

4. Wow....

One wonders why someone would stay with a political party he hates so much and thinks is so corrupt....

"the state party can select one of it's more loyal cronies"
So tell us, how did Codey betray the state party? I didn't hear anything about any such happeneing, but then I'm stuck here in New Jersey.

"I would bet money that Codey wanted it"
I suggest you make the bet with Codey himself....who says otherwise.

[Daylin Byak]

5. That sucks...

I guess we will get used to these names floating around until Corzine makes his decsion to fill his vecant senate seat: Holt, Pallone and Andrews.

[MrBenchley]

6. Nothing wrong with any of them...

Don't forget Menendez, who would also be an excellent choice...

[vi5]

7. Well, first off I didn't say "corrupt"

anywhere in my post. I just re-read it and if I missed that part then I'll admit I'm wrong. I'm a loyal dem and a loyal liberal, but I'm not blind to the fact that a lot of our politicians in NJ and to a certain degree the party itself has not always performed as honestly and admirably as they should and could have, and that often times money, power and personal connections are rewarded more than loyalty to a specific set of values. Yes, the republicans here in NJ are worse but I like to hold my politicians to a higher standard than "Not as shitty as republicans". Codey has struck me as a man who is more concerned with being true to his own values once in office than to blind loyalty to a party. And I respect that.

I'm a lifelong New Jersey resident and will remain so until the day I die. Codey didn't betray the state party in any way, he's just not as loyal or as entrenched in the moving and shaking and the goings on in the party as the other people who are now being mentioned. NJ politics is brutal and he just doesn't strike me as ruthless enough. And I think it sucks that guys like him either don't feel or are told by other people in positions of higher power, that they don't have what it takes.

The reason I said I would "bet" is because a bet is usually based off of a hunch not known facts. Hence me using the term "bet" rather than "known for a fact". Many earlier interviews I read with him seemed to indicate to me that he would welcome the opportunity for Corzine's senate seat. And all polls show that he stands the best chance of any of the other possibilities of beating Kean Jr. All of this is hunch talk and guesswork, but then again isn't that most politics? I didn't realize that I was exempt from having my own opinion on things as I see them as a NJ resident.

[MrBenchley]

8. You sure as shit implied it....

"I didn't realize that I was exempt from having my own opinion on things"
You're not "exempt" from having an opinion...but it sure sounded like you wanted an exemption from any questioning about that opinion.

So who ARE these party bosses? Can you name one?

[vi5]

9. "believe", "think", "bet", "I'm guessing".

Each of these words I did use imply hunches and opinions, not facts. Just as your posts in this thread contained opinions (I didn't notice an abundance of links or back up documentation for your opinions like you're seeming for some reason to require from me). You are more than welcome to question me all you would like on why I think this stuff, but I can save you the time and assure you that a simple google or search on politicsnj or nj.com or of the star ledger or the record or any number of NJ papers will provide you with the same information I have read over the years. Assumming that as a fellow NJ resident you draw from the same pool of news that I do, we obviously draw 2 different conclusions from the same sets of information. And I'm o.k. with that. I won't even swear at you about it. If you have any other articles or pieces of data or what have you which you feel might better inform my opinions and hunches then I would be most grateful to you and can assure you that I would read them and use them to better inform my opinions. Until then, I can assure you if that's what you're looking for, that I always have and always will vote a straight democratic party ticket every election always as a NJ resident. I just didn't realize I also had to enthusiastically support each person in the state party and defend every decision they make always. Now I do.