Governor... Cory Booker?

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Thursday August 23, 2012 · 9:49 PM PDT

2012/08/23 · 21:49

The Huffington Post is reporting that the Newark Mayor is talking with Democratic Party officials about a possible bid to oppose New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in 2013, when Christie comes up for re-election.

A quick excerpt from the article

Booker has reportedly been taking meetings with party chairs in the weeks ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which begins on September 3 in Charlotte, N.C. During these meetings, Booker and adviser Mark Matzen have expressed interest in challenging Gov. Chris Christie (R) next year.

This could be an interesting electoral matchup: The Republican Great White Hope for 2016, versus a rising star in the Democratic Party. A Booker victory would almost certainly put a major damper on Christie's Presidential ambitions. Further, it would mean that we could get Christie out of the Governors mansion, which is a big deal.

However, the glaring flaw with this plan, as noted within the HuffPo piece here, is the very warm and surprisingly friendly relationship between Christie and Booker. That alone could prove to be a handicap on any attempt to unseat Christie. Either way, it will be interesting to see whether he attempts to challenge Christie in 2013, or whether he waits for another year to try for a Senate seat in 2014.

I'm interested to see where this may go.

ororis

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Sunday August 12, 2012 · 3:12 PM PDT

2012/08/12 · 15:12

(Disclaimer: I am not counting my chickens before they are even a glint in mama hen's eye)

For starters, I am a Political Science major at the University of Oregon, and this past year I learned a bit about the theory known to political scientists as electoral realignment. My professor of Public Policy as well as The US Presidency, Dan Tichenor (a really freaking smart guy), took the time to explore and explain the concept in detail for a week in both classes. Ever since he did so, the idea has been stuck in my head. It's been gnawing away at me as I read the news every day. When is the next electoral realignment? Who will be the leader that sets the events into motion? What will this supposed realignment look like? And, perhaps most importantly, where exactly will this realignment take us?

But perhaps I am moving too quickly, and I should assume that very few people truly understand what an electoral realignment is (though the wording kinda gives it away). This theory was crafted in 1955, by the political scientist V. O. Key. The idea, basically, is that every so often an election occurs that dramatically and thoroughly alters the landscape of American politics. This 'every so often' is different for many different political scientists, for instance the professor emeritus of political science at the University of Texas at Austin, Walter Dean Burnham, asserts that these elections occur every 30-36 years. Which, again depending on who you ask, suggests that we are either overdue or right on time for a new electoral realignment.

There is a litmus test for political scientists to determine whether or not a certain election is, in fact, a realignment. The criteria is as follows:

Poll

91 votes Show Results

Does the 2012 Election have a chance to be a realignment?

91 votes Vote Now!

Does the 2012 Election have a chance to be a realignment?

I'm convinced

32 votes

No way in hell

15 votes

Ask me on November 8th

41 votes

TL:DR

3 votes

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Governor... Cory Booker?

Electoral Realignments, the 2012 Election, and the potential return of the Reagan Democrats