2009 campaign takeaway: negative ads not (always) effective
Would-be Jon Corzines are quaking in their boots (and heels). Having watched firsthand an unpopular Democratic Governor win reelection in the Golden State in 2002 by trashing his opponent, I thought the New Jersey Democrat’s nasty campaign might have worked.
My opinion of Garden State voters improved dramatically last night. They are not as numbed by images on the boob tube as are their counterparts in California. Or maybe it’s the times. The way we get our news has changed dramatically in the last 7 years.
Despite spending $20 million in ads trashing Chris Christie, Jon Corzine lost to that good Republican. That conscientious prosecutor won with the largest margin of victory of any New Jersey Republican in 24 years — since the very popular Governor Thomas Kean’s reelection in 1985.
With unemployment in the Golden State the highest it’s been since World War II, having increased by 33% since the state’s junior Senator, Ma’am Barbara Boxer, was first elected during a recession in 1992, that Democrat is going to have a hard time running on her record and is likely to pull a tactic (or two) from the bag of tricks she used in her successful 1992 and 1998 campaigns, trash her opponent and avoid taking questions from the media.
But, will she be able to succeed in a political world reshaped by blogs and the internet?
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I do believe that there are diminishing returns to negative political statements. Like when Rush Limbaugh said of Dede Scozzafava, “We can say she is guilty of widespread bestiality. She has screwed every RINO in the country.” Now, to his credit, Owens immediately rejected what Limbaugh said. Of course, since Hoffman is a Beck-Limbaugh clone, he did not. Up until that point, the polls showed that Owens was getting only 50% of the votes of women, far lower than the usual share of Democratic candidates. My bet is that Hoffman’s failure to reject Limbaugh hurt him deeply among a group that was relatively favorable to him. I think the Conservatives and Republicans need to reexamine the offensive Beck-Limbaugh tactics, and to reject Beck and Limbaugh when they use them, if they wish again to be a national party.
Comment by David in NY — November 4, 2009 @ 5:33 pm - November 4, 2009
Actually, that’s hilarious, because Barack Obama and the Obama Party support and endorse calling women whores.
I think the Conservatives and Republicans need to reexamine the offensive Beck-Limbaugh tactics, and to reject Beck and Limbaugh when they use them, if they wish again to be a national party.
We think that David in NY has already stated that his purpose in coming to this blog to comment is to be a troll.
I was really just being a troll, to some degree.
That is typical of liberals, though. No intelligent thought or capability for discussion; only the repeating of Obama Party talking points.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — November 4, 2009 @ 6:00 pm - November 4, 2009
Nicely-Nicely Corzine:
nuf said.
Comment by heliotrope — November 4, 2009 @ 7:22 pm - November 4, 2009
If New Jersey can wake up from the liberal coma there is hope for California as well. There has to be.
Comment by Leah — November 4, 2009 @ 9:32 pm - November 4, 2009
Actually, that was a brilliant observation. If someone was stupid enough to be truly offended by that, who needs them on either side?
Do we really need the failed state of New York? One would think that people would be wary of the fraud that is liberalism after it was put on display by hurricane Katrina. I say write off NY and let the liberals live with the consequences of their votes.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — November 4, 2009 @ 10:21 pm - November 4, 2009
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT GOVERNOR ELECT CHRISTIE CLEANUP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
Comment by PatriotMom — November 5, 2009 @ 7:17 am - November 5, 2009