NEWARK – Facing an uprising in the South Ward by a strange alliance of Mayor Cory Booker allies andbackers of U.S. Senate candidate Rob Andrews, U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-10) continues to condemnAndrews as one of the architects of the Iraq War resolution.
"As we see in this latest book that Bush's media person (former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan) put out, we knew it was a flawed policy," said Payne, who voted against the 2002authorization to go to war.
Ina confusingpolitical battle here, Booker is allied with Payne in their mutual endorsement of U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), even asthe mayor'sSouth Ward surrogates are allied with Andrewsas part ofBooker's local fight against Paynefor county committee seats.
Asked about the district leader fight inhis ward in Newark, Payne said, "That's going to be handled by the chairman and the county committee people, so we'll see at the end of the day."
