Christie picking up major Democratic endorsements this week

[proverbialwisdom]

Source: By Ryan Hutchins and Matt Friedman/The Star-Ledger

June 11, 2013 at 6:15 AM, updated June 11, 2013 at 11:21 AM


UNION CITY — One of New Jersey’s more influential Democrats, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, is poised to endorse Gov. Chris Christie this afternoon — just a day after the Republican was backed by another Democratic powerbroker.

DiVincenzo, one of the top party bosses in North Jersey, will announce his support for the governor at McLoone’s Boat House in West Orange around noon, two sources with knowledge of the announcement said Monday. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly until the announcement is made.

Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura will also back Christie at the event, according to the sources, as will several Democratic mayors and ministers.

The big-time support for Christie — a nationally ambitious Republican — comes just a day after state Sen. Brian Stack, the mayor of Union City and a Democratic powerbroker in Hudson County, also said he wants to see the governor reelected.


Read more: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/06/christie_picking_up_major_demo.html

[theaocp]

1. Awesome.

I can't imagine a more deserving ... Republican. Oh.

[Autumn]

2. .

[DonCoquixote]

3. Thirty pieces of Silver

The democrats should be dog piling ion Christie, not saving his ass. If any from the other side want to come here, they should be buck privates, peeling potatoes, not get promoted to officer rank.

[Dawson Leery]

4. Jersey is truly corrupt.

[forestpath]

5. Nobody who endorses that piece of shit is a Democrat.

[cheapdate]

7. Or any Republican.

It's OK to agree where appropriate, but you're not a Democrat if you back the opposition. Maybe you're an "independent" or maybe you're just confused, but you're not a Democrat.

[busterbrown]

6. Wait until they start endorsing him for Pres.

Should be an ominous forewarning..!!

[Indyfan53]

8. Disgusting traitors!

We need to get behind Barbra Buono and support her.

[Dawson Leery]

9. +1

[savalez]

10. I heard her for the first time the other day

and she's good. I wish I could vote for her but I live elsewhere.

[JustAnotherGen]

22. She needs money

I wouldn't be surprised if Democratic National Leadership was giving money on the side to Christie.

Even $5 can help.

[The Wizard]

11. The Mafia gets things done (NT)

[Cha]

12. I cannot understand that shit.

[madinmaryland]

13. Deep blue Connecticut was stuck with the ultra corrupt John Rowland for nearly 10 years.

Yes, I was stuck there for twenty years, including the years after Lowell Weicker left office in 1994.

[Nye Bevan]

14. Correct? Or corrupt? (nt)

[madinmaryland]

15. Awe FUCK! Corrupted my spelling.

[Zoeisright]

16. That is fucking stupid.

What's the matter with these people? Christie is a fucking repuke, which means that at the end of the day he's going to work for his 1% masters. Period.

[Rowdyboy]

17. And New Jersey voters apparently follow merrily along....

I live in Mississippi. My vote NEVER counts, hasn't since the 1970's and likely never will again. But to live in New Jersey and vote for that bloviating piece of shit is entirely beyond my comprehension. How the hell did Chris Cristie get to be your governor and why would you even consider giving him a second term?

It truly is depressing. Reminds me of New York gov Pataki, Massachusetts governors Celluci, Swift, Romney etc.

[JustAnotherGen]

23. Easy

Democratics stayed home in 2009.

Just like they will in 2013 - because even here at DU - it's all about Chris Christie.

A lot of Dems detested Corzine, and saw no alternative so they didn't vote.


Now you get why we are so pissed that Christie is having a special election in OCTOBER instead of November - when HIS re-election is?

I'll hold my nose and vote for Booker - but it sure would be nice if I could vote for Buono for Gov at the same time.

[DFW]

18. Sandy was Christie's 9/11

Just the 9/11 attack saved Cheneybush's collective ass from "oneterminal illness," so Sandy saved Christie. After 9/11, Cheneybush suddenly had a "raison d'être," and it was enough to get them enough votes to be able to rig the 2004 election.

All those photos of Christie and Obama together, plus all the federal aid that Obama sent (and Christie will take credit for), they were like life rafts thrown out to a Christie floating out to sea. Now he says he's captain of the ship, and no one dares mutiny against him.

*Consolation prize--it still won't make him president in 2016. We'll either hand that to him on a silver platter, or we'll be sensible and not repeat the election of 2000. It's not yet clear which. At least there will be no more Joe Lieberman. Gore (as VP) and Biden showed us what kind VP the country needs. If the 2016 candidate keeps that in mind, we should be fine.

[okaawhatever]

30. I don't agree completely with 9/11 saving Bush, I think that's why he had to start the war just in

time for the 2004 election. I can't imagine anyone not getting re-elected as a Republican when a war has just been started. Now, if you're saying it's the whole thing, 9/11 and the reaction (war) I agree 100%.

