John Wisniewski

Former President Bill Clinton addressed the Democratic National Convention tonight, pledging to help elect Barack Obama: Getty Images Photo
DENVER - The Clinton legacy took a battering in the recent Democratic Party primary, but Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) says most of the landed blows are unjust, and argued that only the former president could convincingly argue on behalf of Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) the way he did tonight.

"In 1992, the Republicans called Clinton too inexperienced and that’s what they’re trying to say now about Barack Obama," says Wisniewski in the Spotted Dog bar at the Inverness Hotel, paraphrasing one of Clinton’s key arguments from his speech at the Democratic National Convention tonight.

"Clinton proved to be one of the best presidents of the 20th Century," added the assemblymen, who is poised to begin his term as a Democratic National Committeeman at the end of this week, where he is interested in examining possible reforms to the system.

President Clinton balanced the federal budget, and created surpluses approaching a trillion dollars.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) and his wife, Debbie.: Politicker photo 

DENVER - The crowd crams into the Spotted Dog for Assemblyman John Wisniewski’s (D-Sayreville) convention watch party, which includes three other recognizable elected officials packed cheek by jowl into this low-ceilinged underground Inverness Hotel hangout: Assemblyman Gordon Johnson of Bergen and West New York Mayor Sal Vega and Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs.

Wisniewski’s been attending conventions going all the way back to 1976, when his father served as a member of the New Jersey delegation. Now he has his own daughters here and they’ve already been on the floor of the Pepsi Center.

"It’s a relaxing atmosphere down here, in a way even better than getting on and off the bus to go out there to the Pepsi Center," says Wisniewski, chair of the state Assembly Transportation Committee.

"At least I know New Jersey’s not the only place with gridlock," he says.

State Party Chairman Joseph Cryan operates at the Inverness.: Politicker photo 

DENVER - It was one of those unlikely big event introductions: the governor of New Jersey revving up the crowd before he rolled out U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn).

Usually it’s one of the members of the congressional delegation warming up a crowd for the governor, but this occasion was different, as onetime Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) stalwart Gov. Jon Corzine yielded to Rothman, a Northeast Regional co-chair of the Obama campaign.

Co-hosting a party with Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) at the Inverness Hotel on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, Rothman hit the two big power chords the Obama campaign hoped to sound with its pick this weekend of Sen. Joe Biden (D-NJ) as Obama’s vice presidential running mate.

"Joe Biden is going to be great at reaching out to working class voters, plus he has foreign policy experience," said the congressman, the only member of the New Jersey delegation to have endorsed Obama from the beginning.

There were scattered hand claps - and a little spark of happiness for Biden.

A Democratic National Committeewoman who was one of the first superdelegates to slip 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 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.

Assemblyman Neil Cohen, who is expected to resign his seat in the Legislature amidst an investigation of child pornography on his office computer, will also give up one of the most powerful committee chairmanships in the Assembly: Financial Institutions and Insurance.  Speaker Joseph Roberts will decide who succeeds Cohen; possible candidates include Jack Conners, a Camden County Democrat (like Roberts) and a retired banker; and John Wisniewski, who now heads the also powerful Assembly Transportation Committee. Lower down on the list are John McKeon, who is a close political ally of Senate President Richard Codey; and current Vice Chair Grace Spencer, a freshman from Newark who served as Mayor Cory Booker’s Deputy Campaign Manager.

Joe Vas’ eighteen-year tenure as mayor of Perth Amboy came to an end today, and he’s not ready to say if he’ll seek re-election to a fourth term in the State Assembly next year.

“That’s a lifetime away.  A lot of opportunities are in front of me and I’m not rushing to make any decisions today, nor do I have to,” Vas said.

Still, despite reeling from a lopsided upset in Perth Amboy, Vas may have strengthened his hold on his Assembly seat – should he choose to run again -- by becoming the Democratic municipal chairman for Perth Amboy.