You can take the man out of Hudson County , but you can't take the man out of Hudson County

by MAX PIZARRO
PoliticsNJ.com

Rep. Albio Sires confesses to having no life anymore. He spends most weekdays in Washington, D.C. and returns to New Jersey only on the weekends.

Apparently the Democratic Party politics of Hudson County prove too tempting to resist, however, as the one-time State Assembly Speaker and Mayor of West New York on Tuesday mounted a platform in Jersey City's Lincoln Park to declare his support for a roster of insurgent candidates in local, county and state Legislative races.

Standing at ground zero in arguably New Jersey's most contentious primary arena, Sires wasn't happy about it, but he did it.

"This could have been avoided," he said grimly of the latest round of factionalism in his home county.

Sires, who was sworn in for his first term as a Congressman last November, says he has been friends for 25 years with Assemblyman (and West New York Mayor) Brian P. Stack. Stack is running for State Senate against Assemblyman (and West New York Mayor) Silverio Vega, whom Sires supported to take his place in local and state politics, and who now has the backing of the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO).

Anchored by Stack and the fiercely independent Assemblyman Louis Manzo, the entire event in Lincoln Park on Tuesday was framed as a symbolic cannon blast at the walls of power in Hudson County -- the very walls that fortified Sires as he battled in the Congressional Democratic Primary last year against Assemblyman (and Perth Amboy Mayor) Joseph Vas.

"This is a group that has a reputation for working hard, and for representing the people," said the newly minted Congressman, stretching wide his arms to encompass the entire platform of candidates behind him. "I'm here supporting this group."

Sires' presence at the event surprised at least one long-time observer of Hudson County politics.

"Members of Congress should focus on Washington, D.C., rather than be forced to pick sides," says David P. Rebovich, director of the Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.

Rebovich says U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez got into trouble when he backed a ticket in opposition to the late State Sen. (and Jersey City Mayor) Glenn Cunningham, then had to dance in the shower of sparks created by the mayor's phenomenal political ascendancy, and endure Cunningham's recalcitrant presence in notone but two key positions of power.

"I would have thought Sires would have learned from Menendez and waited for the smoke to clear," says Rebovich. "That should have been the only calculation, so his seat does not become politicized."

One thing is personal loyalty, as Sires expressed when backing Stack. But Rebovich says the Congressman, whom he describes as a public figure who "has always conducted himself as a guy with his ego under control," may have forgotten an essential tenant of his position.

"He represents all Democrats,' Rebovich says.

As bad as the poltical in-fighting is here, it may be a relief for Sires, a sort of homecoming from the relentless machinations of Washington in wartime.

"We are spending $8 billion a month on this war in Iraq," said the Congressman, who last year ran against President George W. Bush's Iraq War strategy. "We are spending $2 billion a month in transportation costs alone. I see these young soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital, and I'l tell you, it's simply heartbreaking."