Giuliani's gift

While 2008 Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani's visit to Teaneck yesterday is only one step on the long road he hopes will lead to victory, we in Teaneck may already have come out winners from his stop in town.

Not only has the former New York City mayor exploded the myth that there is nothing to attract non-Orthodox Jews to Cedar Lane (!), but his fundraiser at the Marriott at Glenpointe last night probably did a lot to swell the coffers and boost the morale of a weak and divided Bergen County Republican Organizaton. Why is this good for Teaneck, a town that overwhelmingly tilts Democrat, having favored Kerry over Bush by a wide margin in 2004 and Menendez over Kean in the 2006 Senate race by an even wider margin?

In short, a stronger BCRO is in the interests of all voters in the area. Given the well-chronicled efforts by the newly dominant Bergen County Democratic Organization to strong-arm opponents of the party leadership both within the Democratic party and outside it and the dubious methods used by the BCDO to keep the money flowing into its coffers and those of its corporate playmates, having a more effective counterweight to the Democratic organization active in County affairs could provide a check on the ambitions of the machine. Whether we support them or not, we all want to see the Republicans put up viable candidates for office who are well-organized and well-financed not only so that we can make a real choice at the polls, but also to keep a leash on the other guys.

In the best of all possible worlds, the Bergen County Republicans would remake themselves in the image of their keynote speaker last night: tough on crime and corruption (think Giuliani the U.S. Attorney of the 1980's), socially liberal, and opposed to higher taxes. Even if they don't manage that, just having a bigger, stronger party on the block to fight back against the local bully could be a big help.