Plainfielders who follow PolitickerNJ's annual 'Power List' will find some surprises in this year's ranking of the who's who of clout in the Soprano State (see story here).
Perhaps it is no surprise -- given the events of the past couple of weeks -- that crimebusters are prominent in the list. However, Jersey being Jersey, many of those most closely connected to the most recent corruption scandal are opined to still have plenty of political mojo.
Is the demotion of Union County Dem Chair Charlotte DeFilippo (down from Number 13 to Number 28) a sign of things to come?
PolitickerNJ thinks she has been hurt by the long-running probe of her activities by the Attorney General's office. Despite weekly whispers that an indictment is forthcoming, Charlotte-watchers are still left sitting on the edge of their seats, knitting needles at the ready, waiting for the tumbrels.
Even Henry Mendez, headwaiter at Trenton's in-eatery Settimo Cielo (you don't really need a translation of the name, do you?) makes the list (Number 98), beating out both Sen. Ray Lesniak and State Democratic Party chair Joe Cryan, who don't make the list at all -- though a dig is made against them in AG Anne Milgram's entry (Number 13).
You will want to check the list out, it's a great romp. And who has decided this is an appropriate advertising vehicle is also worth noting.
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5 comments:
The list does not include any elected officials.
I think there will be an October surprise for Charlotte. I think that Camelot Title Agency, being a no-show legislative aide to indicted Neil Cohen, the UCIA's fake development deals to enrich party favorites, and all the rest will come to haunt her in an honest-too-goodness indictment. I think that her good friend McGlave is trilling beautiful sweet songs to the AG and/or the feds. It's time to get this corrupt crew out. I personally do not want Christie as governor, and will not vote for him, but I believe he will win. The party's over for Corzine. He blew it by caving in to the county bosses instead of doing what he promised when first elected. He hasn't got a chance in hell of winning and everybody knows it, but no one close enough to him has the guts to tell him. Kind of like when everybody knew McCain was going to lose last November. Corzine has no one to blame but himself. He cozied up to the bosses when he didn't have to and now has lost the faith of even the party faithful. I know exactly six Democrats who will be voting for Corzine, which number includes myself. The majority of my circle, virtually all Democrats, mostly black and Latino, have said that they are voting for Daggett or Christie. They have said that there is no way that they believe Corzine can lower taxes. They don't believe he can turn the NJ economy around. They say, what can Christie do that will make life any worse than it is already? I don't think Corzine can turn around those awful poll numbers in three months. When I talk about why I don't think Christie is good for the state, their eyes glaze over. Let's hope that the GOP will be gracious and that Christie will work with the remaining Democrats and put the people first.
3:14 PM -- lots of interesting thoughts there, but the surprise, if there is one, for de Filippo would likely come within the next three weeks, as it is considered taboo to have political prosecutions too close to an election, though I don't know that that is written down anywhere. We'll just have to wait and see.
Dan,
We can't know if Defillippo will be indicted or not, but Corzine is a goner. He cannot turn this around. He was in Plainfield yesterday for national night out in the parking lot behind city hall. I guess that's the photo op for Green, the mayor and Stender. Makes one wonder why Jerry Green and the mayor didn't alert the voters? In the era of Blackberrys, the aides could have gotten word out. I suspect they didn't want to give too much notice, because that would mobilize the save Muhlenberg grassroots, since Corzine has not said anything about our hospital closing. I don't think Corzine's coming back to Plainfield. He can kiss substantial support goodbye. At least Christie had the decency to walk through the city in the light of day, rather than coming with no notice like a thief in the night. Corzine is floundering, afraid to come to what should be part of his strong base of support, an urban Democratic city. Remember after the last presidential debate with Obama when McCain was wandering around awkwardly at the end, getting in the way of Brokaw's teleprompter? SNL did a parody. Thats how I view Corzine, kind of lumbering around. In the commercial they just started running, the one with Obama, Corzine is standing in the background, clapping kind of weakly while Obama perfunctorily lauds him. Does it get any worse than this? Wait until the Christie commercials start running, featuring Corzine in pictures with indicted mayors Cammarano and Elwell and some of the others. Dead in the water. What's sad is that it didn't have to be that way. He's doomed.
Read this quote made by Christie:
"You have to elect better people, and when they don't live up to their promises, you need to kick them out, because broken promises are the first path towards corruption," Christie said during a campaign stop in Sayreville on Monday. "Because if you get away with a lie during the campaign, if you get away with a promise you don't keep and you re-elect them, they begin to think they can get away with anything."
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