Richard Merkt

Bribery and money laundering may be illegal for almost everyone else, but not for politicians. They call it "pay-to-play" and "wheeling." The party in power almost always benefits from these structural advantages, so politicians love to rail against corruption when they're powerless to do anything about it, but then sit on their hands and make excuses when they could actually change the system.

When Gov. Jim Florio proposed an ethics reform package in 1992 -- partly to fulfill the campaign promises he had made three years earlier -- Republican leaders who controlled both the Assembly and Senate criticized him, saying the plan was politically-motivated. Sound familiar?

During a decade of state-wide Republican control, pay-to-play and wheeling continued as Republicans easily out-raised Democrats. That is, until Jon Corzine ran for Senate (and later governor) and Democrats regained a majority in the legislature. Suddenly, fixing this broken and corrupt system became a top GOP priority and popular campaign refrain.

With the tables turned, Republicans introduced a series of reform measures in 2006 which Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman called a "warmed-over stew of existing legislative measures." Yes it was, but the stew had gotten pretty cold in the hands of Democrats.

Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham) and Mendham Committeewoman Jane Tiger.: Politicker file photoOn the occasion of Gov. Jon Corzine’s release today of wide-ranging ethics reform, GOP gubernatorial candidate Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham), criticized Corzine for dragging his heels.

"The Governor acknowledged from his first day in office that there was a need for a change in the culture of corruption enveloping Trenton," said Merkt, who launched an exploratory committee for a 2009 bid in late summer. "That being the case, it is hard to understand why it took him three years to propose ethics reforms that he could have demanded on his first day in office. In the meantime, dozens of public officials have been indicted and millions of taxpayer dollars have been squandered as these corrupt practices continued without any meaningful opposition by the administration.

Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham) hits his stride in his hometown.: Politicker photo 

MENDHAM - Despite the corruption headlines and the vaunted presence of the man most believe will be the GOP frontrunner in next year’s gubernatorial primary, Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Mendham) charged out on the campaign trail today in this high-end leafy burgh where both he and U.S. Attorney Chris Christie reside.

"My plan is to hit a couple of towns each day I go out and just talk to people," said Merkt, 59, attired in jogging gear and hitting a good stride on Cold Hill Lane on the eastern edge of Mendham.

The self-described New Jersey nationalist started in front of St. Joseph’s Church on Main Street. "You just missed him," Mendham Mayor Neil J. Henry, Jr., had said of Merkt. "But if you go now, you might be able to catch him, he’s headed for Brookside."

Half a mile away, the determined figure of the 11-year veteran assemblyman was spied as he headed into a shady straightaway.

"My purpose is threefold," the corporate attorney candidate told PoltiickerNJ.com. "I want to get to know people, I want people to get to know me, and I want to get in shape. If I can get in shape, it proves I can get the state in shape."

MINNEAPOLIS - Morris County Freeholder Doug Cabana of Boonton said he intends to run for the Assembly in the 25th District now that Richard Merkt announced his decision not to pursue re-election next year in favor of a gubernatorial bid.

"I’ve been getting quite a few emails in the district from people saying it’s your turn to go," Cabana told PolitickerNJ.com. "I called Richard Merkt to verify that he was in fact not running, and he’s not going to run, so I am."

Cabana’s designs on the seat mean the GOP primary next year could be a showdown between the 11-year freeholder veteran and Tony Bucco, Jr., son of state Sen. Tony Bucco (R-Morris), and Cabana's brother-in-law.

Cabana has no qualms about going against the younger Bucco - who’s never held elected office.

But he said he doesn’t want to run against fellow Freeholder John Murphy, who has not decided whether he intends to run for the Assembly seat, according to Cabana.

MINNEAPOLIS - Republican Tony Bucco Jr. issued a release this afternoon announcing that he is running for the Assembly in the 25th District, where Assemblyman Rick Merkt plans to vacate his seat at the end of his term next year in order to run for governor.

Son of Sen. Tony Bucco (R-Morris), who serves as senator in the 25th, the candidate said, "I am running on my record of over 25 years of volunteer public service. I promise to always fight for the taxpayers, families and seniors of the 25th District and provide the best constituent services here at home.

