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BY CARL GOLDEN
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
COMMENTARY
The takedown Thursday of a slew of mayors and local officials, legislators, ex-legislators, and several rabbis on Federal corruption and money laundering charges sent the needle off the chart on the political Richter Scale.
Even by New Jersey standards, the FBI sweep was stunning – 44 people arrested on a wide variety of charges, brought down by an informant wearing a wire and picking up the conversations of grasping, petty level crooks and grafters whose naked greed was captured on tape for all to hear.
It toppled a member of Gov. Jon Corzine's cabinet – Community Affairs Commissioner Joe Doria – even though he was neither arrested nor charged. FBI agents bursting through the door of Doria's home and office in the early morning hours, carting off boxes of documents sealed his fate. When the Governor asked for his resignation, Doria had but one response available to him.
While New Jerseyans have grown accustomed to seeing scores of elected officials walking down the steps of the Federal Courthouse with raincoats over their heads while trying to hide the handcuffs around their wrists, the arrest of rabbis gave the entire episode the kind of bizarre and surreal quality that's the stuff of made for TV movies.In a state as politically highly charged as this one is, speculation turned immediately to the fallout from the arrests.
Corzine's immediate demand for Doria's resignation was a clear indication of his need to move quickly and decisively to contain the potential damage from a member of his cabinet being caught up in the scandal, despite being neither arrested nor charged. Doria may have volunteered to walk the plank, but if he didn't, the point of Corzine's sword was aimed at the former Commissioner's posterior.
Republican candidate Chris Christie who, in his former role as U. S. Attorney was involved in directing the investigation which led to yesterday's arrests, immediately called for the resignations of all the elected officials rousted out of their beds at dawn by the gun-toting guys in the navy blue windbreakers.
It must have been something of a homecoming for Christie who built his reputation standing on the steps of a courthouse somewhere in New Jersey, speaking into a forest of microphones and to an audience of notebook scribblers, railing against corrupt public officials while vowing to send them all to prison.
Not only was he back in his element yesterday, it was an opportunity to reinforce in a dramatic and highly visible fashion the credentials which propelled him into the Governor's race in the first place.
The best Corzine could do – and it's not insignificant – was to show Joe Doria the door.
For Corzine, already trailing in every poll taken so far, the path to re-election just got considerably steeper. He'll be blamed, fairly or not, for the astonishing level of corruption revealed by yesterday's arrests. While he had no responsibility for or authority over the people arrested, the backlash will impact him and his candidacy simply because he's the person in charge.
It will be a struggle for him to re-direct attention toward the state's other problems – largely economic and tax issues – and even more difficult for him to make a case that he's the person to lead the state out of its current funk.
It will only be a matter of time – if it hasn't begun already – before speculation is fired up concerning Corzine's immediate future. If, for instance, polls continue to show him running a double digit second or if the results reveal a widening gap, there will be murmurings about a potential withdrawal from the race.
Whatever bump he may have received from the recent visit by President Obama or by coverage of his impending lieutenant governor selection may very well vanish in yesterday's whirlpool of corruption.
The level of worry about a Christie landslide costing Democrats in the Assembly as well as further down the ticket to courthouse and city hall levels will increase exponentially. A party restive and nervous before yesterday's arrests will become even more so.
The Corzine campaign has taken a serious hit, one that will be difficult to absorb and recover from quickly. And, if additional arrests are made in the coming days or weeks, the story will keep New Jersey voters hooked well into the heavy campaign season this fall.
The entire body politic has suffered an unprecedented shock. But, it may be Corzine who'll feel the lasting effects.
Carl Golden served as press secretary to Govs. Kean and Whitman.
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UGLY DAY FOR NEW JERSEY: Corzine, Christie decry corruption, call for resignations
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Daggett: Only an independent can fix the mess in Trenton
A little research online reveals the real Christie, and I am not talking about Corzine's latest smear tactics either. There is well documented evidence of Christies corruption going back years and years.
Bottom line is both parties are corrupt, like two hungry wolves taking turns tearing away at their prey, US. Christie's used hundreds of millions in federal contracts to payoff prosecutor's not charge his brother (AIG stock specialist) for massive stock market fraud. He even had a $50 million federal tort filed against him to use his political power for extortion.
Yet he is called a champion of ethics. Why because he selectively chose to prosecute his political opponents in slam dunk cases and at the same time used his powers to benefit his buddies and cover up corruption that he himself was a part of? Do we forget that he was a part of the Attorney General Scandal and who knows what deals he made behind closed doors to get his name removed from the list of those who where to be fired.
Bottom line is NJ residents are fed up. We go through the election cycle and get fed up with the politicians in Trenton and at the next election we vote them out and replace them with the other party who promises to change things. Rinse, later and repeat.
Insanity - doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. This year, NJ residents have a chance to change that. Send a strong message to Trenton that we no longer accept being preyed upon by this crooked two party system, Vote independent. Daggett is my man.