>Amazingly few Democrat elected leaders bothered to attend the May 22nd union rally specifically orchestrated to influence the voting public’s perception of Governor Christie’s calls for wage freezes, pension changes, and benefits reforms. “Virtually none” is probably a more accurate account. U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), LD-14 Assemblycrats Linda Greenstein and Wayne DeAngelo, and State Senator Shirley Turner (D-Plainsboro) were reportedly the only Dems of notable rank on hand. Four is hardly a quorum!
Speaker Sheila Oliver (an ideological liberal) and Senate President Sweeney (a backer of Governor Christie’s pension reforms) were also notably absent.
So what the heck happened this weekend, Save Jerseyans? Democrats primarily rely on two groups for GOTV: union thugs and collegiate liberals. Since student opposition to Christie’s cuts hasn’t exactly materialized on a grand scale, the Dems certainly can’t afford to take union muscle for granted. It’s therefore a little difficult to understand why not a single Democrat legislator addressed the crowd.
There’s always the possibility that Democrat leaders and union chieftains concluded their rally would be more effective if it wasn’t perceived as an overtly partisan affair. More likely, Democrats realized that locking arms and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with angry union members demanding pay raises wasn’t the best image to convey to taxpayers heading into another tough election cycle. “Chickening out” definitely seems like the most plausible explanation.
Whatever the reason for their no-show performance, the dearth of Democrat participants suggests trouble ahead for the Garden State’s liberal-labor coalition. A more than ironic result given the rally’s intended effect, Save Jerseyans!
Permalink: blog.savejersey.com/2010/05/24/democrat-caucus-chickens-out–skips-saturdays-union-protest.aspx
