Clinton superdelegate who flipped to Obama loses DNC seat
By EditorA Democratic National Committeewoman who was one of the first superdelegates to switch from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama was defeated for re-election tonight. The New Jersey Democratic State Committee replaced Christine "Roz" Samuels with Stephanie Bush-Baskette, a former Assemblywoman from Essex County.
A Democratic official says that Samuels' defeat was unrelated to her defection to Obama in a state where most of the party leadership lined up behind Clinton. Sources say that the DNC seat traditionally goes to Essex, and Democratic County Chairman Phil Thigpen decided today to replace Samuels with Bush-Baskette.
Citing comments former President Bill Clinton made about Obama, Samuels dropped her support of Clinton just after she won the February 5 New Jersey primary. A week later, she endorsed Obama. Samuels, a state NAACP Executive Board member, is a former Newark Teachers' Union, Local 481 official.
Another Clinton supporter, attorney Joseph DeCotiis, did not seek reelection as a National Committeeman. He was replaced by Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), who had endorsed Clinton. Two other incumbents who backed Clinton, June Fischer and Tonio Burgos, were re-elected.
South Jersey AFL-CIO President Donald Norcross, who endorsed Obama a few days after Samuels switched, was re-elected to his national committee seat. He is the brother of South Jersey Democratic leader George Norcross III, and is considered a leading candidate to replace Camille Andrews as the Democratic candidate for Congress in New Jersey's first district.
Bush-Baskette did not play an active role in the presidential primary, although Thigpen was a Clinton supporter. A Rutgers University professor, she is also Of Counsel at former Gov. Jim Florio's law firm. Florio had endorsed Clinton.
No vote totals were released at the meeting, held tonight at the Labor Education Center at Rutgers University.
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This Really Sends a Terrible Message.....
.....about NJ politics.
Unless there was some overriding reason that rendered Ms Samuels unfit for office (and none has been made public); the clear impression is that if you dare to "buck the system" the system will "buck" you.
If NJ Democrats were truly all about democratic principles and Democratic values they would be running unified thematic statewide campaigns with Obama as a speahead for/in ALL the contested congressional seats. Even Rodney and Scotty would be very vulnerable in such a scenario. (Not to mention the good chemistry it would cause on a regional/national basis!!!)
Any Republican who supported Bush's LYING us into a war or voted against SCHIP should be turned out of office. That's an absolute truth.
The Obama candidacy could have been used as a vehicle to register 500,000 new voters in Democratic demographics.
I suspect the last thing the NJ Democratic party wants is half a million energized activated new voters ready to clean up the system.
We'll likely still deliver NJ's electoral votes to Obama; but it should be a landslide by 15 to 20% in NJ.....and, I don't sense that will be the case; unless we change the current trajectory of events.
Again, the dismissal of this courageous delegate is a slap in the face to Barack Obama and his avid supporters in NJ, and that's a dirty rotten shame.
From Frederick Douglass
Ms. Roz Samuels is a great person (and Joe Cryan is not
great...and that is very sad!
LoL
Kathy Callahan
joe cryan
Joe Cryan enjoys abusing his power and authority: crushing and breaking the passionate democratic spirit of good women who fearlessly express their opinions and differing points of view.
Joe Cryan particularly enjoys calling women up on the telephone to humiliate and upset them terribly -to undermine their goodness but definitely not to lift them up!
Is Ms Roz Samuels Going to the Dem Convention
If anyone knows if Roz is able to attend please let me know! Thanks! I agree whole head and heartedly with Ms. Roz's quote of the day posted on politickernj.com on 8-15! I do believe that Chairman ThigPen and Boss of all bosses Joe Cryan retaliated against a passionate and feisty lady -Roz Samuels.
Quote of the Day
August 15, 2008
"This is retaliation for February." -- Christine "Roz" Samuels, one of the first superdelegates to switch her support from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama, on losing re-election as the Democratic National Committeewoman from New Jersey.
-PolitickerNJ.com, 08/15/08