Nothing, at least for the most part. New Jersey didn't go Republican as a rebuke to Obama. it was a rebuke to a Governor, Corzine, who could not stem the tide of a bad national economy in his home state of New Jersey. The public did not have a sense things were getting better in New Jersey even as they read that the national economy was starting to improve.
If anything had broader implications, it was the New York upstate special election for the New York House race, in which the Democrat won--- a feat not accomplished in 100 years in that norther New York Republican bastion. The fact that Sarah Palin came to push the Republican only sweetened this rebuke of the Conservative Right.
Last night only showed one thing, with the close election for New York Mayor, and the win for a Democrat upstate----no one, not incumbents, or parties in power, can take votes for granted unless they help make things better for America; the country as a whole---or their little piece of it.
Posts
2 comments:
It's true about New Jersey voters, but President Obama himself gave NJersey national focus. He campaigned in NJersey for Corzine 3 times, with much too much fanfare.
Obama's mistake.
Plus the electorat's snubbing of an Obama supporter will give blue dog Dems pause for concern.
Obama's exceedingly amateurish mistake. He seems to have overestimated his personal influence and the influence of passionate speeches. He's made the same mistake in the far more volitile MidEast...
I am not sure if Obama made those mistakes, or if he hoped he could shift the tide from dissatisfaction to a feeling that as America improves so will NJ, and it isn't all Corzine's fault. He may have made a mistake in judgment, or he may have done what he thought was right and hoped would work. I cannot tell yet. Either way---it did not work. I think Corzine tried to fix things for the long haul----and he might have taken many correct actions---but he did it too much like a quiet, behind-the-scenes manager and did not use public forums and charisma, if he has any, to make his case with the public. It allowed his opponents to prortay him as out of touch and ineffectual when it will take some time to know if he was actually changing anything for the better. The only thing I think about it now, is unfortunately, when the national economy turns around, Christie will get the credit for NJ doing better, when it will have been Obama nationally, and possibly Corzine's work in NJ, that will be the main engines of that turn around. But then, that happens all the time---so what are you gonna do?!
Post a Comment