Thursday, November 5, 2009

preaching to the choir

Most people say that they hate to preach to the choir. However most of the time they're wrong. When the choir is preached to effectively, they will sing to the congregation and beyond.

This is what the Democratic Party of New Jersey failed to do for the Corzine campaign. Whenever you run a campaign, you have to energize the party base first before you look towards the center. This is true for both the left and right. Last year, John McCain did not preach to the choir until he brought Sarah Palin on board. That was too late. However in the short time she had, she did effectively preach to the choir. She did not go for the centrists at all. However in her case, the choir liked her message but the congregation did not.

Governor Corzine could have preached to the choir more. I knew going into this election that I would vote for him, unless he had a primary challenger (who would have had my vote in the primaries as I was realistically looking at the chances there). Throughout the summer, he did not have the Democratic base on board even after President Obama's initial visit.

As a result, a lot of the Democrats stayed home. This IMO cost him the election. I hope that the Governor uses his fortune for good progressive causes after he leaves office. He could really make a difference and back some good groups in New Jersey (Bus for Change anyone?)

Democrats all over the United States, here's a lesson for you. Throw your base a bone, and they will come. Preach to the choir first and they will sing. And to the DGA, look at the approval ratings of all of the governors up for re-election and primary anyone below 50%. In this political climate of "throw em out" then the primary is the best way to hold the seat. My home state of New York comes to mind the most.

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