"Our more immediate focus though, must be on coming together as a party and electing John McCain as President and re-electing Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen, County Clerk Joan Bramhall, Morris County Freeholder Margaret Nordstrom this November and all our local elected officials," Bucco added.

Morris County Freeholder John Murphy is keeping his gubernatorial toe in the water just in case.

Last night, he watched John Crowley’s ‘here I am’ moment on a Mississippi river boat cruise. He’s heard the speculation about the potential gubernatorial bids of U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, conservative activist Steve Lonegan and Assemblyman Rick Merkt, and he may not run himself.

“I’m leaning towards not running for governor in 2009, but I also want to have enough exposure and be out there with my foot in the water just in case,” said Murphy, who came in a distant third in the 2005 Republican primary. “If you look at what’s happened in New Jersey politics: Glen Cunningham drops dead of a heart attack, Jim McGreevey resigns in disgrace. Anything can happen, so in terms of ’09, I certainly want to stay somewhat relevant and keep my name out there."

Gov. Jon Corzine at the convention.: Politicker photo 

DENVER - The clash of speaking styles could not have been more dramatic.

There was U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson), consigning Karl Rove to the most fiery furnaces of Dante’s Inferno, and putting extra incisors in the teeth of the party attack dog on the tail end of a Thursday breakfast in which half the crowd had appeared asleep before Pascrell arrived and roused them.

Then came Gov. Jon Corzine, and one could almost imagine the house lights again going way down as he began his morning remarks.

On the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s "I Have a Dream" speech, the governor went to that oratorical touchstone to refer back to something even earlier, which King had also invoked in his 1963 speech: the words "All men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence.

"We now have an opportunity as a nation and as a human race to make that real," Corzine told the crowd. "We will be as hard as Joe Biden’s mother told him to be, but we shouldn’t lose track of the fact that there is a vision for a better world."

It was a quintessential Corzine statement, delivered in the most self-effacing Midwestern tones. Every time he slid a Jersey edge into his rhetoric, as when he roared moments later that Democrats are in the hardest fight of their lives and have one hell of a chance, he still carried the thought to a idealistic conclusion.

Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Medham) is thinking about running for Governor in 2009.
DENVER - When people ask him if he’s a mountain man - one of those hard right warriors from Northwestern Jersey, Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-Randolph) responds that he’s "more of a foothill guy."

Whatever the colloquialism, Merkt said today that he is very serious about trying to climb over the obstacles to challenge Gov. Jon Corzine. Tomorrow he will officially establish an exploratory committee toward that end.

How serious is he?

"I will not seek re-election to the Assembly," said the 11-year legislative veteran, a corporate attorney with TDI Power in Hackettstown.

"This is no trial balloon," Merkt said. "I’ve been considering this for a number of months, and I am convinced that New Jersey needs a governor who respects the people."

Assemblyman Rick Merkt forced two Democratic County Chairmen to apologize for filing an ethics complaint against himTwo Democrats today publicly withdrew an ethics complaint they filed against Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Morris) last year.

Burlington County Democratic Chairman Rick Perr and former Somerset County Democratic Chairman Elia Pelios last year filed a complaint with the Joint Committee on Ethical Standards alleging that Merkt had violated the state’s conflicts of interest law and the legislative code of ethics related to his vote on the 2002 budget.

The ethics complaint, which was also filed against six other Repulbican legislators, was dismissed a month later after the committee found that it went beyond the statute of limitations. But Merkt took particular offense to it, filing a lawsuit against the the two Democrats charging libel and defamation of character.

New Jerseyan Ray Odierno is the new Army Vice Chief of Staff: White House Photo
New Jersey’s seventeen daily newspapers, and PolitickerNJ.com, missed President George W. Bush’s March 3rd appointment of Lt. General Ray Odierno, who grew up in Rockaway, as the new Army Vice Chief of Staff. Odierno led the platoon that captured Saddam Hussein, and served most recently as the Commanding General of Multi-National Corps-Iraq.

Back in December 2003, Assemblyman Richard Merkt told PolitickerNJ.com that Republicans “would be smart to consider” Odierno as a possible U.S. Senate candidate against then-incumbent Jon Corzine.