How to move New Jersey forward from here

As you probably already know, this week has been tough for Democrats in New Jersey, especially in M county. Just when I thought that this week could get any worse, I wake up to some horrible news. I learned that a dear forum friend of mine passed away. This is uncharacteristic of me, but I want to dedicate this post to Shelly, a fellow progressive who was often the lone vocal liberal on a predominately conservative forum, and was not afraid to speak her mind. My thoughts are with your family and all who love you. I know that I will really miss you Shelly.

Unfortunately on Tuesday, New Jersey, and particularly M county took a giant step backwards. However with every loss comes an eventual greater gain. I'm trying to accept the fact, but I am still in the grieving process. We will come back stronger, I already know that in my heart. And I will do all I can to make us come back stronger.

Governor Corzine's a good guy. And now that he's not going to be our governor much longer (sob), he needs to start focusing on his post-political career. I really really hope that he does not go back into banking. Michael Moore called Corzine's defeat a message to the banking industry and was happy he was defeated. I usually love Michael Moore, but this is probably the first time I will disagree with him. Michael Moore will not have to live under Chris Christie for the next 4 years. I'm not giving up on New Jersey or M county because of this election, and I hope nobody else does too.

Because of his former career in banking, Governor Corzine has deep pockets. There are several progressive organizations throughout the state (many of which I am personally involved in) that could really use some financial help to make progress in New Jersey a reality. Several retired politicians use their money to advance their policies and pet causes, most notably Al Gore with climate change. Corzine could be a very strong backer of progress in New Jersey and use his fortune to fight for causes he holds dear to his heart, such as preschool. I really hope that he does.

Since I don't think that the powers that be read this blog (would be nice if they did but fat chance), I will be writing a letter to his office before he leaves Trenton outlining what I hope he would do to advance progress in New Jersey. I have not yet started to draft the letter, so if anyone has any ideas they would like me to add (or for a letter of your own), please utilize the comment section. I'm hoping that he gets a series of letters and will work with the grassroots groups to fight Christie's regressive policies.

Some of my friends think that Christie will not be that bad and to give him a chance. I'm still mixed on that idea, and that I am sure will be a series of new posts in the future.

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.

What we need to do from here

Unfortunately electing Chris Christie as governor was a a short sighted move in the hands of New Jersey. The voter turnout was low as expected, but even more devastating for people like me who worked very hard to get people out to vote. I care about New Jersey way too much to see us get into the wrong hands.

The battle is not over yet though. In fact it's just begun. In defeat, we can accomplish a lot. First of all Chris Christie is not a clean candidate and he never was. He made his career out of airing the dirty laundry of Democratic politicians (like Senator Menendez) for political reasons. I hate playing dirty, but two can play at this game. Democrats must immediately start filing FOIA requests on Christie.

The Democrats must do the following in the lame duck session of the Legislature before Governor Corzine's term is up:
1) Pass marriage equality. Not only will it make the state a leader in progress, but it will also bring much needed revenue to the state. It will also turn Christie's attention to social issues which New Jersey does not agree with him on.
2) Change the rules on how US Senate vacancies are filled. Two major changes need to be made. The first is that a Democrat must be replaced with a Democrat (as well as a Republican with a Republican-- what's good for the goose is good for the gander here). The senate appointment must promise not to run in the special election to ultimately fill the senate seat for the rest of the term. In the mean time, we must all pray for Senator Lautenberg's health so he can serve out his term.

And finally my party needs to start growing a spine at all levels. Let the Senators and great Democratic Congressmen in Washington fight with Christie on state issues. Congressman Pallone, who I have the utmost respect for, needs to act like he did during his rally speech on Sunday and not like he did in the Red Bank town hell, err I mean hall, this summer. Our Democrats in the Assembly and State Senate need to start growing a spine and acting the same way to Christie as the Republicans in Washington are acting towards Obama.