[DFW]

44. I see it like this:

Cheney would never have dared invade Iraq if all he had was the fictitious WMD scam. However, insinuating that Saddam had something to do with 9/11 was VERY convenient for him. He knew perfectly well that Saddam had nothing to do at all with 9/11, but he let Fox and his Republican parrots say it often enough that coupled with the WMD line, it justified the Iraq invasion. My personal take is that Cheney had planned the Iraq invasion all along as a purely business venture.

Halliburton's stock was $19 per share when he took office. At the time, he bought 200,000 stock options at the $19 price, and then had to put it in a "blind" trust. Soon after the Iraq invasion and Halliburton getting billions in "no-bid" contracts, the stock shot up to $87 per share. Cheney's $200,000 option became worth $13,400,000 (i.e. $87 X 200,000, minus 200,000 X the original $19, minus the $200,000 for the options, in other words, 200,000 X $67). And that's just the one transaction!! It's no coincidence that Halliburton moved from Texas to the United Arab Emirates right after the 2008 election.

[okaawhatever]

45. Yes, you're right on that one. Cheney probably also owed alot of people who had helped him & Bush

get elected. That's probably another "business venture" that we don't know the details of.

[socialist_n_TN]

19. Well, he IS a neo-liberal, sensible centrist........

That makes him acceptable to the Third Way types all over.

[Fuddnik]

21. Him and Cory the Tory.

Disgusting.

[graham4anything]

27. you are 100% wrong here. The party smoked filled room bosses do NOT want Cory.

but the people of NJ do.

the party bosses did NOT want a primary. They wanted to pick someone and that person would NOT have been Cory.
But one of the other two who are NOT what the people want.

[KamaAina]

36. "Cory the Tory" FTW!!

[Hotler]

20. WTF!!!

[AnneD]

43. Will you hold my hair while I....

[Hotler]

46. Yes I will my friend, yes I will. n/t

[AnneD]

48. You're a ...

true cyberfriend.

We can take turns holding each others purses and packages while we bitch slap the guilty.

[Hotler]

49. Roger that........

[eissa]

24. Yeah, don't you hate it when

Democrats turn on their own? Oh wait.....

[Freddie Stubbs]

25. I'll bet that Booker gets more GOP supporters than Cristie gets of Democratic ones

[JustAnotherGen]

32. Nope

He won't. Booker only needs Greater Newark and Greater Trenton to Show up and he wins.

Unfortunately - because we have to elections back to back - Buono can't ride on Bookers coat tails and coast into the Governor's mansion.

Two elections - in spite of the fact that the majority of us are pissed to high holy hell that Christie is wasting upwards of ten million dollars on this stupidity.

[Freddie Stubbs]

33. When a candidate looks like a sure thing, they tend to attract support from across the aisle

People want to back a winner and reap the rewards of doing so. This is why you are seeing some prominent Democrats back Cristie. They have surmised that Bruno has little to no chance of winning.

[graham4anything]

26. Note- these party bosses do NOT want Cory. That tells me all I need to know. nt

[JustAnotherGen]

28. They don't want

Buono either.


And we as New Jerseyans should be more concerned about our Gov than that. Because if that SOB wins - he is VERY strong in 2016. And allllllll of these Democratic endorsements screw your woman Hillary out of her job.


The National Party has christened Booker the winner so everyone just needs to accept that. I'll be voting Pallone - he'll lose. Booker wins no matter what. It doesn't need our time or attention.

This turn coat bullshit from within of supporting a venomous little snake like Christie? That's where the fight, time, and energy is.

[graham4anything]

29. the smoked filled room wants the person you want. They don't want CORY or Buono.

My vote is with the independent minded Cory.

and yes, it does need our time and attention because in a race where the ultra conservative and Koch brother friend is running,
if for some reason everyone just assumes, well, that is how CC won in the first place.

[JustAnotherGen]

31. Correct

We don't need to worry until AFTER the primary in August.


I.E. - Well all know Booker is going to win the nomination. Those of us voting for someone other than Booker - it is what it is.


But we've seen how ineffective the Federal Government is. Seriously - yet another idiot at the Fed level brought up abortion today *sigh*. I don't see this changing until January 2020 so it's just a lost cause. I give up.


But my state? My state it can be different.

I'm not giving up on Bouno. This was a thread about the current Governor. New Jerseyans cannot keep letting these threads about Christie get turned into 'love Booker threads'.

We need a groundswell of support from OUT of STATE democrats - just like we gave support for example - in Wisconsin.

And anyone reading this that thinks Christie is better than Walker is off their rockers. He's as bad if not worse. But unless we say over and over and over again - he's not the ONLY candidate - we can't get support from out of state.

