June 5, 2008 - 7:11pm
Pallone urges Andrews to keep his word and stay away from House seat
By Max Pizarro
Category: US Senate, HouseTags: Frank Pallone, Stephen Sweeney, Joseph Roberts, Bill Pascrell, ROB ANDREWS
The bad blood between U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1) and his congressional colleagues seeped around the edges of Election Day as U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6) today called "absurd" the public exhortations by Andrews’s allies for the congressman to return to his House seat.
A little over two months ago, Andrews abandoned his claim to the seat he held for 18 years to run for the U.S. Senate. On the campaign trail, Andrews repeatedly denied that his wife, Camille, was merely keeping the seat warm for him should he fail.
After his Election Night concession speech to U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), the congressman reiterated his commitment not to reclaim the seat that Camille Andrews won the same night, burying her primary opposition by a more sizable margin than her husband was simultaneously buried by Lautenberg.
But in a Courier-Post article today, Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts and Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney both urged Andrews not to give up his seat.
That left Pallone fuming over what he sees as the South Jersey Democratic Organization trying to create public traction for Andrews to make an "aw, shucks" reclamation of his House seat - and to once again fail to keep his word.
"This is the kind of politics that gives New Jersey a bad name," said Pallone. "Camille Andrews is the nominee. Rob Andrews says he’s not running, and I’ve been taking him at his word. It reflects poorly on the state if he takes the seat of someone who has been elected."
Already irritated by Andrews going back on his statement to himself, the other Democratic members of the congressional delegation and Lautenberg that he would not challenge the senior senator, Pallone said the congressman should keep his word this time and respect the decision of the voters.
U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-8) remains similarly disaffected over Andrews’s pre-primary failure to keep his word to Lautenberg and the other Democrats, but Pascrell said he doubted that today’s public comments made by Sweeney and Roberts would put sufficient spring in Andrews to return to the House.
"Rob has a job of redeeming himself after he broke his word," Pascrell said. "I don’t think he or his wife will be the candidate. I wish him and his family well. He’s got a great future. It might not be in politics."
Seemingly stunned on the telephone by the suggestion that Andrews would now go back to Congress for another term, Bill Caruso, Andrews’s chief of staff, told PolitickerNJ.com today that his boss remains committed to not reclaiming the 1st District seat.
"Rob made his decision on Election Night," Caruso said.
As for the entreaties of Pallone, Caruso added, "I guess you find out who your friends are."
Pallone and Andrews exchanged greetings on the floor of the House today as the congressmen considered the federal budget. "We said ‘hello,’" said Pallone, "but nothing else I’d comment on."
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Quote of the Day
September 5, 2008
"A bare-faced liar. Rob Andrews lied. Plain and simple." -- A Philadelphia Inquirer editorial on Andrews' decision to seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
-Philadelphia Inquirer, 09/05/08
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Put that dog on his leesh
Pallone is being a good lil dog because he thinks he's next in line.
God forbid the Democrats understand democracy and have open and competitive primaries.
I hope Frank gets passed over again, maybe Steve Rothman has more stock now since he was the big Obama guy in the state.
not Pallone's decision
with all due respect... Pallone has no place to tell the voters of D1 who their candidate should be. He doesn't represent them. And if the voters of D1 are opposed to Rob Andrews running, they don't have to vote for him.
And I'd agree with Sedler... Rothman is clearly the front-runner now, should Rich Merkt's prediction come true. (Sorry Pallone).
Sweeney And Roberts Are Fools if They Think...
.....Rob Andrews is obtuse enough to have his "credibility quotient" descend from Death Valley into the pits of hell.
It's one thing to succumb to the temptations of power and break your word (to maybe have a great shot at a Senate seat) when the polls show that your opponent is vulnerable due to age...and you can file the day before the deadline thereby shutting out all of the other potential opposition.
It's another thing altogether to get creamed in that election and to then go back on your word one more time and to try to take back the ballot placement that your wife is holding for you after you've repeatedly promised not to do just that.
Clinging to the House seat after all that's happened would be shameful and humiliating....to anyone capable of shame.
Don't take my word for it; here's someone with nifty academic credentials saying something similar...
btw here's a link to the story referred above..... http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008806050374
"Ingrid Reed, New Jersey Project Director at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, said Andrews would "undermine" his credibility, and his wife's victory, if he were to take the position.
