Pascrell and Patersonians close ranks around Lautenberg at Hamilton Club

The Rev. Dr. James Kuykendall, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, the Rev. David Rios, and U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell pray on Monday. 

PATERSON - On the Monday before Election Day, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) came to his native city to stand with a coalition of Latino and African-American ministers in a onetime gentleman’s club for the managers who operated the silk mills.

"When I was a kid, I used to walk on the street out there and wonder what was in that dark place," said Lautenberg, son of Jewish immigrants. "Then someone told me, ‘your kind is not welcome.’"

"Speak, Frank, speak," exhorted U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-8), standing with the Rev. Dr. James Kuykendall, the Rev. David Rios and other ministers.

"Finally, when I grew up and I gave some things back to Paterson, they said, ‘well, all right, maybe you can come in," Lautenberg recalled. "I saw the list, and on it I saw all the guys who didn’t like me. So I joined and resigned in 30 days."

A war whoop went up from the small crowd crammed into a dining room of the Hamilton Club, who delighted in the local fight imagery laid on by Lautenberg and backed up by Pascrell.

"Tomorrow, we’re going to come out in force," the congressman told Lautenberg. "We’re not going to let you down, and we’re not going to forget what you did, not only for us Patersonians but what you have done in this state."

Pascrell said the fact that Lautenberg comes from this city means something to him, and to other Patersonians.

"We know he’s been there," Pascrell said. "When you leave here, go past School 6. Frank Lautenberg went to School 6. He didn’t invent School 6, it was there. But he didn’t forget that he went there. He never forgot!"

Lautenberg noted of Pascrell, "Street guy, like me. Street guy."

County Chairman John CurrieEvery fight requires an antagonist, and if U.S. Rep Rob Andrews’s (D-1) regional background as a friendly, moderate Camden County congressman with blue collar roots does not adequately rouse negative passions here, President George Bush does, and so does the Iraq War.

On the eve of Lautenberg’s showdown with Andrews, he and Pascrell tag-teamed gleefully in tethering the senator’s opponent to former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich and to Bush and the Iraq War.

Andrews campaign chairman Michael Murphy groaned in response, "Sen. Lautenberg has made this a one-issue campaign about Iraq, but the fact is that both these guys were in the same place at the same time. In any case, thoughtful people know that Rob Andrews will be the more aggressive senator."

It’s true that Andrews, Lautenberg and Pascrell all supported the war: Lautenberg with a shout-out on Fox television and Pascrell with a House vote. But Andrews’s decision to be photographed with the president during the signing ceremony for the war resolution that Andrews co-sponsored and his slower response to condemning Iraq, puts him in a special category, Pascrell argues.

Referring to Lautenberg the Paterson street fighter by contrast, "There’s no better person to bring about a change in priorities than this man. This administration’s gotten it all wrong."

All heads bowed moments later, and Kuykendall and Rios prayed for victory.

On the mechanical front, meanwhile, Passaic County Democratic Chairman John Currie said he’s had staff in the office for the last six weeks building support for Lautenberg.

"We’re ready to get the vote out, definitely," he said.

In Paterson proper, At-Large Councilman Rigo Rodriguez likewise said he’ll have his people in the street tomorrow. "Sen. Lautenberg’s been good to Paterson and he’s our son," said Rodriguez. "I will make sure that I do my due diligence."

The Lautenberg people boasted of their strength heading into the final hours, not just in Paterson. They have the endorsements of the main gay rights groups in the state, the main environmental organizations and the main pro-choice groups. They have the bulk of labor support, and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in Hudson County.

Muscle flexing on Tuesday amounts to a show of strength for November, they argue, as Pascrell hammered the point that getting Andrews out of the way hastens the collapse of the Bush administration and its apologists.

"You know, all these pundits like to pour gasoline, but I want to see the faces on those same pundits in November, when the millions and millions come out to vote this crowd out of office," the congressman cried.