Everyone in America knows Booker. He'll get that money regardless.

But Buono won't. And we are going to need money in getting her name and message out on the streets. I can go door to door - but I need bumper stickers to give away folks.

[graham4anything]

35. Buono can win. Remember the race Bradley almost lost by thinking he would win ...watching tv,

watching tv, I see one negative ad after another against CC

If CC was so sure he had a big lead, why is he bothering to have one bad ad after another?

Because he is not as popular as he thinks

And if Cory wins big in October, that can help get out the vote in November because he himself will help get the minority vote out
It doesn't matter if Cory is not running in Nov.

it will take CC down a few pegs.

[KamaAina]

37. "the independent minded Cory" is systematically destroying public education

and you wish to give him a national platform from which to do so.

But hey, he pulled a woman out of a burning building!

[proverbialwisdom]

39. Mark Zuckerberg does.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-07/zuckerberg-plans-fundraiser-for-cory-booker-s-senate-run.html

Zuckerberg Plans Fundraiser for Cory Booker’s Senate Run
By Elise Young - Jun 8, 2013 12:01 AM ET

Facebook Inc. (FB) co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, will give Newark Mayor Cory Booker some help in his U.S. Senate bid, which the New Jersey Democrat plans to formally announce today.

Booker, 44, will enter the special-election race to replace Senator Frank Lautenberg, a five-term Democrat who died at age 89 on June 3. The mayor plans events in Newark and Willingboro Township, according to Kevin Griffis, a spokesman.

Zuckerberg, who hasn’t declared a party affiliation, held his first political fundraiser on Feb. 14, when he welcomed New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a 50-year-old Republican seeking a second term, to his Palo Alto, California, home. The 29-year-old billionaire pledged $100 million to help Newark schools during a 2010 appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s television show, alongside Booker and Christie.

<>

[graham4anything]

40. Being that in 2010 he pledged all that money to Newark Schools, sure he better support Cory

[proverbialwisdom]

42. The money had strings attached, including that Christie be re-elected. nt

[rurallib]

34. fucking idiots

to rephrase a line I used to see here all the time:
'democrats voting for Chris Christie is like chickens voting for Colonel Sanders'

[proverbialwisdom]

41. Exactly, but lots of very ugly in-fighting among NJ "Democrats" is coupled w low voter information.

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/06/prieto_endorses_embattled_nj_d.html#incart_river

Prieto endorses embattled N.J. Democratic chairman hopeful O'Donnell
By Jarrett Renshaw/The Star-Ledger
on June 10, 2013 at 1:16 PM, updated June 10, 2013 at 1:46 PM

TRENTON — Incoming Hudson County Democratic Chairman Vincent Prieto says he is backing local Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell in the ongoing civil war for state party chairman.

“Hudson always supports Hudson,” Prieto, a Hudson County Assemblyman, said.

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Barbara Buono wants O’Donnell to be the next state party chairman, but powerful forces in the party such as powerbroker George Norcross and state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) want veteran state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union).

<>

Last week, more than three dozen Democrats aligned with Norcross and Sweeney publicly backed Lesniak as part of a public campaign to create an air of inevitability around choice. Sweeney has called O'Donnell divisive, alluding to to O'Donnell's relationship with Assemblyman Joe Cryan (D-Union) and the pair's attempt to oust leadership in 2010.

<>

[KamaAina]

38. Look, you POSs, if you don't want to endorse Buono, then don't endorse her

but just stay the fsck out of it, then. Never endorse a repuke.

[Doctor_J]

47. They probably realize that the choice will be between a Repuke and a Dem who acts like

a Repuke. And as Harry Truman observed,...that's a losing position for Dems.

[proverbialwisdom]

50. 7 pm on a Friday?

http://www.bluejersey.com/diary/23278/statement-of-senate-president-stephen-m-sweeney


Statement of Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney
by: Rosi Efthim
Fri Jun 14, 2013 at 09:08:18 PM EDT

We got this at around 7 pm:

"Barbara Buono is the clear choice to move New Jersey forward. Whether it is improving our schools, protecting our seniors, fighting for women's healthcare, ensuring civil rights for all New Jerseyans, or providing economic relief that our workforce and middle-class desperately needs, Barbara Buono reflects true Democratic values and believes in the middle-class. These values unify our party, solidify our resolve and are the reasons all Democrats must stand with Barbara."

Thoughts, Blue Jersey?

[livingwagenow]

51. To save Jersey, Christie was forced..

to espouse Democratic Party principles of helping those in need.

Christie spent his term weakening the state of Jersey to a point of being unable to deal with a disaster..

Christie, on his knees, groveled to the Federal Government for a bail-out or JERSEY dies as a state.

