New Jersey: "A System Where Back Room Deals, Fueled By Greed And Self Interest, Are Just The Order Of Business"

Symbols of New Jersey's transpartisan and all-pervasive corruption: Norcross (D) and Christie (R)

One of my personal favorite candidates last year was Barbara Buono. It wasn't just because of her sparkling personality and her warmth and her courage, it was also for her forward-thinking ideas and her amazing platform. Digby, John and I all spoke with her in person and all of us couldn't have been more proud for Blue America to have endorsed her and raised some campaign money for her. In yesterday's NY Times story by Jason Horowitz on Democrats' buyer's remorse, there was a line that caught my attention-- the one about how Barbara "bitterly complained about the betrayal of Democrats who barely lifted a finger to help her." Barely lifted a finger? They lifted fingers all right-- on behalf of Christie. What was it… 80 Democratic mayors who endorsed Christie? And the Jersey machine bosses? What corrupt stinking Republican governor were they all playing backy-scratchy with? They didn't "barely left a finger" for Barbara Buono… they supported their partner in crime and corruption, Chris Christie.

And Christie wasn't suddenly a thug when the story about the George Washington Bridge broke. He was a thug and a slob for his entire miserable life. And New Jersey's transpartisan political elites embraced him as fully aware-- and enthusiastic-- about that as they were after he got caught.

“Hillary Clinton wrote me a nice letter-- after I lost,” Ms. Buono said, pointing out that the potential Democratic standard-bearer did nothing to support the candidacy of the party’s first female nominee for governor of New Jersey. (“You and I are no strangers to the challenges of seeking and holding public office,” read the letter, signed, “Hillary.”) “The vice president called me directly-- after I lost.” Senator Cory Booker, the New Jersey star? “No no no. No, no,” she said. “I didn’t get help from a lot of people, and he was one of them.”

The list is rife. Patrick Gaspard, the former White House political director and Democratic National Committee executive director, promised help but did not deliver. The committee’s chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, “came at the very end and it was like you were at a funeral, she was just not very encouraging.” When Ms. Buono asked the chairwoman to send out an email from her fund-raising list, Ms. Wasserman Schultz suggested she would and then “didn’t even do that; isn’t that sad?” (Ms. Wasserman Schultz has since gone on the Christie warpath, following the governor around the country and telling reporters: “Chris Christie has a culture of intimidation and retribution in his office. It was directed at his own constituents.”)

Ms. Buono seems to enjoy what she referred to as the “guilt” of some of her delinquent Democrats.

“I get calls from people sometimes, and I don’t return them,” Ms. Buono said mischievously. “I got a call from Maggie Hassan after the election. She is the governor of New Hampshire. We had tried to get her in a gajillian times and she wouldn’t.”

Watch this concession speech-- not especially the gracious first 5 minutes of thanking her supporters, but where she goes after that:

We took on the bosses and the political machine that has defined New Jersey politics for far too long… We rose above the political system that too often requires surrendering one's values, a system where back-room deals, fueled by greed and self-interest, are just the order of business. The Democratic political bosses, some elected and some not, made a deal with this governor, despite him representing everything they're supposed to be against. They didn't do it to help the state. They did it out of a desire to help themselves politically and financially.

Ever hear a Democrat talk that way? There's more about the "onslaught of betrayal from our own political party":



Today Christie-the-head-of-the-Republican-Governors-Association is visiting Chicago while his administration unravels back in Trenton. Ted Strickland is in Chicago giving a press conference about the George Washington Bridge scandal a few blocks from Christie's hotel. And none of the Illinois gubernatorial aspirants want to be in the same room with Christie, let alone photographed with him. The locations of his events is being kept secret from the media and the public. Even Christie cheerleader and would-be GOP presidential nominee Joe Scarborough called him a "distraction to the RGA… If Republicans’ job is electing governors and you’ve got a guy running the RGA that has Republican candidates running away from him, that’s a serious problem and he needs to sit down and do some soul searching to see whether he wants to defend charges against him or continue this. I don’t think he can do both."

Ed Rollins, a veteran Republican campaign strategist, said he would not advise one of his candidates to appear with Christie right now.

"The last thing you want to do as a gubernatorial candidate is stand up at a press conference and be asked 15,000 questions about the George Washington Bridge in New Jersey and New York," Rollins said. "You want to be able to tell your story. And unfortunately it’s the Christie story."

Rollins said that probably won’t change any time soon. "For the next several months, it will be a distraction," he said.

And then there was this short but telling interview with former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D) on Chris Hayes' show on MSNBC last night: