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April 14, 2008 - 1:05pm

Touting Iraq war plan, Andrews makes formal announcement for U.S. Senate seat

By Max Pizarro
Tags: Frank Lautenberg, Rob Andrews

U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1) in Trenton today.U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1) in Trenton today.

TRENTON - U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1) kicked off his campaign for the U.S. Senate here today in the State House Annex, boasting a plan to get America out of Iraq, a record in opposition to what he cited as damaging trade agreements, and a specific strategy to provide people with better heath care.

"Since the first of the year, 10,000 New Jerseayans have lost their jobs, 70 people who are connected in some way to New Jersey have lost their lives in the ongoing carnage of Iraq, tonight more than 1 million New Jerseyans will go to bed without health insurance," said the 50-year old Andrews, who is challenging U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg in the Democratic Primary.

"I’ve never seen a time in our country’s history when change is needed more urgently than it is now," added Andrews, who on several occasions today referred to himself as the "change" candidate.

Surrounded by family members, including his wife, Camille - who is running for the U.S. House seat he is abandoning to pursue his senate run - and daughters Jacqueline and Josie, the ten-term South Jersey congressman from Camden County vowed to be a people’s senator for the entire state.

"This is an election, not a coronation," Andrews said. "On June 3, Democrats in New Jersey will have a real choice - a choice between the politics of the past and a new, progressive vision for the future. I represent a new generation of Democrats with the experience and enthusiasm to take our party - and our country - in a new direction."

In the last four days he said he had personally reached out to voters at public events in Newark, West Paterson and Carteret, and what he’s hearing in those northern towns is the same as what he’s hearing on his home turf.

"People tell me how deeply worried they are about their economic future," said the son of an unskilled dock laborer who served as an adjunct law professor before beginning his career in congress. 

"Everywhere they turn, they face skyrocketing costs - whether at the local supermarket or at the gas pump, where filling their tanks has become a luxury," the candidate said of people statewide. "They are frustrated by the ever-rising costs of health care and prescription drugs. And they are fed up with a war that has dragged on for far too long, costing thousands of American lives and draining our economy."

While the 84-year old Lautenberg went to the microphones with four women U.S. senators and party brass at a campaign rally in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, the Andrews allies noted the absence of other politicians at their candidate’s kick-off in Trenton.

"Just family," said an Andrews insider.

Camille Andrews supports her husband on Monday.Camille Andrews supports her husband on Monday.

A longtime member of the South Jersey Democratic Organization and friend of powerful political boss George Norcrosss III, Andrews said he is proud of that relationship and does not consider it a hindrance to his being able to convince Democratic voters that he can stand on his own.

"My independence is a matter of record in 22 years," Andrews said. "I will let the voters be the judge of my record and my integrity."

While refusing to acknowledge that he could lose in his bid against Lautenberg, the congressman reiterated his promise not to re-occupy his U.S. House seat, which his wife hopes to secure in the Democratic Primary.

Lautenberg and other party members of the New Jersey Congressional delegation continue to criticize Andrews’s authorship of the 2002 war resolution that granted President George W. Bush permission to send U.S. armed forces into Iraq.

"He was an architect," U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-10) said last week of Andrews’s involvement in war preparations.

Today Andrews highlighted his own plan for withdrawal - delivered publicly 18 moths ago - in contrast to what he said is Lautenberg’s criticism of the war policy without a detailed proposal for bringing the troops home.

Andrews also blamed Bush, describing as "unforgivable" the administration’s "deliberate misrepresentation of intelligence" in the lead up to the war, and one of the worst transgressions of the Bush era. The others, Andrews said, include the administration’s illegal wiretapping program, which the congressman described as "the most dangerous violation of individual rights since the Japanese were interred in camps during WW II," and an overall divisive politics championed by the president and his allies.

The fact that Andrews served as a designer of the war resolution as America’s unpopular occupation of Iraq enters its fifth year shouldn’t break his primary candidacy by any means, according to Dr. Brigid Harrison, political scientist at Montclair State University.

"At that point in time, my belief is he was following his conscience and doing what he thought was right for his country," Harrison said. "I don’t think that one single thing is going to be enough for voters. Remember, Rob Andrews’s views on the war were consistent with a lot of New Jerseyans’ thinking post 9-11."