We can bring Chris Christie down. Sure it will take a fight, but I'm up for it. I'm not sure about any of my readers (whoever they may be), but we need to fight. New Jersey has a history of governors who do not serve out their term. If we fight this, Chris Christie can join the list. We must write and call our Democratic legislators in Trenton (I would but they're all Republicans). We must be active in groups like Democracy for America. We must be active in our local Democratic parties. We can do this, but it takes a fight with an army. Right now, we need to build up our army.

What the hell happened?

so New Jersey's no longer a solid blue state as it should be. We will soon have a Karl Rove protege as governor. Our great county is now in control of the Republicans. Here's what I posted on my Facebook page about this whole election:

What the fuck New Jersey? I thought you were better than this! WTF Asbury? WTF Long Branch--- I spend the last four days walking the streets and you can't even get out and vote? Hello!? Look where it got us--- we lost Trenton and we lost Monmouth County! What the hell do I have to do to get my fellow Democrats out to vote? People died for this right, and you just take it for granted. WTF?

That about sums up how I feel right now. And it surprised quite a few of my friends about this as I'm normally this calm nice girl. Not tonight. I see flashbacks to the 2004 election where the Democrats worked hard but ultimately did not show up. The same thing happened in New Jersey tonight. However the loss hits me so much harder tonight than it did in 2004. The great radio host Thom Hartmann always says to "get out there and get active and that Democracy begins with you." In 2004 I sat there. Yes I gave $20 to John Kerry's campaign. But other than that, I sat on my butt and didn't do anything to get him elected. I didn't knock on any doors, I did not make any phone calls, I did not street canvass, I did not ride on the Bus for Change and get people fired up. I watched the debates and results from home instead of with a group of fired up supporters. I did not bother in any of the local elections.

This time was different. I worked even harder on Corzine's campaign than I did on Obama's campaign. I paid attention to every race on the ticket instead of just the top. I even voted early. We got creamed in the county. Such great candidates, but ultimately all the campaigns could have been managed better. It came down to voter turnout. And ultimately the people that we needed to go get out and vote simply did not. The Democratic base lies largely in minorities and younger voters, who historically do not vote. I'm not sure what else can get them to learn the importance of voting in every election.

It all comes down to you

The race for New Jersey governor has become ugly. Anyone living in NJ (or in the NYC and Philly media markets) have seen the ugly attack ads on both sides.

It's an off-year election, which really does not exist in New Jersey. However a good chunk of the electorate only cares in national elections and think that their representatives in Washington can change their districts. That they can, but Trenton has much more influence than Washington does. Trenton's up for grabs today. We Democrats need to prove the naysayers wrong and tell them that we do care about what goes on in Trenton. AP, LB, Newark, Camden, Paterson, etc all of you guys need to get out and vote. I'd love to see last year's turnout! We need to keep New Jersey blue.

I'll be working on a massive GOTV effort all day, and this will be my last post before the results come in.

rally with President Obama and Governor Corzine

So after the Corzine campaign messed up royally in July by not moving the rally with President Obama to a larger venue, I was finally able to see the President stump for the Governor. We went up to Newark in the new Prudential Center (very nice venue, it was my first time there). I was hoping that Newark's awesome mayor Cory Booker (who will most likely run for Governor in 2013 and then IMO use Trenton to leapfrog to the White House), and I was right.

Before any politician took the stage, we were entertained. One thing that I like about living in NJ is its multiculturalism. Groups representing various cultures in NJ performed acts representing their culture, and I thought that was great. I think that people need to be aware of other cultures. It promotes diversity and increases tolerance.

Four New Jersey Congressmen took the stage. Keep in mind Newark's north Jersey and I'm in central Jersey, so I don't pay as much attention to their politicians. My own Congressman, Frank Pallone took the stage there too, even though M county is not that popular up in Newark (I guess they pay attention to the GOP strongholds in the rural and wealthy parts of the county). If he was as firm with his message as he was yesterday at the town hell, err I mean hall meeting in August, it would have been a completely different experience. I'm still confident that he's fighting for people like me.

