Monday, June 08, 2009

Grassroots vs. Machine

The machine was in full today as it seemed half of the city's police and fire departments took time off from protecting and serving to pass out glossies of Peter Cammarano.

Some donned blue (the Cammarano campaign T-shirt that is) while others had their Hoboken Police and Fire Department baseball caps, decals and shirts on show.

It's a formidable force for the campaign, though some officers didn't do their candidate well by loitering around ferry and PATH terminals, and NJTransit bus stops in packs of five or six.

Let me paint the scene: four to five guys standing around shooting the bull; one guy actually handing out campaign material.

Does that inspire you to vote Cammarano on Tuesday?

For me it offered up a glimpse into the future of a Cammarano administration. As local resident Oanh Nguyen pointed out in her own flier to citizens: "Cammarano says that he will work towards lowering taxes, but I do not understand how that will happen if in his history as councilman, he has not done much that has helped the City save money."

Nguyen, who like me is getting involved in local Hoboken politics for the first time, has done so by passing out fliers to her neighbors (She slid one under the door of my apartment this evening).

"I am concerned that Peter Cammarano and his machine may fool people into voting for him," she wrote. "And a vote for him is a vote to continue the same old politics as in the past."

I wish I had a link or pdf file to share you the whole of Nguyen's handout. She makes a sincere case for voting down the machine, one that's far more convincing than the blue scrum of Cammarano guys hanging out at the bus stop.

Others should follow Nguyen's example, pick up their phones, call 5 friends and urge them to vote. Nguyen inspired me to do more. Now it's your turn.

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