Dr. Joseph Marbach, Seton Hall University political scientist, agrees.

"Whether he was a supporter or an architect, I don't think the public is going to make that distinction," Marbach said. "They're going to blame Bush."

Concerning the Andrews-Norcross connection as copies of Gannett’s Trenton bureau chief Bob Ingle’s "The Soprano State," describing Norcross’s tough guy tactics, adorn bookstore shelves around New Jersey, Harrison said, "Voters here don’t seem to care a lot about party bosses. They tried to link Corzine with Norcross and Menendez, McGreevey and Florio in general elections were all depicted as candidates with ties to bosses. It doesn’t seem to matter."

"In New Jersey, you're supposed to have a boss," Marbach said. "The only way that could hurt is if you get some do-gooder wing in a general election that gets traction."

The real question, said Harrison, is going to be whether Andrews can garner significant support outside of South Jersey. He and Norcross have already picked up major endorsements in the north, including Newark North Ward Democratic boss Steve Adubato, state senators Raymond Lesniak, Nicholas Scutari, Paul Sarlo, Barbara Buono, Joseph Vitale, and Sandra Cunningham.

But whether that support will translate into votes for Andrews when he doesn’t have any organizational lines, in an election year when thousands of new Democratic voters participated in the Feb. 5 presidential primary, remains a question mark.

Marbach doesn't believe voter enthusiasm for presidential politics will impact a senate race he forsees will draw about 20% of registered voters - and that could benefit Andrews if the machine support he has stays solid.

"I see voter confusion," Marbach said. "A lot of people are going to think they already voted in the Feb. 5 primary." 

Said Harrison, "We have a whole new cadre of registered voters who are unpredictable. "Neither George Norcross nor (Bergen County Democratic Organization chairman) Joseph Ferreiro can predict what many of them (1.1 million registered Democrats) are going to do."

Whatever energy Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton combined to create in their primary here, Brendan Gill, campaign manager for Lautenberg, said Andrews with his record on the war in particular can't credibly embody the change theme.

"Voters want change, but the change they want is from the failed Bush-Cheney policies that Congressman Andrews has been enabling for years," said Gill. "Whether it is his authorship of the Iraq war resolution, his continued parroting of Bush talking points on the war or his insistence that the war was the right thing to do even though no weapons of mass destruction were found, Congressman Andrews has shown himself to be an enabler for the Bush Administration time and again."

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Comments

That's part I.

posted by MartinOne

Part II is the rally tonight in Cherry Hill, which I encourage others also to attend.

04/14/08 1:53 pm

Sorry Martin.

posted by NorthernLight

I have to rearrange my sock drawer. 
 
"Go Swamp Dog, Go!"
04/14/08 2:57 pm

Credibility /Character Is An Issue That Won't Just "Go Away"

posted by Nick Lento

It's telling that Andrews has to deny, yet again, that his wife isn't just a place holder for him to run for congress if he loses this primary. And that might even be true.

If she takes the seat; he's still managed to keep it "in the family". If she yields it to a Norcross flunkie; that too is a flawed result in that the district will have lost 18 years of seniority and a competent representative that will likely be replaced with a complete hack owing his soul to Norcross.

The, essentially deceptive and duplicitous manner in which Andrews became a candidate is not something that can just be swept under the rug.

Andrews needs to address the joint statement of the whole NJ Democratic congressional delegation (excepting him of course) that says he made a solid promise and then strategically broke it at the last minute.

Are they not telling the truth? Every day that Andrews ignores this it becomes a more potent issue.

The New York Times Editorial Board has this to say as regards Andrews' credibility...

http://theboard.blogs.nytimes....

Friday, April 11, 2008
By: NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD

For members of the House of Representatives, running for the Senate is a gamble. Senate and House elections are both held in even-numbered years, which means that to campaign for the Senate, a House member has to give up his seat.

Or does he? That's what people are suddenly wondering in New Jersey.

Rob Andrews, a congressman who is challenging Senator Frank Lautenberg in the Democratic primary this fall, may have come up with a weapon to beat the system. The weapon is his wife, and she just might enable him to run for the Senate but keep his House seat if he loses.

