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Marching forward under the benevolent gaze of our fearless Chairman! |
Taking a cue from the Republican playbook, Plainfield and Union County Democratic chairperson Jerry Green on Wednesday evening presided over the selection of former Rahway mayor Jim Kennedy to replace Linda Stender, now damaged goods, as Green's running mate in the November Assembly election.
Are the Dems showing themselves as capable of being a party of old white men as the Republicans?
That may end up becoming the question.
Meantime, Jerry's words throughout the Stendergate crisis have reminded me of those snippets of the thought of China's Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, whose Little Red Book of Chairman Mao was to be seen everywhere on US college campuses in the 1960s.
On the one hand, Assemblyman Green, a longtime supporter of double-dipping, seems to have pivoted suddenly. After having been Linda Stender's running-mate since 2001 and never having voiced an objection to her jobs as an employee of the county-run Runnells Hospital, Green finds it objectionable that he would have to defend Mahr's working for the County if she were his running mate. Here's what he is quoted by PolitickerNJ as saying (see full story here) --
...I need someone who is committed to working full time with me,” said Green, alluding to Mahr’s job with a division of the Union County government . . . Colleen Mahr has done a lot for Fanwood. But I don’t want to have to campaign between now and November defending a situation where I’m not going to ask Linda Stender to step down [from her Union County government job] and I would not ask Colleen Mahr to step down...In the same story, Mahr expressed her disappointment in the way the screening went (shades of Al McWilliams in 2005!) --
“I had a feeling going into the room that it was already predetermined. I’m extremely disappointed by my party,” Mahr, the vice-chair of the Union County Democrats under Green, told PolitickerNJ. “I have been a three-term mayor, and I have been standing shoulder to shoulder with Jerry Green for the last year and a half. I honestly believe that I am the best candidate to fulfill Linda Stender’s legacy. I believe that 55 percent of the voters [in the district] have been disenfranchised tonight by [the Union County Democratic chairs in LD 22] not selecting a woman. Tonight, they basically ignored that fact.”As for the woman question, take this quotation from Chairman Green, cited in today's Ledger (full story here) --
Asked about women possibly voting against a man running for Stender's seat, Green said that might have been an issue 20 years ago, "but in this day and age, people know to look at the quality of a candidate rather than what color they are or whether they are male or female."Maybe we can compile a little book of Green's sayings for the upcoming campaign season. We can call it the Little Green Book of Quotations of Chairman Jerry.
And the first quotation can be: "In this day and age, people know to look at the quality of a candidate rather than what color they are or whether they are male or female".
Reserve your copy now!
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3 comments:
Hey Dan, isn't there a Primary Election to get through first in June?
Thank you, Dan, for clarifying what Jerry was saying. I read his comments no less than 5 times and could not understand a word of what he was saying.
As a Scotch Plains Democratic Committeeman of long standing I am disappointed that the legislative district democrats as a whole were not allowed input on the selection of a candidate. Open and respectful discussion of the issues and candidates is necessary to ensure quality government and a strong party.
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