Christie's Republican policy rendered Jersey incapable to the point of collapsing failure, as a state, forcing NJ to become DEPENDENT on the Federal Govt.

Rethug states are dependents. Dependent on Federal Govt.

[hrmjustin]

52. Welcome to DU my friend!

[proverbialwisdom]

53. NJ Star Ledger - The Auditor: Rand Paul steps into Christie country

http://blog.nj.com/njv_auditor/2013/06/the_auditor_rand_paul_steps_in.html#incart_river_default


The Auditor: Rand Paul steps into Christie country
Print By The Auditor/The Star-Ledger
on June 16, 2013 at 8:15 AM, updated June 16, 2013 at 9:33 AM

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul — a potential rival to Gov. Chris Christie in the 2016 Republican presidential primary — moved in on the governor’s turf last week.

Paul (R-Ky.) spoke at a private luncheon to about 30 Orthodox Jews on Monday at the Lakewood home of millionaire Richard Roberts.

“The only true democracy is one that is based on a people that are virtuous; and that’s what you’ve maintained through your traditions,” Paul told the attendees, according to an account in the Jewish Voice.

<>

Sergio Gor, a spokesman for Paul’s political action committee, told The Auditor the senator was invited by supporters to speak and did not raise any money at the event.

Roberts, the millionaire doctor and prolific Republican donor who hosted the event, said he first met Paul at the Republican National Convention last year. He said they disagreed on a lot of issues, but he found Paul “open-minded in that he was listening to what I was saying.”

Since then, he sponsored a trip Paul took to Israel along with 60 evangelical leaders from key swing states.

Roberts told The Auditor that, when talking 2016, Christie and Paul “both seem to be very genuine, honest, intelligent, authentic, real people with a sense of purpose and a generally intact moral outlook. But I do disagree with each of them on certain issues.”

<>

[Safetykitten]

54. This just in...Millicent Fenwick brought back to life to run as a Democrat.

[proverbialwisdom]

55. Not familiar with the name, sorry, but found a fascinating comment when I went back to the article.

I did not know any of this information previously.

http://blog.nj.com/njv_auditor/2013/06/the_auditor_rand_paul_steps_in.html#comments

Comment:

TMoor

What makes Lakewood "Christie Country" - the fact his administration awarded a $10.6M grant of taxpayer funds to an all-male rabbinical school or his denial of an Open Public Records Act request for the school's application?

http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/05/07/how-did-orthodox-rabbinic-college-win-106m-public-funds

How Did Orthodox Rabbinic College Win $10.6M in Public Funds?
May 7, 2013

Some legislators and civil liberties groups are asking why Governor Chris Christie's administration in New Jersey is planning to award $10.6 million in funds from a voter approved bond issue for college facilities to Beth Medrash Govoha, an all-male, orthodox rabbinical seminary, The Star-Ledger reported ( http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/05/ultra_orthodox_jewish_college.html ). The article notes increasingly close ties between the college's leaders and the Christie administration. The bond vote explicitly included private colleges, and many private colleges in New Jersey have religious affiliations. Critics say that Beth Medrash Govoha -- unlike the Roman Catholic colleges in New Jersey -- appears to have religious tests for admission. College officials deny any religious tests. But critics say that requirements -- such as knowing Hebrew, knowing sacred Jewish texts and agreeing not to date for the first six months enrolled -- suggest a strong religious orientation for all students.

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/05/ultra_orthodox_jewish_college.html

551 Comments

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish college wins $10.6 million in public funds

on May 06, 2013 at 7:00 AM, updated May 06, 2013 at 8:15 AM
By Jarrett Renshaw and Kelly Heyboer/The Star-Ledger

TRENTON — The Christie administration recently told a legislative panel it was undertaking a rigid scoring process to identify what projects should qualify for $1.3 billion in voter-approved financing for new construction projects at New Jersey colleges and universities.

When the final list was released last week, one of the biggest — and perhaps most surprising — winners was Beth Medrash Govoha, a 70-year-old, all-male, orthodox Jewish rabbinical school in Lakewood. It was awarded $10.6 million in taxpayer funds for a new library and academic center, among the highest designated for a private institution.

<>

Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer), who chairs the campaign for Democratic gubernatorial candidate front-runner Barbara Buono, said the timing of the award to Beth Medrash Govoha weeks after the orthodox community endorsed the governor raises questions about whether Christie is trading public dollars for political support.

"If it is a coincidence, I doubt it," Watson Coleman said. "The governor seems to think he can do whatever he wants and it doesn’t matter."

Christie campaign spokesman Kevin Roberts said Watson Coleman’s comments are "just another sign of desperation from a campaign entrenched in negativity and far-fetched attacks."

<>