Jersey Politics and the Sad Saga of Rob Andrews

Speaking of political shenanigans, I would be remiss without at least mentioning Congressman Rob Andrews. Andrews, the congressman from New Jersey's First Congressional District in the southern part of the state, recently pull off a pathetic political maneuver that would be outrageous, if it is was not so expected.

Andrews was first elected to the House in 1990, but despite his seniority, for the most part, he has led a largely undistinguished career in Congress. Andrews is a fairly quiet Member, so he certainly does not cut the profile of a show-horse. At the same time, however, it probably would not be fair to say that he is a workhorse either. Indeed, while Andrews is well-known for being one of the most prolific bill-proposers in the entire House -- he routinely puts up hundreds of bills for consideration -- only three of his bills have ever been passed by the full House, and none of them has ever been signed into law. In 19 years. He sits on two mediocre committees with decent seniority, but with probably no real hope of ever getting a chairman's gavel.

Yet, despite his lack of accomplishments, Andrews has long nurtured burning higher ambitions, and has thirsted to move up to either the Senate or become governor, arguably the most powerful gubernatorial position in the nation (given New Jersey's unique constitution and diffusion of institutional power). There is good reason for this ambition. Elected to Congress when he was just 33 years old, Andrews was quickly seen as a rising political star, and in 1997 he made the plunge for a promotion, jumping into the open governor's race. In the primary, Andrews faced off against an unknown state senator named Jim McGreevy. Andrews had the South Jersey political apparatus behind him, and he also obtained key support from a powerful North Jersey boss, making him a good bet to win the primary and then, assuredly, the general. However, it was not to be. The North Jersey boss burned Andrews at the last minute, and Andrews lost to McGreevy 47-to-45. Andrews has likely played out 1997 in his head many times. Had he won the primary and then the general, he would have been a major state governor at age 40, perhaps launching him onto the national stage.

New Jersey's byzantine politics has since hindered Andrews' quest for advancement. When Senator Frank Lautenberg announced his retirement in 2000, he probably would have liked to run, but was blocked by talentless newcomer Jon Corzine and the $67 million he spent to win 50-47. Two years later when the corrupt Senator Robert Torricelli abruptly announced his retirement, Andrews was likely blocked by Lautenberg, who came out of retirement to take Torricelli's place in the Senate he missed. Finally, Andrews was itching to run for governor in 2005 after Jim McGreevy resigned in disgrace, but again he was pushed out by Corzine, who bought the fealty of Jersey's powerful political bosses.

So when 2008 rolled around, it must have been revolting to Andrews that Lautenberg was running again. At 84 years of age, it was widely expected that Frank would finally leave the Senate and let the pack of hungry wolves in the congressional delegation fight it out over the seat. To his great credit, Andrews had grown tired of waiting while he got older and older. He had the choice of meekly accepting Lautenberg's personal greed in running for another term -- much like the rest of the cowardly delegation had done -- or taking a gamble. In response, Andrews did something fairly unprecedented: he announced a primary challenge. In New Jersey, this news was akin to a 9.2 earthquake, where politicians are expected to "wait for their turn", even if they have to wait for decades.

I have a huge amount of respect for politicians who give up a cushy seat to go for something bigger. While too much ambition can certainly be unseemly, there is something to be said for having the guts to give up your career and go for a bigger plum. For all of his warts, I was really impressed when Harold Ford gave up his safe House seat to run for Senate in 2006. While he ultimately lost that campaign -- and his House seat as well -- he took a big gamble, and to me, that is something that deserves respect. Initially, I felt the same way about Andrews. I was impressed he had the guts to run when his colleagues did not. Indeed, the very reason his fellow delegation Members so viciously attacked him -- and essentially disowned him -- was not because of his disloyalty, but merely because he had had the cajones to do something none of them would dare to try. I actually considered supporting Andrews. Then something occurred to me.

This run is a bunch of bs. There is no way he is giving up his seat for what he knows is an almost-certain loss.

Sadly, being from New Jersey, it didn't take me long to take a cynical look at Andrews' run. I realized that given that Andrews had jumped into the race so late -- just two months before the primary -- there was no way he could win with no name recognition out of South Jersey against a politician with 100 percent name recognition throughout most of the state. If I could figure this out, then clearly Andrews, who probably pondered the decision, had realized it too. And sure enough, just this week Andrews finally vindicated my cynicism.

After he lost, Andrews continued to maintain that he was not going back to the House. The South Jersey Democratic machine even installed his wife, a college administrator, in his place, and she won the Democratic primary. While it was a joke in itself (given her complete lack of any qualifications), her selection should not have fooled anyone, as she was merely keeping the seat warm. As evidence of this,. she ran no real campaign from day one.

So it should have come as no surprise this week when Andrews announced that he had changed his mind, and was going to run for his old seat. He said that he had been convinced to run again after been urged to by so many friends and constituents. The matter of his wife actually winning the primary was no problem; she had "dropped out" earlier, and the South Jersey political machine, run by the corrupt George Norcross, could simply slip Andrews right back on the ballot. No fuss, no muss.

A quick word about Norcross. He is one of the most powerful men in New Jersey, even though he holds no office. He is the reclusive de facto boss of the South Jersey machine, and he runs everything with an iron fist. Over time, Norcross has been working to build his power from South Jersey up to the North, where the real power lies. His goal, at least in my opinion, is to eventually have a hand in all of Jersey's political operations, and ultimately send a South Jerseyean to the governor's mansion for the first time since Jim Florio was elected in 1989 (he was ousted after he infamously raised taxes). Sadly, as this sordid episode demonstrates, Andrews is just another one of his political puppets, despite always claiming he was his own man, separated from the well-known corruption of the machine. Do yourself a favor and check out this link to read about some of Norcross's exploits.

Rob Andrews reaffirms every negative thought that people have when they think of New Jersey politics. He never had any intention of giving up his seat to satisfy his naked political ambition, and when he was unceremoniously spanked, he went shamelessly slinking back. Andrews must still be hoping to run for governor is Jon Corzine does not run for a second term next year (unlikely), or perhaps be tapped to be his Lieutenant Governor (more unlikely), or run for governor in 2013 when he will be 56 years old (possible). In the first and third cases, Andrews would likely lose again if he is faces another one-on-one fight against a North Jersey pol; indeed, if Andrews were to face-off against uber popular state Senate President and former Governor Dick Codey (my own personal favorite), he would be annihilated. (Incidentally, such a match-up would be fascinating, and rest assured we would cover it closely here.)

I would like to think that this episode has at least exposed Andrews as a political coward and a calculating stone-faced liar, and has cost him all of his credibility. Fat chance. He will easily win re-election in a D+13 district this November, and be back in his sweet black leather chair, huge desk, and spacious office in Rayburn HOB come January, continuing to do absolute nothing for his state except use it for his own ends.

Pure Jersey.