There's Something About NJ

Dotty Lynch is the Senior Political Editor for CBS News. E-mail your questions and comments to Political Points

OK. I know it's too easy to make jokes about New Jersey. And actually, the situation that Governor Jim McGreevey has put himself and his state in is beyond laughable. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee summed up a lot of people's feelings: "It is one of those things I think the less I know, the better I feel about it," he told the Arkansas Gazette.

McGreevey's announcement had a bold and gutsy feel to it. But behind the picture of the conflicted 47-year-old man, surrounded by his loving wife and parents, announcing that he was a "gay American" were some very ugly stories — of harassment, extortion, lies, hush money, political and personal corruption. His decision to resign was made hastily. He knew he had to confront the issue before a sexual harassment claim became public, but he apparently went back and forth about whether to step down. There was even confusion about the election law and whether he a special election would be mandated 60 or 37 days before the next general election. In a rush, he announced he was resigning as of Nov. 15 which would ensure a Democratic Governor and (they thought) would remove the scandal from Presidential politics.

But very quickly it became clear that staying in office until November 15 could keep the squalid story alive all fall. Both Republicans and Democrats began to question the timing. Meanwhile, the McGreevey forces have dug their heels in and started putting out sympathetic (emphasis on the pathetic) stories about how his wife was the last to know and that he was being victimized by a man looking for money. There are all sorts of scenarios about how various party bosses are ready to dish if McGreevey is pushed out.

The post-McGreevey political buzz centered on first term Senator Jon Corzine, the mega-millionaire from Goldman Sachs who is said to want to leave the U.S. Senate to run to Garden State. He apparently decided to wait until 2005, but the prospect of a 2004 special election, which would happen if McGreevey resigns before September 3, was seriously discussed.

If this last minute back room maneuvering to deal with a scandal has a deja vu feeling just think two years back. In 2002, New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Torrecelli dropped out of the race in late September when the slime meter hit the danger zone and the Democrats (led by Jim McGreevey and his pals) pulled a switcheroo, putting former Senator Frank Lautenberg in his place. Is there something about New Jersey politics that defies normal election procedures?

One odd thing is that New Jersey has no Lieutenant Governor. Only 5 states fit that category. But in addition to having no Number 2, the order of succession is such that the President of the State Senate becomes the acting Governor and retains his position as head of the Senate, drawing both salaries and creating serious separation of power complications. New Jersey is unique on that little wrinkle. .

There's a déjà vu on that one as well. When Republican Governor Christie Todd Whitman became head of the EPA in 2001, the Republican Senate President Don DiFrancesco served out her term and kept his day job -- and didn't do either particularly well. He dropped out of the next primary under a cloud of ethics issues.

There have been some impressive political leaders from New Jersey in recent years, Tom Kean, Clifford Case, Bill Bradley to name a few. But it's clear that there needs to be some serious house cleaning and some attention paid to fixing the election law if the state is to climb out cloud it is under. And, while they are at it, they might throw in electing the New Jersey Attorney General rather than having one appointed by the Governor.