With more than half of New Jersey voters disapproving of the job performance of Governor Jim Corzine, three-quarters of his fellow Garden State Democrats voted to give renew his lease on Drunthwacket, making the spendthrift former U.S. Senator their party’s nominee for this fall’s gubernatorial election.
While Democrats voted overwhelmingly for Corzine in their party’s primary yesterday, Republicans picked Chris Christie, a “former prosecutor who sent a parade of corrupt New Jersey politicians to prison” as their nominee. Most pundits thought Christie had a better chance of ousting the unpopular Democrat (with approval ratings below those of George W. Bush) than did the man he defeated yesterday, former Bogota (New Jersey, not Colombia) Mayor Steve Lonegan. Christie got more votes than Corzine and his two closest competitors for the Democratic nomination combined in a state where Barack Obama beat John McCain by over 15 points.
While it looks like Corzine is set to campaign against George W. Bush, given the mess he’s made of the Garden State, Christie will focus on making the state’s government smaller and returning tax money to citizens. Should he campaign on thosse themes (which he addressed last night in his victory speech), the New Jersey Republican could show that our party’s core principles resonate with voters even in “blue” states like New Jersey.
His success could encourage other Republicans in the Northeast to run for office, helping bring the party back to life in a region where it once dominated, but has note done so well in recent years.
To be sure, Christie faces an unpopular incumbent, but that incumbent is unpopular for a reason, his policies. And his high-spending policies haven’t been much different than another incumbent Democratic executive, the President of the United States.
Dan, you’re right that Corzine is unpopular. But the reason that he is unpopular is that he has been reducing the rate of spending, because he has been forced to with the budget woes. He’s also been forcing furloughs on state workers to their chagrin. He’s trying to avoid layoffs, but not filling positions as workers retire or quit.
The problem has started well before Corzine. We’ve had a tradition of governors, including Brendan Byrne, Tom Kean, Jim Florio, Christie Whitman, and Jim McGreevey, and the legislatures, who have either avoided the problem, or have done interesting accounting techniques to “balance” the budget, while the overall debt ballooned. If you have done an analysis of our state budget like you’ve done for California’s, for each administration, you’d find about the same thing. And frankly, I’d think you’d find it would be comparable for our Republican and Democratic governors. If I get a chance, I may just do that.
As for the Republican candidates for governor this time around, Lonegan campaigned quite negatively against Christie. First Lonegan went on about how Christie would be a big spender raise taxes, etc., and raised ethical issues about Christie. Christie ignored Lonegan until the end, when it looked like Lonegan might actually have a chance. Then Christie’s ad talked about how Lonegan was going to really raise taxes on 70% of the New Jerseyans, despite Lonegan’s claim otherwise.
As for the general election, I don’t see how Lonegan is going to support Christie. His ads, especially about Christie’s ethical concerns were pretty negative. He would have to support someone who, as his ads claim, is basically a crook.
As for my opinion of Christie, it’s mixed. I applaud his efforts as U.S. attorney when he had plenty of NJ politicians arrested for taking bribes, and successfully prosecuting them. Many of them are spending some nice time in prison. However, there are some clouds, just like there is for most NJ politicians. He did award John Ashcroft’s law firm millions of dollars. This might not have been illegal, but clearly shady at best. And we’ll have to see if any of the other claims by Lonegan have legs, as I’m sure the Corzine campaign will exploit it.
Right now, the only ethical cloud from Corzine that I can think of is that he fought to keep his emails to his former girlfriend, a former head of a state workers’ union, concealed. He finally “won” that battle. He probably would have been better if he faced any embarrassment, and had them revealed, since there will always be questions regarding the emails. Anyway, the girlfriend had been bounced as the union head by the unions, and the unions, despite the association of Corzine and the union head, do not like Corzine anyway.
Another thing about Lonegan. When civil unions first passed in NJ, Lonegan refused to perform them, and was very outspoken against them. Soon after, Corzine ordered that any public official who would not perform civil unions could not perform marriages. So Lonegan opted not to do either at that point. So there was no way Lonegan was getting my vote.
Unfortunately, this is not limited to Republicans. When my partner and I went to apply for a civil union at our city hall, we were told that our mayor, a Democrat, would not perform it. We later found out that he followed the wishes of our diocesan bishop and not perform them. So obviously, I’m not voting for the bishop, er mayor, any more. A Republican in a neighboring county eventually officiated our civil union.
