Post-Mortem

No real surprises in yesterday's election. Bloomberg spent his money effectively. Corzine didn't.  

 I knew nothing about Chris Christie, but in the last four years, I can't remember anyone ever bringing up Gov. Corzine in conversation. And this has just been one of those years. People who were disgusted with everything were more likely to vote than people who were merely depressed.

 Did the Republican wins reflect on Pres. Obama? I don't think so. Despite the Obama-haters who get more airtime than their numbers merit, I don't think most Americans are angry at this president. Yet. But, let's face it: Things have to start turning around soon, or next year's election will be ALL about Obama.

 I haven't seen turnout numbers yet, but I can't imagine they were too high around here. I think we're all still exhausted from last year's election...

 Did any of these results surprise you? How about the repeal of same-sex marriage in Maine? Court rulings have made gay marriage legal in some states. Voters still reject it, but consider the numbers. Had anyone told me 25 years ago that 47 percent of voters in Maine would be in favor of same-sex marriage, I would have been stunned. Older Americans -- even many older gay Americans -- still find this concept foreign. But, every year, the numbers seem to shift slightly. And what was initially an almost-shocking notion no longer seems like such a big deal to most of us.

 If any of yesterday's races reflected REAL politics in this country, it was the congressional race in upstate New York, which most pundits agreed had everything to do with feelings of disillusionment and confusion within the Republican party. The GOP continues to spin around in circles, which isn't good for either party. 

 Oh, well. Another election passes into history. Now, let's get this World Series over with...

 

 

Comments

[lwt]

i am asking two/thirds the assessed value of my house. i wanted to leave new jersey before, but now i really really want to leave new jersey. any one but christie. he is going to be so busy giving tax cuts on taxes that won't affect me that my property taxes will go even higher than they are. i hope to be gone by inauguration day.

[dawniris]

I can't help but wonder if another Democrat had campaigned for governor, would they have had a better chance of winning than Corzine did? I don't really understand why Corzine expected to win again; it was clear that so many NJ people were not happy with him over the last four years.

It's not all about Obama; attaching blame of everything to Obama is ridiculous and unreasonable to me.

However, I do think that Obama should have kept his butt away from NJ so much lately; he has too much to do as President; too many people are waiting for him to fail, so I don't think it was reasonable for him to come campaigning in NJ so much for Corzine. Ok that he came once, but after that it was overkill for me.

As I hope for any elected official, I hope that Christie, as governor, won't be all about the republican party only (or embracing some of the hate for Obama) and more about fairly and properly serving all of the people in NJ.

[Debbie from Lyndhurst]

dawniris...Well said!

[Earl]

Bingo Dawniris! President Obama is all about inclusion and "working together" but when push comes to shove, he went out stumping for his own party.

Most folks who voted for Obama did so because they thought he'd be a centrist. Since taking office, though, he hasn't been a centrist, he has governed from the left. And I think people are beginning to realizethat.

Corzine raised taxes at a time when 40+ other states left them alone or reduced them. Tax, tax, tax. Does anything ever change? I think we need to take a much closer look at the services in NJ and trim there - at least that is a start.

Much has been made recently in The Record about state employee overtime and how a few employees are still making a LOT of money on overtime. Has anyone lately looked at the benefit packages of suburban police depts?

[John]

Well said Earl.

[dawniris]

I don't have a problem calling democrats out; however, I never see republicans calling their party leaders out when they don't live up to expectations or promises. How else did Bush stay in office for 2 terms? If his own party was honest and expected the same thing of Bush as they expect of Obama, then they can complain. Bush was NO centrist and did NOT work with Democrats. What about that?

So, here we are, debating who is centrist or towing the party line; the fact remains, until we call out our own party and leaders we are a part of the problem because we can't complain about others if we do the same thing.

I'm an equal opportunity complainer; I call it like I see it and don't play favoritism or that junk.

So, again, it shouldn't have been about Obama. And again, Obama has been in office for less than a year; the expectations from him is unreasonable at times.

[Linda]

From the percentages I saw on one tv station it would seem that that 3rd guy whose name I can't even remember canceled out Corzine. If it had just been the 2 of them Corzine would probably have won. Do you think it was a conspiracy?:)

[Liz]

Daggett took votes away from both candidates so I think anyone who voted for him did so because they thought he was the better choice. People are fed up with the same old same old. I hope Christie does well, it directly impacts my life and my kids life also.

[Earl]

You are correct Dawniris; I voted before Bush the first time because I thought he was the lesser of 2 evils as President, as opposed Gore and Kerry (not because I was thrilled with Bush). The last election I voted for Ron Paul. Bush never called himself a centrist, Obama did. Also, Obama called for transparency in govt, but won't allow his 18 czars to be quizzed by Congress. It's one thing if you never stated you are a centrist, and act accordingly, but quite another if you openly state centrism and then do otherwise.

Agreed about expectations as well, but then how in the heck did he get the Nobel Prize after less than a year in office?

I am sick of partisan politics. More and more I look for independents. Why Corzone lost? I think it was his policies of taxing that did him in, regardless of whether those taxes were justified or not. Each time on of these guys goes down, it sends a message.

[dawniris]

Earl,

We are on the same page with our frustrations with politics and politicians and leaders who don't live up to what we expect or what they promised.

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't Bush supposed to be a moderate republican? I thought he was but he didn't act like it to me. Please correct me if/where I'm wrong.

I can also relate to what you said about how you chose Bush the first time: the lesser of two evils. Unfortunately, that seems to be way many of us feel in a lot of these elections (regardless of ones political party affiliation.)

I understand your concerns about Obama; his overkill by "over visiting" NJ to help Corzine's campaign lends itself to your point. But let's be honest: Obama did nothing that any other politician or leaders haven't done: they support their party line down to the core; that includings stumping for them. In this case, Obama might have "over stumped" lol! (my opinion)

To Obama's credit, I feel like he has bent over backwards and over extended himself (my opinion) to reach out to the republicans on numerous occassions. I feel that too many republicans are determined to not merely disagree as they deem necessary, but they're more determined to undermine anything Obama says or does.

That can make it hard for anyone to remain centrist; the vitriol that many (not all) republicans often demonstrate and express does not make it conducive to working together or for a state of bipartisianship.

But, I feel that we ultimately have some of the same concerns whether it's about Obama, NJ leaders, or politics in general.