You know what has disappointed me the most this year? Not the pace of health care reform. Not the seeming death of the Employee Free Choice Act. Not even the complete lack of movement on new financial regulations. No, what has disappointed me most this year has been the state of apathy among many progressives regarding the 2009 election cycle. It's absolutely pathetic!
Sure, we spent a lot of time and effort on the 2008 election cycle. We elected a Democratic President. We picked up nine (count 'em, NINE!) Senate seats, including the spring defection of Sen. Arlen Specter. We won hotly contested governor's races in places like Missouri and North Carolina. It's great, it's wonderful, and we all deserve a pat on the back.
But it's not over. Don't even think for a second that it's over. Just because Election Day 2008 came and went, just because the calendar flipped over to 2009, doesn't mean that we can just pack up our bags and go home. This is no time to sit down and revel in what we've already achieved. Because guess what? The election cycle NEVER stops. It's time for progressives to get off their collective asses and focus on the next election cycle - which is NOT 2010. It's THIS year. 2009.
Let me explain something. Just because you don't live in New Jersey or Virginia, doesn't mean that you can just sit these elections out. These are YOUR races too. Jon Corzine and Creigh Deeds NEED YOUR HELP.
My focus today will be my home state of New Jersey. Repeat after me:
Frank Lautenberg is 85 years old.
Again:
Frank Lautenberg is 85 years old.
Only Robert C. Byrd is older among current United States Senators.
The voters of New Jersey re-elected Frank Lautenberg JUST LAST YEAR. I was one of them, but I did so reluctantly. I supported Rob Andrews in the Senate primary, even if I didn't agree with Rep. Andrews on every issue. Why? Because I knew we would be facing this conundrum this year. Frank Lautenberg is 85 years old. His term ends January 3, 2015. He would be less than four weeks away from his 91st birthday.
I don't know if Senator Lautenberg will live that long.
I hope he does, of course. He has been a definite long-standing champion of progressive causes. But once you get up into the late 80s, your health will always be a question.
This is why the New Jersey governor's race is so damned important.
If Governor Corzine should lose re-election this November, we will lose the only thing stopping the Republican Party from putting a Republican from New Jersey in the Senate for the first time since 1982.
Governor Corzine may not have high approval ratings. But he's a DAMNED GOOD GOVERNOR. He does things that may not be popular, but they're NEEDED. Had Governor Corzine not done what he was able to do, New Jersey might have faced a fiscal crisis like California faced this year. He halted the runaway spending characteristic of the say-one-thing-do-another Republican administration of Christie Whitman. His attempts at balancing the state budget have been nothing short of courageous in a state where the primary food source for politicians is pork. He is the ONLY New Jersey governor in SIX DECADES to reduce the size of state government. He managed to abolish the death penalty in New Jersey. He provided property tax relief for a state that desperately needed it.
New Jersey has never had a Lieutenant Governor. Previously, the President of the New Jersey Senate has served as Acting Governor when the Governorship is vacant. This year, however, thanks to a Constitutional Amendment passed a few years ago, we are electing a Lieutenant Governor for the first time.
Governor Corzine knocked the choice out of the park. He selected state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, known in some circles as the "Godmother of Progressive New Jersey", as his running mate. Loretta has been a champion of marriage equality in a state that enacted civil unions legislation not too long ago, and which will likely sign marriage equality into law sometime in the next four years, if momentum continues and we have a Democratic Governor. She has been a powerful advocate for people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome. She takes no prisoners and she is one tough woman.
Despite the many reasons why someone should get excited about the Corzine-Weinberg team, outside of the Garden State, and indeed inside as well, there is a collective sense of apathy. Well, let me introduce you to the man who would derail all that we've worked so hard to achieve: Chris Christie.
Chris Christie got where he is today thanks to one man, and one man only:
Chris Christie BOUGHT his U.S. Attorney's job from George W. Bush. He was one of the "Pioneers" that raised HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS for Bush in 2000. In 2002, Bush rewarded Christie with the job of U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. While there, Christie went after Democrats with the same fervor that Karl Rove went after Don Siegelman. He disproportionately went after Democratic officeholders while all but ignoring Republicans. Not to mention he abused his office to enrich his friends:
He is a walking, talking, embodiment of a hypocrite.
But if you need further incentives to get your ass off the couch and get involved in this race - and this is YOUR race, whether you live in New Jersey or California or Georgia or Wisconsin or Kansas or ANYWHERE on the face of the earth if you're a progressive Democrat - think for a second about what Chris Christie's New Jersey would look like.
In Chris Christie's New Jersey, the NRA has the Governor's office bought and paid for.
In Chris Christie's New Jersey, marriage equality will never - I repeat, NEVER - get past a veto pen.
In Chris Christie's New Jersey, pharmacists will deny women from receiving contraceptives.
In Chris Christie's New Jersey, the wealthy will be able to buy all the seats at the policy table.
But perhaps most importantly:
In Chris Christie's New Jersey, a Senate vacancy will be filled by a Republican.
Keep in mind, no Republican has been elected to the Senate from New Jersey since Clifford Case in 1972. No Republican has represented New Jersey in the Senate since appointee Nicholas Brady left in 1982. If something should happen to Senator Lautenberg during 2010 and Chris Christie is governor, we lose our 60th vote just like that. Our progressive agenda will be derailed and everything we have worked so hard for will be stymied. Jon Corzine may not be the most popular candidate, but are we going to take the chance that Chris Christie and his Bush corporate cronies won't be able to fill a Senate seat before 2015? This is YOUR FIGHT TOO. Get off your ass and DO SOMETHING!
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