"In the New Jersey climate where trust for public officials is not very high, for Rob Andrews to go back on his statement which I thought he said he would not be using his wife to hold his position for him, would be seen as another element not to trust public officials," Reed said."
She added, however, that statements made by Andrews' friends may only be test balloons, gauging public reaction to allow Andrews more time to decide his next move."
Pascrell summed it up nicely, Andrews is a highly talented fellow with a bright future in the private sector. Possibly something in the military industrial complex; or a lobbying job.
One accumulates lots of chits in 18 years in congress....no doubt someone as clever as Andrews will land on his feet.
From Frederick Douglass
Jawohl Herr Pallone
Frank "Too Many Jews In City Hall" Pallone is really the wrong guy to be giving Rob Andrews a public lecture on ethics.
R U Kidding Frank?
Perhaps you remember the day you and your House colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, sat in a room and swore that either you ALL would vote for a congressional pay raise or NONE of you would. And you told them all you would vote for it with them. And then you went to the House floor and did the exact opposite and called them out to the press. Remember that? Hmmmmm???? Made a lot of friends that day, huh? Perhaps that is why they tried to district you out last go round?
Dude, you have NO ROOM to talk about Andrews. Give it up, Mr. Sour Grapes, if you wanted that Senate seat it was yours for the taking when Torch stepped down in justified humiliation.
OE
McAndrews keeps his word???
Why should Andrews keep his word? I bet the same imaginary people who urged him to run for the Senate will urge him to run again for his congressional seat.
Rob Andrews is a great congressman
If we can talk him into returning, then that is good for south jersey.
Dana Redd.
Why won't the sj people choose Dana?
I only hear
crying over spilled milk - because Pallone is a better Congressman, a better politician, and Andrews and the Norcross crowd have lost serious political weight.
Pallone, the jerk
In terms of political ideology, I agree with Pallone on many domestic and international points; but Congressman Pallone has proven during this senate primary process that he is obsessed with power, specifically his own claim to Lautenberg's seat, and his attacks on Andrews have been vicious and unnecessary.
Calling Andrews a "Lieberman" Democrat is tantamount to slander for us Democrats, as was Pallone's questioning whether Andrews wouldn't be a Republican if the state didn't lean Democratic.
No county organizations should ever give Pallone a line on the ballot in the future.
All These Attacks on Pallone Are Absurd Distractions...
I made no mention of Pallone in my comments above; why? Because he's not the issue here.
Congressman Robert Andrews consciously knowingly intentionally deceived all of his fellow Democratic Congressional colleagues in order to "succeed" in his sneak attack on the democratic process. It's a shame that his supporters are so blinded by their personal love for this man that they are incapable of seeing that he's made a terrible mistake (at best).
You kool aid drinking sore losers who still can't admit that what Andrews did was stupid and wrong can't spin your way out of that reality.
Andrews should honor the latest iteration of "his word" and keep his promise this time around.
All indications are that he will. And that's a GOOD thing! "You people" are more wedded to the idea that Andrews should pathetically/desperately cling to his job than he is! You're not doing the man any favors.
No one is perfect. We all "mess up" in life. We are all subject to the temptations of power/money.
If Rob Andrews really wants to restore his credibility he should acknowledge that this candidacy was a horrible mistake from the get go. And he should apologize to everyone in the state for subjecting us to this wasteful nonsense.
There's no way he will be our next governor or lieutenant governor. Get over that illusion.
If Andrews chooses to "brazen it out" and go back on his word; he'll probably still get re-elected because it's a solid Democratic district; but he'll be vulnerable to a primary challenge from a moderate reformer next time out.
The bottom line here is that ALL this machine politics is, essentially, corrupt.
From Frederick Douglass
Martin
Its tme to stop drinking the CC Kool-aid. Pallone dwarfs Andrews in effectivness and integrity...perhaps you didnt hear Andrews having to kiss GN's rear end even when Norcross delivered a humiliating defeat for him and effectivly killed his political future. Pallone-has ambitions and has publically stated them, but unlike Andrews he has never put his own ambitions before the good of his district or of the overall effectivness of the State or National party.
Well Said SJBlue! n/t
From Frederick Douglass
So let me guess, Sweeney and
So let me guess, Sweeney and Roberts were told to start a bring Andrews back campaign while sitting around the Camden Democratic Party conference room table with Norcross sitting 5 feet away....what am I saying? they don't need to be told, they know what daddy wants...they have been trained well. Sit boy sit. roll over. good boys, good boys.