A New Era of New Jersey Politics… Not as Glamorous as it Sounds

Ras Baraka beat the bosses to become the new mayor of Newark. Here he is flanked by his parents,  Amina and Amiri

-by David Keith

When Barack Obama ran for President the first time, I was in High School. Being that age, I was able to be witness the effect his candidacy had on a new generation of voters and political observers.

His candidacy inspired everyone around me. Adolescents and young adults who grew up watching coverage of George W. Bush’s corrupt, corporate tyrannical reign were convinced that “change, [they could] believe in” was achieved by first defeating Hillary Clinton-- whose spouse (ten years earlier) taught them what a blow job was-- and then by defeating John McCain (and Sarah Palin). According to this generation, Barack Obama was the living embodiment of every great hero their history books had taught them of (Gandhi, Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, etc…).

However, for the next 8 years their dreams were crushed as America bailed out investment bankers-- who many of these young adults were convinced would be sent to jail by Obama-- killed civilians around the world, spied on its citizens, and helped oil companies by allowing a pipeline to split their nation down the middle like the Mississippi river.

In conversations with my peers, it was apparent that their disappointment caused them to react in ways such as supporting libertarians, seeking out true progressive heroes (like Bernie Sanders and Alan Grayson) or pledging to never vote in this country again.

Maybe it was being raised by parents who had seen true political corruption first hand, but when I saw this great wave of hope for Barack Obama in 2008, I didn’t buy it. A simple answer to a simple question convinced me otherwise: where did this young Senator’s money come from?

The answer-- in a nut shell-- has since been debated by pundits, but immediately convinced me that Barack Obama was indeed a talented orator whose immensely talented political staff had channelled the great language of our nation’s most peaceful uprisings in order to build a pseudo progressive campaign that embodied fundamentals of grassroots organizing. All funded (initially, before grassroots donors were duped) by corporate interests. The 2008 election of Obama serves as a model of my current analysis of grassroots victories around the nation, most recently, in Newark, NJ.

New Jersey is a state whose politics is a fight between a statewide alliance of corporate interests and progressives. Corporatist Democrats are aligned with Republicans to create a de facto majority of law makers who side with Chris Christie on matters that are important to the moneyed elite. The progressive minority is defined by law makers and county/municipal executives who are significantly less funded than the corporatist majority. These progressives rarely receive the nomination of the Democratic Party for statewide office, and when they do, they often lose and are embarrassed by the corporate alliance that defeats them by ensuring no significant money gets to their campaigns, i.e., Barbara Buono for Governor, Rush Holt for Senate, etc…

Newark, NJ is New Jersey’s largest city, and for the last 7 years, has been owned by the corporate alliance. Specifically, recent Newark politics has been defined by county executive Joe DiVincenzo (a Democrat who famously endorsed Chris Christie for governor) in partnership with the leader of the statewide corporate majority, George Norcross III. They have been able to fund Cory Booker’s political aspirations in the city, until recently, when they ensured his dreams be fulfilled by funding his campaign for the United States Senate. This partnership has been defined by cuts to police and significant reductions in pensions. This has resulted in the highest crime rate since the deadly riots of the 1960’s and a major division in the community.

Tuesday night, the leader of the progressive opposition to the recent corporate partnership in the city won the highest political office in the city: the office of Mayor. Councilman Ras Baraka is a high school principal who has been fighting to become mayor for the last 25 years. His political skills have been defined by the words of his late father, Amiri Baraka, who was a former state poet laureate who had received international recognition for his politically driven poetry that focused--among other things-- on the corporate influence on the politics of urban America. Much of Ras’s latest-- and successful-- run for Mayor had been defined by his previous: incredible grassroots skill but little money. (Remember, the model of successful grassroots political campaigns includes the necessary money to pull off electoral victory.)

Until February, the race had been defined by the usual patterns. The corporatist alliance had a candidate and was headed to-- one way or another-- defeating Ras and his grassroots army. However, things changed. The new Jersey City Mayor, Steve Fulop, aligned with former governor Dick Codey to re-boot Ras’s campaign.

They endorsed him, and quickly, the statewide dialogue changed. To the naïve (normal) onlooker/bystander/journalist, it seemed as though a progressive alliance formed to help Ras have a fighting chance. Similar events in political history were recalled by these individuals, such as the Kennedy/Kerry alliance received by Barak Obama in his overthrow of Hillary for President.

However, under the surface, only one major difference occurred that would allow Ras to drive his grassroots movement to victory: money, and lots of it. Compared to his prior fundraising efforts, exponential increases began to occur. Hedge Fund managers began investing in Ras’s candidacy, and soon, he had the funds needed to fuel a successful GOTV effort that would rival that of the corporatist alliance’s candidate’s, Shavar Jeffries.

While the media paints the Fulop/Codey alliance as a progressive opposition to the Norcross/DiVenzenzo alliance, I see it a little differently… Jersey City mayor Steve Fulop beat incumbent Mayor Jerry Healey last year due to incredible funding from his Wall Street friends and ex co-workers (Steve had been a Goldman Sachs employee before running for office). After his endorsement of Ras, those same donors funded Ras’s final push.

So, what I will write about in the future is what is actually happening in New Jersey: an alternative corporate alliance is forming. It is no better, and probably no worse than the current. It will make for great political fodder, however will yield the same results.

As for Newark, I don’t want to say Ras is now a corporatist. He really is the son of a progressive intellectual. But, we will have to wait and see how he governs. If he chooses to govern with his gut, will those who helped him fund his grassroots effort let him? If not, what will the consequences be?

to be continued…