Mr. Andrews, a nine-term congressman, rocked the party's leadership in Trenton earlier this month when he announced that he would be challenging Mr. Lautenberg, after saying repeatedly that he would not.

Then, just before Monday's filing deadline, Mr. Andrews' wife, Camille, entered the primary to run for his seat in the solidly Democratic First District. Mrs. Andrews, 48, is a lawyer and teaches at Rutgers Law School , but she has never before run for public office. Her last name, however, makes her an almost certain bet to win over a few lesser known candidates.

Mrs. Andrews added to the surprise by telling reporters that if she won the primary, she might quickly withdraw as a candidate for the general election and allow Democratic leaders to pick someone else. Party leaders are authorized to select a replacement if the primary winner steps down.

Mr. Lautenberg's supporters quickly charged in telephone calls to journalists that Mrs. Andrews is simply "keeping the seat warm" for her husband in case he loses in the primary.

Mr. Andrews, who has strong support in his South Jersey base, and is viewed as a real threat to Mr. Lautenberg, denies this. In what many believe is a not-so-veiled reference to Mr. Lautenberg's age - he is 84 and would be 90 at the end of another six year Senate term - Mr. Andrews, 50, says he is running because he feels New Jersey Democrats deserve a more active candidate.

In a phone call yesterday he told us that "win or lose" in the Senate race, he would not run for his House seat.

But Mr. Andrews said he would not run against Mr. Lautenberg either - and then changed his mind. The question Democrats are asking this weekend is whether he wouldn't change his mind once again.

 

 

 

 

From Frederick Douglass

If there is no struggle there is no progress......Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

04/14/08 3:13 pm

Deal

posted by Frankie D

The argument that I should be upset that he didn’t stick to a plan to deny my choice of candidates now and in the future is silly.  Not only do I not care that he didn’t stick to the backroom deal, the others should be embarrassed to admit they attempted to map out who is running for what with no one’s input but their own.  At least have the decency to lie to me. 

04/14/08 3:43 pm

The War He Helped Start!

posted by Sir Thomas of Lawrence

Nice to see Andrews taking the "tough" stand against the War after he STOOD WITH PRESIDENT BUSH in SUPPORT OF THE WAR.  I guess we can really rely on Andrews to make the right call regardless of the way the wind blows...Even if it is 5 years too late.

04/14/08 4:51 pm

Under Oath...

posted by peterendina

One has to wonder what it means to "give your word." One has to wonder what it means to "shake hands" and that becomes the agreement. No one forced Rep Andrews to meet at FL's home. No one forced Rep Andrews to support FL. In my neighborhood, shaking hands and giving your word means something. Now I  realize that there are people who will look into someone's face and lie(change their mind). Rep Andrews has a right to run. People have a right to know the character of all individuals who run for office, who they "report" to, and whether they tell the truth to the people they serve with. 

04/14/08 5:39 pm

Character and lies.

posted by Wiel

Are we talking about politicians or regular people? I would not count on politicians to prove their character or tell the truth. So why would you expect it from Andrews and Frank?

04/14/08 7:30 pm

Glad Andrews Has A Plan

posted by FormerlyAnonymous

After all, he helped write the legislation that got us into Iraq.  Who but an architect knows how to tear a house down?

04/14/08 8:18 pm

Here's The Deal Frankie D

posted by Nick Lento

Frankie D says.....
"The argument that I should be upset that he didn’t stick to a plan...."

It wasn't some vague casual "plan" it was a solid commitment/promise made amongst the entire New Jersey Democratic congressional delegation.

It was an honorable and sensible arrangement given that at least three of them had clear designs on the senate seat.

They chose to respect each other instead of engaging in a costly primary fight in which everyone would have got bloodied up, risked their congressional seats and made the electorate so disgusted that a truly first rate Republican just might have chosen to run......and won in the fall against a bruised and battered "victor".

This would not have preclude anyone else (even you Frankie D) from running.

Obviously, if Lautenberg...for any reason couldn't finish his term; then a Democratic governor would have chosen one of the honorable congressmen as a replacement.

I take your point about dirty politics and "back room deals" but you're looking in the wrong place if that's what you wish to see.

The agreement to let Lautenberg run unopposed from within that small group was a sensible reasonable excercise in protecting the best interests of the Democratic Party and of the people of New Jersey.