Anyway, it looks like it will be a close race. The Republicans picked a moderate. The last time they picked a conservative (who upset the moderate in a primary), they got trounced in the election. Christie, like every other candidate the past 30 years, has promised to rein in spending and fix the budget mess. We’ll see what happens.
Corzine’s unpopular because he cut spending? Um, not so much. Though I doubt a Republican can make much of a difference. NJ, like California, is in the iron grip of public employee unions with gold-plated pensions they are unwilling to give up. I don’t think anything less than complete financial collapse will change any of that.
Apparently, Jon Corzine won’t be running against Christie after all. He’s running against George W. Bush.
The obsession never ends.
California and New Jersey have passed the tipping point. A majority of voters are dependent on the public trough for their jobs, housing, income supplements, etc. and they vote for keeping the sow fed.
I do not see how a government that has grown a massive welfare appendage and has become a massive employer can get the people to go on a diet.
My own state university has grown and grown and grown and raised tuition, lobbied the state and thumped on the alumni to pay the bills. Tuition increases have a trajectory that left inflation adjustment in the distant dust. Their idea of a budget cut is to cut projected spending. Eliminating a position or freezing a department is never considered.
“Moderate” Republicans are not going to bring an axe to the budget battles in New Jersey or California; they will arm themselves with nail clippers, at best. It will take a very strong governor who has a mandate to bring order to the budget chaos. The legislatures are full of conniving weasels who want their extra share of the state pie.
I suggest NJ forego the campaigns and challenge both candidates to a race on the Turnpike on a Friday at 4 p.m.
I heartily endorse Ignatius’ suggestion….preferably somewhere around Exit 7A.
I like Corzine, and I have respect for Christie, too. Not sure who I’ll support yet. What I’d really like to see is every single legislator in New Jersey go to jail. IMHO, every problem in the state starts and ends with the legislators and the local freeholders, all of whom seem to hold 3 – 5 state jobs each.
As much as I love my home state (and was glad to move back in here in ’05 for law school), I will be even more glad to leave in a few years when I can sell my house. God forbid, I’d actually rather move back to the south. 😉
NJ Republicans made a BIG mistake in rejecting Lonegan. The reason Lonegan’s ads were so negative is because 1) Christie is just the kind of Republican that have been leading the GOP into the mess it finds itself and 2) there are lots of questionable actions in his career.
Christie is yet another uninspiring, stand-for-nothing candidate in the mold of Doug Forrester. Why are we so afraid of nominating candidates who actually have a backbone? We had a golden opportunity to get a real limited government conservative into office this November, but instead we wimp out and choose a Nowhere Man.
Good luck in the Garden State. I consider New Jersey to be in a 3-way tie for most corrupt state (the other 2 are Illinois & Louisiana).
#3
Democrats, democrats and ummmmm….democrats. Oh and enough democrats gave us George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and John Ashcroft.
I imagine, though, that Corzine will be delighted to give New Jerseyans the corruption Granny Botox promissed to rid DC of.
Jerseyites are strange. When Democrats do what Democrats do best, pick their pockets by raising taxes, the vote in a Republican, Tom Kean, to put the state´s house in order. Once accomplished they vote a Democrat back only to seek relief again from a Republican, Christie Todd Whitman. Now they´re ready to dump Gov. Corzine. Maybe they should start thinking about become a permanantly red state.
That’s pretty much every state, Roberto.
You’re missing something big in Jersey. Cruise on over to Americablog to see what Sen. Menendez has been up to. See the liberal Gay blogs hold the Dems feet to the fire. Regardless of party. Something to think about.
Roberto, I’m afraid that the Republican governors have been just as irresponsible as the Democratic governors.
V the K, yes, spending has increased under Corzine. However, I don’t believe it has increased at the same rate as under previous governors. I think the link even made that point. Corzine supposedly said that he would cut back to the levels of 2006, which, of course, did not happen. But the next budget is (for the moment) no more than the current one, according to the link.
Yes, state workers’ unions do have quite a grip on the state. Whitman stood up somewhat to them back when she was governor, and now so is Corzine. Which is why he is not liked by the state workers’ unions at all. Depending on what Christie campaigns on, the union may like him even less.
Ellis Wyatt, Lonegan could very well be what NJ needs to get out of the financial mess. But there is no way he would be elected. He would have been trounced just as when Bret Schundler surprised everyone in the Republican primary, by upsetting the moderate candidate.
