The race for Governor in New Jersey is one of those situations where I expect to see some involvement and interest at Kos, but when I try to summon up some of that righteous outrage myself , the situation is just too absurd and it keeps the boil from really getting going.
So I've been waiting, waiting for the great orange smoke monster to rise up and see what's on the line and get things moving--the way that orange smoke monster has been known to do-- but so far, very little (Steve's post yesterday was a good start). I guess that's to be expected, but it's almost time to suit back up.
I dunno if it's the off-year nature of the election, the fact that it's a state race, or the fact that Democrats are somehow (somehow!) able to separate campaigning and governing so that we're not locked into the Republican's endless pundit spiral of doom in which everything becomes a spin, schlock, and shout match rather than a substantive discussion of policies and values that, oh, I don't know, MATTER!, but the Kos community isn't paying attention to this race in the way that you should.
And that's a shame, because you're missing some really great shit.
From a sober, practical, adult perspective, the race is already a fascinating study.
You've got Jon Corzine, who, frankly, picked a pretty crummy time to become governor. Trying to get things done for your state with George W Bush in the White House, Democrats and Republicans beating the hell out of each other for all of 2006, 2007, and 2008, and the economy deciding to have a heart-attack aren't the idea scenarios under which to set a new direction of a state that has been chronically mismanaged for so long.
Yet, he did it, and slowly but surely more money was put into education and construction, seniors were taken better care of and more kids got healthcare. And then, when the economy tanked, and because Obama couldn't actually start running the show, he got ahead of the curve and passed a recovery program back in October.
So, one would think, that might be enough to give the guy a chance to govern with a friend in the White House, an economy on the upswing, and an opposition party that might actually just go away so that the clean up from the massive oil spill of bad ideas over the last eight years might happen unencumbered for a little while.
If one thought that, one would be wrong.
So, the only other way to look at the state of this race is in a political context. And when one does that, it's just total lunacy and shoves my previously-mentioned fascination with this race right out of an airplane.
It also helps, as an political communications consultant, that I butter my bread with that lunacy, but I digress. For my money, this is still the most interesting political story out there.
So, here's what we've got:
Jon Corzine- The guy might not be the slickest politician (and, for the record, I think that's a good thing) but he's smarter than pretty much everyone else in the room when it comes to financial issues, has tons of experience running a state and legislating, and he's also besties with the Vice President from their Senate days, independent because of his personal fortue, and a political partner who can work with Obama Administration.
And he's trailing in the polls right now to both of these guys:
Chris Christie- Partisan hack prosecutor for John Ashcroft's Justice Deparment, brother who's a Bush raiser, rejecter of Federal stimulus dollars, general denier of all flavor of corruption charges, and all around "moderate" except for, you know, every single issue. Backed by 2008 crushed pancakes and 2012 best chances like Giuliani and Romney, as well as Steven "Steve" Forbes.
For more on Christie, check out Clammyc's always excellent series of posts over on Blue Jersey.
Steve Lonegan- I'll be honest, I don't know much about Lonegan. When I learned Joe the Plumber was endorsing him and campaigning for him, I think I had the basics. Then Jim Gilcrist, he of Minuteman fame, backed him, and that pretty much sealed the deal.
SO WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?
Look, Corzine's got a tough road. The economy isn't going to turn around overnight, and it's really hard to convince people that things could have been a whole lot worse. That anger and frustration and fear needs to go somewhere.
But to one of these guys?
We've got 2008 replaying itself-- or, maybe, the fight for the future of the Republican Party-- happening right now in New Jersey. Supporters of extremists like Joe and Jim are currently going back and forth with the marshmallow fluff of Romney, Rudi, and Christie, who are trying to keep the Republican Party from going off a cliff.
Why do I feel the early pangs of worry? Because I think that people generally only have a tolerance for so much risk or change, and their memories can be really, really short. We elected Barack Obama! Done!
So, while I'm not fully blown out in worry-hives yet, I think our radar needs to be up and the usual excuses not to make this race a priority right now don't really cut it this time around. We can not simply count on Corzine's money, or Jersey being Jersey, or some sudden turn around that's going to make people see the light.
We won in 2008 because people worked. They didn't need to necessarily be inspired, they just had to agree that a Democrat is better than a Republican, and that they were going to help as many Democratic candidates as possible stomp a mud hole.
We've sort of lost that, and a good as it is that we're all focused on issues and change, we need to find a little bit of that political animal and let it out of the cage again.
Because while we're all busy -- and, ironically, when we actually need to be focused on making the smart long-term, structural changes -- Republicans see an opportunity to capitalize on all of the things that I mentioned up at the top to run a partisan, slash and burn campaign for four months, and slip one (or two, depending on how Virginia shakes out) of their moderate "recovered" Republicans into the state house.
And, just like that, you've got a talking point.
The Republican Party is back. We're turing it around. Voters had the choice to elect people who will champion progressive causes, and they said no. They want some one who's going to be willing to stand up and provide a check on the Democrats. This is a sign of where things are going to go in 2010. Stand up and fight back now, this is what voters across the country really want.
I don't know if it's because I do this for a living that I believe it to be true, but if you say things enough times, it becomes true (see, there's a little, sad joke there).
And if they win in New Jersey, they're going to start saying a lot of things, and they're going to say them a lot, and instead of dealing with the real issues facing this country, we're going to spend a lot of time talking about if the Republicans are coming back.
So these races in 2009 are both the next step and the first step, and the time to standing still on the political front is coming to an end. The primary in New Jersey is next week, and, at the moment, it's looking like we're going to get Chris Christie.
New Jersey is going to be a fight, no doubt about it. Daily Kos needs to start gearing up for another round.
M