New Jersey Democrats, and Democrats in general, can rest assured last nights loss was not a referendom on President Obama but more a reflection on NJ's troubled economy and taxes, taxes, taxes. Would I have liked to see Corzine reelected, YES, but I will wish Christie luck and watch carefully to see if he can handle NJ's problems.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs today said that Republican gubernatorial victories in Virginia and New Jersey do not portend anything for President Obama, but the special election in Upstate New York has ramifications for the GOP. The Democrat Bill Owens' win is the important win!
In the New York race, Gibbs said, "we watched a party pick a candidate and then purge that candidate. And I think the result was an election (in which) that district sent its first non-Republican to Congress since before the Civil War."
Referring to tea party activists and other conservatives supporting Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, Gibbs said the result of the race "proves that anger can get you 45% of the vote."
I'm glad I missed Michael Steele on Morning Joe gushing about the rethugs wins, but
he also seemed to deliver a bit of a rebuke to potential 2012 presidential aspirants in his party such as Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Santorum, all of whom immersed themselves in the NY-23 special House race with their endorsements and support for conservative Doug Hoffman who came up short last night.
"If you don't live in the district, you don't vote there, your opinion doesn't matter very much," Steele said while assessing the intra-party strife that resulted in a Democratic pick up of a seat held by Republicans since the Civil War.
GO SARAH,GO SARAH....
So, what's most important right now is Dems standing strong. Joe Biden is speaking out about the House seats in the 2010 elections. Republicans need to pick up 4o seats to take back control of the House.
Biden (who, BTW, did a great job in NY at a last minute rally while the pundits said he shoulda been in NJ helping Corzine!) said these House seats are Republicans “one shot” at breaking the Obama administration’s agenda, Democrats CAN NOT let that happen!
RFK Jr. compared Trump to Hitler and praised descriptions of his supporters
as ‘Nazis’
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* By Andrew Kaczynski, CNN *
* Thu November 21, 2024 *
* NEW on RFK Jr: In audio we uncovered from his radio show he read and
praised a description...
7 hours ago
6 comments:
I think Corzine was toast no matter what. From all I've seen NJ is a wreck and no matter who the incumbent was he was out.
What troubles me as a political hack (small time) is the demands for President Obama to come campaign for the Corzines and Deeds'. Locally, it is standard practice for anyone running to get the customary endorsement from one of our long time office holders that always win their elections. The letters signed by them and fundraisers and assortment of other things. But they never figure out that coattails might work when a candidate is fresh. But the effect is short lived and soon the coattails are cut off. President Obama will most like ly win in 2012 but his star won't carry anyone to victory.
We need candidates that can speak for themselves about ending our occupations and rescuing our economy from the disaster that was spend and borrow Reaganomics. Obama can't do it for them.
In a way this was similar to 1993 when Christie Whitman beat Jim Florio in New Jersey- it was about taxes, too, and a popular young Democrat (Bill Clinton) was in the White House- his influence wasn't enough to save Florio. Whitman only won with about 50% of the vote, just a little more than Chris Christie got yesterday.
There are big differences as well....we were coming out of a recession in 1993, but that was a blip on the radar compared to what happened in 2008. And the national GOP had yet to move to extreme right- there were still moderates of influence in the party. Even with the wins yesterday the general perception is the modern Republican Party is still a Southern based party.
(As I'm typing this Chuck Todd is on MSNBC trying to explain what happened in NJ yesterday to a national audience- the guy is clueless about New Jersey politics).
It was about taxes, taxes, taxes...and Corzine's inability to do deal with it.
It was that simple.
Any GOP'er who is crowing about a "renaissance"... its kind of premature.
Good comments.
I have to disagree with Gibbs. It was fine to try to bring a little sunshine to Dems, but local offices are important, too. That was Howard Dean’s strategy as DNC chairman. As you say, “build from the bottom up.”
Here in South Carolina very few Democrats are on the ballot in local elections. I cannot blame people for not throwing their hats into the ring, when it is a given Republicans win in South Carolina. We do have local Dems who work tirelessly for statewide candidates.
I like your attitude about your new governor, Sue, and I hope he is what the state needs.
BJ
Sue: No one can accuse you of being a whiner or a poor loser. You are a stand up gal!
I definetly believe that the election had to do with the state's issues and not Obama. NJ is in trouble and the citizens blame that on Corzine, NOT Obama, which makes sense, because it's not Obama's fault the taxes are high in NJ.
I hope Christie does well by NJ, too. I'm in PA where taxes are high and only getting higher. So, I feel for you guys.
I also think that Corzine was Seen as a Geithner accolite and a representative of Wall Street, given his background. He was a 'business as usual guy' in a state thet demanded change.
Sorry, Sue. I trust the Republican will flush himself after one term of goose-stepping.
thats awful nice of you Pamela! I don't believe I've gotten a positive comment from a conservative before, thank you!
I see this gov. change as nothing to fret about. We are a fickle state and when things are bad they are very bad. The NJ people are scared and desperate so that means they seek change. I really do hope Christie can do some positive things, afterall I live here and would love to see a drop in my taxes as much as the next guy!
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