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Kerry and the Sopranos: Why New Jersey is in
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by Carl Mayer
www.dissidentvoice.org
October 31, 2004
Location means as much in politics as it does in real estate. So it was no surprise that the John Kerry campaign, during the Democratic National convention in Boston, chose to house the New Jersey Democratic delegation at the posh Parker House Hotel. (Compare that to the Montana delegation: Grizzly State Democrats bunked down in shared dorm rooms at Northeastern University).
Kerry’s choice wasn’t accidental; he owes Joisey big time. How big? Fuggedaboutit. Kerry has raised over $4 million dollars in New Jersey, more than almost any state in the nation, particularly adjusting for size.
Kerry is now regretting taking cash and assistance from the corrupt New Jersey political ATM machine. Going into the last days of the campaign, the presidential contest in New Jersey is a virtual dead-heat, a shocker considering that New Jersey was one of Gore’s best states in 2000, with a 16% margin of victory. Voters in New Jersey are hesitant to cast a vote for the Kerry-McGreevey corruption ticket that is denying voters their right to vote for the next Governor of New Jersey.
New Jersey made national headlines this summer for showcasing the most indicted Democratic administration in the history of a state known to be in yearly medal contention for the most corrupt in the nation.
A brief recapitulation for those who prefer the fictional Sopranos to the equally perverse New Jersey politicians: this summer the married New Jersey Governor resigned because he was being blackmailed by his homosexual lover; this came on the heals of revelations that the Governor’s top fundraiser had hired a hooker to seduce a witness in a federal case against the fundraiser. (The Governor’s fundraiser later pled guilty to several federal criminal charges). And don’t forget that earlier in the summer the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey caught the Governor on tape uttering “Machiavelli” a code word used in an extortion scheme that saw the indictment and conviction of another of the Governor’s fundraisers and boyhood friend.
Not only does Kerry have close ties to the McGreevey administration, but his New Jersey cash pipeline is questionable, if not criminal.
Kerry is so close to the scandal ridden administration that when it came time for McGreevey to resign, press reports indicate that the Kerry campaign worked out a deal with the McGreevey administration to resign after September 3d of this year. This means that voters will not have an opportunity to vote for their own Governor in a special election and McGreevey hand-picked successor will continue in office for 14 months, touching off a political firestorm in New Jersey. The Kerry campaign was said to be desperate to avoid the distraction of a special election and having to spend money in a state that, before the corruption scandals, was solidly Democratic.
By aligning himself with McGreevey and the most corrupt administration in New Jersey history, Kerry has created his own problems in the state.
Kerry’s top consigliore in New Jersey have been right in the thick of New Jersey’s mushrooming criminal corruption scandal:
Charles Kushner (aka Video Chuck) Kushner is not only Governor McGreevey’s largest fundraisers; he is one of the National Democratic Party’s largest fundraisers. Since Kushner pled guilty to violating several federal criminal laws including filing false tax returns, violation the camping finance laws and witness tampering ? it can now be said that the Democratic Party is campaigning with criminal money. As titular head of the party, it is incumbent on Kerry to demand the return of the criminal campaign cash. Presumably the Democratic Party wouldn’t take money from Tommy Gambino or Jeff Skilling, why would it take from the criminally convicted Kushner?
Bob Torricelli (aka Fingers Bob aka the “Torch”) plays a prominent role in the Kerry campaign, even though he stepped down from his Senate seat in disgrace after the Senate Ethics Committee severely reprimanded him for accepting illegal gifts and campaign contributions. The Torch took big money from many of the indicted and convicted corporations of the last few years: Arthur Anderson, Enron and MCI. The irrepressible Torch didn’t miss a beat and after resigning in disgrace, rolled over the crooked money in his Senate campaign account and spearheaded an effort with John Kerry to viciously attack Howard Dean in the primaries and Ralph Nader in the general election. While raising more crooked cash for Kerry, the Torch is angling for a job in Washington.
Bill Pascarell (aka Sewer Bill) Bill Pascarell, the co-chair of Kerry’s New Jersey campaign, is so close to Kerry that he is believed to be in the running for a Cabinet post. Pascarell talks to Kerry regularly. The only problem is that he is also close to the corrupt McGreevey administration, and said openly, before the Governor resigned: “I expect Jim McGreevey is going to run again and I know I’ll support him if he runs again,” Pascarell also takes contributions from federal criminals. He receives money from United Gunite Corporation and its backers. United Gunite, a sewer company, pled guilty in federal court to bribing several Democratic New Jersey mayors ? including the mayors of Camden, Patterson and Irvington. Those mayors are now in jail. Pascarell has refused calls to return the money.
With friends like these in New Jersey, John Kerry doesn’t need enemies. Look no further than Kerry’s Sopranos to explain the close race in the state. This also explains Ralph Nader’s surge in New Jersey as voters look for a genuine reformer.
Carl J. Mayer,
an attorney, filed a lawsuit, with Co-counsel Bruce Afran, against Governor
Jim McGreevey to force a special election in the state of New Jersey. He is
the author of Shakedown: The Fleecing of the
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