Then came the great mayor of Newark, Cory Booker, who I had the pleasure of meeting last week in AP. If anyone can fire up a crowd, he can. Loretta Weinberg, who is Corzine's running mate also took the stage. She's just a ball of fire, and an inspiration to women everywhere. She'll be a great Lt. Governor.

Corzine took the stage and talked about how he is fighting for everyone in the room. People may be skeptical of him because he's an incumbent, but he's sincere in his beliefs and he really has been fighting for working people, education, jobs, and health care. And all this from a guy who works for $1 a year.

Then came the President. He mentioned how he's being told how to clean up the mess he inherited. He mentioned his naysayers that claim the mop he's using to clean up is a socialsit mop. Then he mentioned the importance of voting. Voting is what this election will come down to. If the Democratic base votes, then we win. If they don't then we get 4 years of a Bushie ruling the state. It's up to you New Jersey, I already voted, and I hope everyone else does.

comments on the NJ governor's race

So I haven't been blogging much lately, but again real life got in my way :-) That and the fact that we in New Jersey don't have off year elections. We're in a very ugly race for governor, and Jon Corzine needs all hands on deck to get him re-elected because God knows what the batshit crazy Karl Rove protege Chris Christie would do to this state. We also have all of the state assembly up, and one freeholder in this county up. I'll be relieved when it's all over on Tuesday, but I'll be even happier if we can get at least one (of the 6 in the county) Assembly seat, freeholder, and governor.

I just wonder if that the campaigns have done all they could. I have a few major gripes with the Corzine campaign, as well as the assembly in my district. First I'll gripe on the Corzine campaign.
Corzine brought President Obama here to NJ to campaign for him in July, last week, and again tomorrow (yay I am going!). Now President Obama had some brilliant campaign strategies that should have been also used for Corzine. First of all if you're bringing the president into town, you are going to get a high turnout. The venue for President Obama's initial visit was changed, and ultimately was moved to one that held about 17K. The campaign should know that he could pack the house for a larger crowd. A better venue would have been Rutgers football stadium which holds at least three times that amount.

I also would have put strings on the tickets for the Obama (and VP Biden and President Clinton) events. Last year President Obama brilliantly gave away tickets for his DNC speech in Denver (video's here if you would like to watch) to people who were willing to volunteer for his campaign. Governor Corzine's campaign could have easily done the same thing, and would have had teams of canvassers, phone bankers, etc.

I also have issues with the way he handled my county. It's one of the larger counties in the state, and has a very diverse population-- demographically, economically, and politically. Naturally the wealthier areas lean Republican and the working class areas and inner cities lean Democratic. Corzine's done events in areas where you could count the number of registered Democrats on one hand, yet has largely ignored places like AP and LB, that has a high ethnic population who voted in large numbers for President Obama last year. It almost makes me sad that the campaign wrote off M county because even though we probably won't win (it's a very purple county that Obama lost by 3 points last year). But unlike a presidential election where states have a winner take all electoral vote policy, that does not work in statewide elections with the various counties. So even if you can't carry the county, look at the cities and municipalities within the county and see what you can realistically carry, and maybe stage a rally in one of those towns.

Ultimately I like Corzine. He's a very liberal guy, and I don't understand why everyone hates him. Unlike his predecessors, he did not push problems under the rug, and actually dealt with them. Some of the solution to these problems included finding ways to pay for them (such as raising taxes) but he's working on a long-term solution to the problems instead of a quick fix. Do I think that the Democrats would have had a better chance if Corzine had been primaried? Yes. But am I going to not vote just because the candidate at the top of the ticket is unpopular? HELL NO!! The stakes in this election are too high. A win for Chris Christie (R) would mean that NJ will probably not have the public option for healthcare, our schools privatized, our treasury (whatever's left) raided to give out tax cuts to the rich and corporate handouts. Besides the GOP is becoming such a marginal party now (and I am loving every minute of it), and I really don't want them to use this race as momentum for 2010 and 2012.

Get out and vote everyone.