Posted on

Bridgeaplooza Democrats are wary of overplaying their hand on Christie…oops too late

casino_royale_1967_596

Bridgeaplooza Democrats are wary of overplaying their hand on Christie…oops too late

Democrats, especially those outside New Jersey casting an eye toward the 2016 presidential race, are excited that investigations sparked by the George Washington Bridge scandal might bring down Governor Christie.

But the reality, some Democrats say, is that the investigative committees created in the state Senate and Assembly face a risk of shooting too high and missing, thus giving Christie a way to say he’s done nothing wrong.

“We have to be careful that this isn’t seen by the public as just a political game, a game of ‘Gotcha’ against the governor,” said Rep. Rush Holt, D-Mercer.

Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., the Paterson Democrat whose district includes Fort Lee, was more blunt.

“If we make this a Democrat versus Republican thing, we’re stupid,” Pascrell said. “We need to simply get the facts out and let the chips fall where they may.”

What happened with Bill Clinton may provide an example. A broad swath of the public was outraged that the president had sex with an intern and lied about it. But after a failed attempt led by Republicans in Congress to impeach Clinton for lying in a civil deposition about cheating on his wife, public opinion eventually turned, to the point that today Clinton is arguably one of the most popular Democrats in the country.

To be sure, the comparison has flaws. Clinton’s redemption took a long time, and his offense could never be explained away as the act of overzealous aides who played hardball politics a little too roughly. (Jackson/The Record)

https://www.northjersey.com/columnists/Democrats_are_wary_of_overplaying_their_hand_on_Christie.html#sthash.bh8weC6Q.dpuf