newjerseynewsroom.com

BY CARL GOLDEN

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

A little more than 205 years ago – July 11, 1804 to be exact – in the early morning hours on the Heights at Weehawken, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton settled their political differences on the dueling ground. Hamilton finished second.

The field of honor has shifted to Trenton where Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney of Gloucester County confronts Senate President Dick Codey of Essex County in a contest for the leadership post Codey has held for the past eight years. Fortunately, no firearms will be used.

While the 23 Senate Democrats won't vote until shortly after the November 3 election, the battle has taken a fairly ugly turn at this early stage.

Codey, in swift response, said his actions and the letter in question were being mischaracterized. In less polite circles, that's called lying.

Sweeney also complained that his refusal to sign the document Codey desired revealed a paranoia on Codey's part which, in turn, produced a rift in the leadership with Sweeney locked out of the party's decision-making process.

Codey countered by claiming that Sweeney and his political mentor, South Jersey political boss George Norcross, had promised they would not attempt to deny him another term as Senate President and had reneged on that pledge. He implied that a Sweeney victory would be perceived as a Norcross victory and such a perception would be harmful to the party.

Codey also attempted to cool the rhetoric by expressing his concern that it was damaging in the long term and would portray the party as one in angry disarray, incapable of putting its own house in order.

Normally, party leadership elections in the Legislature are outwardly gentlemanly affairs conducted privately in party caucuses where differences are resolved shielded from media and public attention.

Once concluded, the knives are slipped back into their sheaths and everyone involved plays nice, pledges support and predicts a meaningful and productive legislative session under the wonderful and insightful guidance of the new leadership team.

With terms like "crazy" and "mischaracterization" and "paranoia" and "broken promises" being tossed around, however, the Sweeney-Codey contest may well break that mold and – no matter who wins – bitterness and rancor will follow.

Sweeney's viability as a contender for the Senate presidency is rooted in a restiveness among many of his colleagues that Codey's eight-year run is sufficient, particularly when he spent some 14 months of it serving as Acting Governor as well.

While Sweeney's personality is somewhat rough around the edges, there's a feeling that it's a quality which will serve the party well if Republican Chris Christie defeats Gov. Jon Corzine and is forced to deal with a politically hostile Legislature.

Compared to Codey, Sweeney projects an image as a force of nature able to overpower the opposition in furtherance of his party's agenda. While Codey comes across as more amiable and less intense, his political skills and effectiveness are considerable.

Both have been labeled ego-driven, a common trait among those in public life and not necessarily an attribute which would disqualify either one from the office each seeks.

Sweeney comes into the contest with seven publicly committed votes – his own, his five Democratic colleagues from South Jersey, and the recent endorsement of Hudson County Sen. Brian Stack.

In his effort to secure the 12 votes he needs to retain the top leadership job, Codey will try to hold together his Essex County base and add to it support from Bergen, Hudson (without Stack), and Passaic counties.

Middlesex and Union counties have emerged as the battlegrounds, a development which places enormous clout in the hands of longtime Union County Sen. Ray Lesniak who remains publicly uncommitted.

Lesniak can deliver as many as a half dozen of his colleagues to the candidate of his choice. Even when he arrives at a decision – if he hasn't already – he'll continue to be cagey about it all, heightening his prominence as the kingmaker when the selection is made.

Whether Codey's pitch for more intra-party harmony and less bare-knuckle posturing will reduce the boil to a simmer remains to be seen.

It was significant that Sweeney last week fired up his GPS and headed north to Union City for an appearance with his newfound supporter, Sen. Stack. It's not known whether the two popped over to the Heights at Weehawken to commune with the spirits of Burr or Hamilton.

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