As you know, most of what determines which laws get passsed and who will run and who will not run is determined off camera; that's par for the political course.

The really dirty back room deals, from my perspective, are the ones that must have taken place to get Norcross, Adubato and Ferriero on board. (and we all know that Boss Joes had second thoughts when he discovered that "mild mannered" Steve Rothman was willing to take a meat cleaver to Boss Joe's political "Crown Jewel" i.e his chairmanship of the BCDO......and Rothman wasn't bluffing, I'm sure.

The more Andrews' trys to pretend that this situation isn't an issue, and the more his defenders try to explain/spin it away; the deeper is the hole you dig yourselves into.

Rob Andrews could defuse this issue in a Newark Minute; all he has to do is to truthfully tell us that the statement that he delegation signed is just not true, and to submit to a full news conference wherin he talks about all the details of the meeting.

Then, of course, they would have a chance to rebut...and the voters would decide who was telling the truth and who wasn't. Andrews' silence tells me that the account that's in that joint statement must be, essentially, true.

And if that joint statement is essentially true; and Andrews just "changed his mind" and went back on his word of honor at the last minute (in collusion with three regional bosses); then Andrews has no credibility.

Frankie D says....

"Not only do I not care that he didn’t stick to the backroom deal, the others should be embarrassed to admit they attempted to map out who is running for what with no one’s input but their own. At least have the decency to lie to me."

That explains your support of Andrews quite nicely.

Most New Jerseyans wouldn't want their elected (or appointed) officials to "have the decency" to lie to them!?!

And again, if it's secret back room deals you're really concerned about, I would go asking what Norcross, Adubato and Ferriero were getting in exchange for their initial (and in the case of the first two...ongoing) support?

Game, set and match.

 

From Frederick Douglass

If there is no struggle there is no progress......Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

04/14/08 8:33 pm

Moving Forward

posted by MartinOne

I'm really not concerned about who made what deal or pledge to run; the issues are too important for this state to martyrize one candidate over another about backroom deals. For me, it comes down to who do I think will do the best job for pushing legislation expanded, affordable, accessible health care; ending the war in Iraq and providing a concrete, nuanced plan to do so; promoting an eco-centered economy (Andrews has a 100% LCV rating) and environmental preservation; bringing back tax dollars sent to the federal government from N.J; and more.

In these categories and more, I see Andrews as the more capable, savvy, and vested candidate than Lautenberg. Moreover, I'm dismayed that Lautenberg is taking cheap shots at Andrews' wife and has yet to make concrete plans to debate Andrews; I'd also like to hear more from Lautenberg himself rather than him having Pallone or Gill do his surrogate work for him, or he substitutes tap-dancing on the Long Branch boardwalk for having a substantive debate about the issues.

In Cherry Hill tonight, there were already hundreds of people there by the time I had to leave early, including media (NBC-10), politickernj folks, Blue Jersey folks, and several politicians. The Andrews for Senate movement is growing. 

04/14/08 10:01 pm

OK, don't actually lie to me...

posted by Frankie D

I do get the point (and the “lie to me” thing was not said seriously).  I just think that the superdelegate debate leads me to frustration about the party making sure we don’t get in the way of what is good for me; and this just furthers the frustration.

The “word of honor” thing is a bit melodramatic.  Backroom deals don’t actually have to take place in back rooms.  I can choose not to care about the legitimacy of a deal that subverts the Democratic process (you may say that five guys in a room is good for the party, I say the democratic voters choosing our candidate is better).   If you want to defend the hurt feelings of a handful of politicians, then vote for Lautenberg.  At least we have a choice; and may the best man win. 

04/15/08 10:56 am

Word is bond.

posted by peterendina

Mr d, It's all about how you are raised. It's cultural. If you make commitments by word or handshake, then you understand. If you have to sign a contract or are willing to say one thing and do something else....Oh well. Every decision has consequences.

04/15/08 2:14 pm

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September 8, 2008

"If they ever make a movie about Rep. Rob Andrews, there is only one actor to play the South Jersey congressman: Jim Carrey. In fact, the comedian already has done the needed research for a previous film: 'Liar, Liar.'" -- The Record's Alfred Doblin.

-The Record, 09/08/08
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