Conservatives don’t win statewide offices any more in NJ. In the past 30 years, we’ve had Tom Kean Sr. and Christie Whitman, who are both moderates. And we haven’t elected any Republican U.S. senators since 1970.
Neptune, I like NJ too (aside from the always entertaining and corrupt politics, the crappy winters, and the deer that come into my yard eating up my garden). But I doubt that I will be spending my retirement here.
Pat
Schundler could have won; after all he was elected three times as mayor of Jersey City with its large minority population and 16% Republican registration. Christie Todd Whitman knifed him by saying publicly that, ¨he is too conservative for New Jersey.¨ If she had marshalled the moderates of the state to get out the vote, it might have had a different result. We, Republicans, have got to learn that winning is the most important thing. Win first, then carry on our internecub s, preferably in private. It seems as though we haven´t learned our lesson from Senator Jeffords defection as an Independent-Democrat. There is value in the ¨R.¨ However, what gets me p.o´d with the moderates is that they bellyache that the party has moved too far to the right, but when and for whom has Colin Powell campaigned. What has he done to increase moderate presence in the party. The same for the two ladies from and turncoat Specter. Its the moderates who are destroying the party by vailing to support conservative nominees and as a result conservatives now stay home rather go to the polls to support a moderate. Colin Powell had every reason to support John McCain, a fellow Republican who is no died in the wool conservative and also a former military officer. Yet, he supported Obama, I still believe his reason was racial. A number of conservatives abandoned McCain for Bob Barr or the Conservative Party candidate. In California there is a moderate group, the California Republican League, neither he nor any moderate legislator came out to support the group or campaign for its slate of candidates. United we can win; divided we will become a footnote in history.
NJ Dems never have to fear another election. If their nominee falls too far down in the polls — especially if the fall is due to reasons well known in leadup to the primary, all he has to do is drop out of the race at the last minute. The state Supreme Court will swoop in, cast aside crystal clear law, and command that a new nominee be selected by the party apparatus. Without having a meaningful campaign, the new nominee won’t have any known negatives and wins handily.
Too fanciful, you say? See NJ Supreme Court/Lautenberg/Torricelli v. that poor pathetic sap who thought he lived in a state governed by the rule of law.
Schundler could have won; after all he was elected three times as mayor of Jersey City with its large minority population and 16% Republican registration. Christie Todd Whitman knifed him by saying publicly that, ¨he is too conservative for New Jersey.¨ If she had marshalled the moderates of the state to get out the vote, it might have had a different result.
Roberto, I doubt it would have made a difference, but we’ll never know for sure.
Too fanciful, you say? See NJ Supreme Court/Lautenberg/Torricelli v. that poor pathetic sap who thought he lived in a state governed by the rule of law.
Yes, Brezhnev, I recall that, and disagreed with the ruling as well.
NJ Dems never have to fear another election. If their nominee falls too far down in the polls — especially if the fall is due to reasons well known in leadup to the primary, all he has to do is drop out of the race at the last minute.
Then perhaps NJ Republicans can try the same thing. If polls show that Christie is far down in the polls close to election time, he could drop out and Lonegan can swoop in to victory. They can now use legal precedent with the Torricelli ruling. Republicans have more integrity than Democrats to do that? Maybe so, but not in NJ.
I wouldn’t trust the NJ Court — if they can’t understand black letter law, there’s not much hope they can understand and fairly apply their own decisions to different litigants.
#5 and #6;
LOL – I, too, heartily endorse Ignatius’ suggestion; But I prefer they come do it by exit 11 and make a run down the Garden State Parkway dodging in and out of shore traffic on a three-day weekend. (Man, I’d love to see them try to cross that Driscoll bridge)
As for Bret Schundler – He said the reason he lost and the reason he won’t try again is because it takes way too much money! It is a real shame, because we are so lacking in honest people who want to enter politics here in New Jersey on the state level.
make a run down the Garden State Parkway dodging in and out of shore traffic on a three-day weekend. (Man, I’d love to see them try to cross that Driscoll bridge)
That would be fun to watch, Charles. But they probably would have to close a lane of traffic, leaving only seven lanes each way on the Driscoll Bridge. We’re talking a huge traffic jam here.
It is a real shame, because we are so lacking in honest people who want to enter politics here in New Jersey on the state level.
And the local level as well. Where I live, the county regular Republicans were being challenged by another group of Republicans headed by the former county chair who spent some time in jail for his own corruption. Oh, there’s plenty of crooked Democrats too, some still biding time while heading off to jail themselves (some thanks to Christie).