Here’s a thought:
Ms. [Barbara] Buono has gone from media piñata, Democratic pariah and Keystone Candidate to the Cassandra of the [Gov. Chris] Christie scandal, whose October warnings about “the unexplained closure of two lanes starting in Fort Lee” went unheeded by most fellow Democrats.
Now, as Democrats unload daily on Mr. Christie and hound him as he travels around the country, Ms. Buono nonchalantly greets well-wishers in snow boots, cords and leather bomber jacket at a local cafe. Bewildered by the belated timing of the Democratic attacks, which she attributes to “buyer’s remorse,” she wonders if the party might not have more wisely spent money on challenging the governor during the actual race.
Of course, the governor was holding people’s Superstorm Sandy relief hostage. He was not allowing executive officers to meet with mayors who wouldn’t endorse him. He threw his considerable weight around quite effectively. And, so, the Democrats rolled over for him. That was the whole point.
You are writing almost as if you are finally warm again! So glad you have your power back.
Kind of wish Christie didn’t. The astonishing corrupt brass of this man haranguing his own party for failure to deliver relief funds that he then used to bribe Democrats into endorsing him. In the process serving as an object lesson proving the GOP point that funds would be misused.
I wouldn’t lay ALL of the blame on Christie (can’t believe I’m saying that).
The democratic party in NJ is dirtier than a septic tank. A lot of the guys who rolled over weren’t forced: they’re just shitheels.
You said it so I don’t have to.
I’m not sure I can get that angry at the dems for rolling over if the result was storm aid to their cities.
You need to google “chris christie george norcross”.
Thick as thieves.
I would like to add this, because it is important, featured prominently in the article, but omitted here.
The fact is, knocking out Christie would have had some pretty big implications, and it sure woulda been nice to see that fuckhead go down. It WASN’T just NJ Democrats whose aid was being held hostage (and in some cases, not) that abandoned Buono. National Democrats also left her swinging.
None of these people had anything to fear from Chris Christie, and their support would certainly have helped their candidate.
Now, I assume there were strategic reasons for the Democratic Party to decline support. I think it was pretty clear Christie was gonna win, and resources are finite. I seem to remember a friend active in NJ politics telling me that Buono is seen as a not-serious person, and she was the chosen sacrificial lamb. And I’m sure a lot of those reasons make sense from a strategy perspective.
But let’s not pretend that all those people that refused to help Buono were under the thrall of Christie the Bully. A goodly percentage simply chose not to support her for reasons that had nothing to do with Sandy funds.
Or those big name Democratic pols really liked Hillary’s chances against Christie in 2016. Trying to influence and pick the GOP nominee is where Democratic pols display their greatest stupidity. (They feared McCain in 2000 and were cool with GWB as the nominee.)
yes, one of the comments at the link points out that they want [ed] whatever dem candidate to run against Christie not Jeb b/c they knew how flawed Christie is, that he’d be easy to beat. – that would be the non NJ lack of support she talks about [Hillary, Debbie W-S, Hassan, Biden] not the NJ dems. I don’t know about Cory Booker
Read this:
So while I agree that some Democrats rolled over because their Sandy aid was being held hostage, a lot of them rolled over because their Boss Norcross told them to, and THAT had nothing to do with Sandy.
Sandy was just the icing on the cake, but it was clear Christie had good poll numbers and therefore would be re-elected. There’s no special mystery when top challengers don’t come against incumbents with >50% approval ratings. People with those numbers get re-elected, and the top challengers wait until the seat is open.
ummmmm…..as scummy, despicable, and illegal as holding disaster funds ransom truly is, is it really a surprise?
This is not a knock on NJ. Same thing happens in MS, AL, AR, MD and GA (that’s only the cases I’ve SEEN, mind you).
This is why it’s embarrassing to be a Dem. Just being affiliated makes you feel so spineless.
Could they have done so?
Yes. Of course.
But why didn’t they?
Norcross?
Hmmmmm…
He’s a small time bagman compared to what goes down in DeeCeeLand on a daily basis. Small potatoes in a big, big field
What if the DemRat feds had said “Take this guy down. Now!!! Or else!!!”
Or else what?
Hmmmm…
Or else no funding for NJ’s many reeking porkbarrels, of course.
But the feds did not say that.
Why not?
Hmmmm…
Could it be…
Naaaahhhh…
Worse than Satan.
The PermaGov PrezFix was being put into place is what it was. Hillary vs. Christienacht and may the best (wo)man win. Either way, the PermaGov has a safe Preznit.
Only they blew it. Their due diligence wasn’t even up to Mittster standards. Too dirty to be Preznit was Mr. Christie.
But never fear…they’ll find another tomato can.
Watch.
A nice, bright, shiny one this time. Cain’t afford no more slipups, don’tcha know.
Watch.
AG
The significance of ‘Christie’ is that he was the great white hope of the PermaGov. He was their guy in a BIG, BIG way. In a way that the Scotty boys (Rick and Walker), despite being bankrolled and set up by the Koch brothers, never could be. They don’t have the swagger, they don’t have the NYC media in their pocket, they don’t have the Wall Street connections, and they don’t have the connections to the corrupt NJ/Southern NY US Attorneys who were tasked with keeping the lid on the facts of 9/11 coming out. Fun Fact: ‘Christie’ found out he was going to be appointed NJ US Attorney on the very evening before 9/11. And, of course, he was not replaced by Bush in the US Attorneys scandal. ‘Christie’ knew which way he had to go. He’s a smart boy, after all.
off topic but
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/eric-holder-resign
Holder to resign this year
Conformation on a new attorney general should be interesting
“Step down” would be a better choice of phrase
Saying that he’s “resigning” has implications that have nothing to do with Holder’s decision
Was he ever really AG? Seems to be he’s been MIA ever since his appointment. Prosecute Cheney and company? Nah! Prosecute Dimon and the other banksters? Nah! Get Seligman out of jail? Nah!
No surprise here. The Democratic party power brokers, with a few localized exceptions, is pathetic. They love their political gossip, totally are down with the modern political media culture, are happy to spend most of their efforts on raising funds, and think anyone who wants to talk policy is frankly a waste of time (unless that person has a wad of cash, then they are a worth wasting that time on until the check cashes).
They wrote off any chance of defeating Christie long ago. It was obvious from 2009 that this guy is a flaming asshole and inevitably as corrupt as any Illinois governor, but no democrat wanted to fight that fight.
Fascinating to contrast this with how Gray Davis – the only Democratic governor in the 28 years between Jerry Brown terms – was treated by the GOP in that state. A year before his re-election they began planting stories that the local newspapers faithfully ran hinting at Davis corruption. They began to make some serious inroads until the GOP challenger did what GOP challengers usually do in California and basically made it unwinnable. But, as the recession worsened the GOP restarted the propaganda drums and got a recall going, with results we all know about.