Nov 3rd, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Christie Wins
Republicans pick up the other, closer governor’s race. As I said earlier the outcome obviously has important policy implications for the state of New Jersey but even if Corzine had managed to hang on he would have been hanging on despite his unpopularity.
I think you can see from the unexpected closeness in the NYC mayor’s race that an economic catastrophe is not a good time to be an incumbent elected official.
36 Responses to “Christie Wins”
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November 3rd, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Corzine gets a bum rap. He’s been pretty responsible as a governor but because he lacks the common touch he’s been rejected. Corzine did a much better job as a governor handling the recession than my governor (Tim Pawletny)
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:31 pm
The NYC mayor’s race is not close because people are dissatisfied with Bloomberg’s performance. It’s close because people don’t appreciate having their clearly expressed will (in this case term limits) thwarted by backroom maneuvering.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I can see Matt now, sticking his fingers in his ears saying “LA LA LA LA LA I can’t heeeaaaaaaaarrr youuuuu LA LA LA LA LA nothappeningnothappeningnonthappening.” To be fair, he’s not the only Democrat in denial.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I voted for Corzine, though I could have voted for a Republican had it been a different candidate. I’ve met Christie and came away rather unimpressed.
But regardless. 1/5 of the people who voted in 2008 voted tonight. People here don’t like Corzine. And who knows, maybe christie will be better
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:48 pm
“I can see Matt now, sticking his fingers in his ears saying “LA LA LA LA LA I can’t heeeaaaaaaaarrr youuuuu LA LA LA LA LA nothappeningnothappeningnonthappening.” To be fair, he’s not the only Democrat in denial.”
Yep. Those Dems are in denial.
Everyone knows that after Dems picked up NJ and VA governor’s seats in 2001 it led to a massive victory in 2002.
JIM MCGREEVEY 4 LIFE.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:49 pm
how many progressives do you know that jump onto blogs with which they are not aligned and say inane things that don’t make sense?
nice job, brad.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:53 pm
I can see Brad now, sticking his fingers in his ears saying “LA LA LA LA” and refusing to look at the GOP’s unfavorables. I mean seriously, if you honestly believe that two governorships and a special election in the House mean that you’re back, more power to you. I guess we’ll see what happens in 2010.
I make the bold prediction that some day the Republicans will take back the house, the senate, and the presidency. Maybe all three at the same time! Maybe by 2012, and every partisan is allowed to dream, but the data isn’t there for you yet and tonight can’t make it be there. Savor your team’s victory, but wait for the real. I love my Chicago Bears, but their victory over the Browns on Sunday doesn’t mean they’re going to the Superbowl. Come back when you beat someone with a winning record.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Off-year elections are nice to win, but not much use as predictor of future trends. There are a lot of governors in both parties very thankful that they didn’t have to campaign in this climate — or in the case of Sarah Palin, that they quit for the cash.
It’s funny, though, to see the dumbest of this blog’s trolls doing a pants-off victory dance.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:59 pm
God has truly shat upon us all. I’m donning sackcloth and ashes and awaiting our coming uber-conservative overlords. I think the only “real” conservative is about to lose tonight in a district that hasn’t gone democrat since the civil war, but, also!
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:59 pm
mateo,
Not very many…Although I’d say the same about right wing nuts as well. Echo chambers seem to have a wonderful calming effect for partisans.
But there are some of us that would like to inject a bit of reality into those echo chambers. I’d suggest that you do the same over at some of the right-wing sites…although places like Red State don’t give folks that opportunity with their Politburo type approach to comments. I give you guys a great deal of credit in that respect. You may not agree, but you give people with different opinons a forum on which to present them.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:01 pm
It’s hard to ignore how much campaigning Obama did for Corzine. It obviously didn’t help. While the results of tonight may not have started a trend of Republican victories, they definitely ended the trend of Democratic victories.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:04 pm
It looks like at the last minute the Daggett vote collapsed and the bulk of it went to Christie. Corzine was polling in the low to mid 40s the entire race. It only became competitive when Daggett became a factor.
Did the Dems even pour any significant resources in the NYC mayor’s race? All the accounts I had read showed Bloomberg with a massive poll lead. Strange.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:32 pm
an economic catastrophe is not a good time to be an incumbent elected official.
In particular, it’s not a good time to be an extravagantly wealthy plutocratic incumbent elected official.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:40 pm
My friends in Jersey all voted for Christie, and they are mostly Democrats. It’s not that they even cared about any policy, they just thought Corzine was a corrupt bastard (and that saying a lot there), and just wanted to throw him out. And I grew up on the East Coast, so I know where they’re coming from. I was a Republican back then because the Democrats ran the most corrupt party machine outside of Chicago. They are despicable people and I really hope Corzine is the last of them. Well, except for Jack Murtha, he won’t go away until they throw his ass in jail. And if they do it tomorrow, it will be thirty years too late. The Republicans are cleaning house ideologically, we should do some house cleaning as well and get the old party boss Democrats out. And Corzine was one of them. I’m glad to see him gone. Maybe the Democrats in New Jersey can create a new party based on ideas, not payoffs. I think this helps the Democrats there. They can kick out the people who lost and improve their party. Meanwhile, Christie and the Republicans take the rap for how fucked up Jersey is. And Christie is as dirty as it gets, so the Democrats can finally point the corruption finger at the Republicans. Unless, of course, Christie somehow ends his corrupt ways. Yeah right. If I were a Republican, I wouldn’t want a guy like Christie being a shining example of the party. But then again, they’re already proud to have Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh as their leaders and Sarah Palin as their next presidential candidate. So you obviously can’t apply any logic to them.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:49 pm
How to Win Elections (for Rich Guys) by Bloomberg.
Take out your wallet. Club your opponent to death with it.
THE END
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Frankly, Corzine was a Wall Street sleaze, and Creigh Deeds was a good ol’ boy Blue Dog, so there’s no point in shedding any progressive tears.
It’s perhaps more relevant to national politics that the extra-super-conservative Sarah Palin-and-Glenn Beck-approved mavericky insurgent wingnut extraordinaire in NY-23, who was supposed to prove that the key to Republican resurgence is doubling down on the crazy and throwing moderates to the wolves, has apparently managed to fumble one of the safest Republican seats in the entire House. Rock on, Club for Growth!
On the down side, the bigotry caucus looks to be winning a narrow victory in Maine.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:19 am
Just wanted to agree with #16 about NY-23. That’s the one where it was really looking like the tea party right was going to score a scalp, only now they might well not. Really not good news for whatever ambitions Palin is harboring.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:19 am
So Republicans win both governorships and democrats will win both house seats. Obviously its a Republican tidal wave! Gamechanger! Obama watch out!
I am very worried about Maine though, that would seriously suck if Yes on 1 wins.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:25 am
My guess – Christie is indicted within a year. It’s New Jersey, Jake.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:29 am
It’s pretty entertaining to put a clothespin on your nose and scoot over to RedState to read Erickson’s up-is-down take on NY-23. The capacity of those people for self-delusion is breathtaking.
November 4th, 2009 at 1:05 am
“…economic catastrophe is not a good time to be an incumbent elected official.”
As if Matt, Democrats are on right path?
You, Matt, who all the time stick to Krugman in asking to spend more money have never been vigilant about how that money is spend. You, Krugman and many on Liberal Left (for sure your leader Pelosi and Reid) all want to literally spend tax payer money for the sake of spending – whether it is done intelligently or in fiscally prudent way or not; you do not bother.
Couple of election losses does not repudiate Obama and Dems; but to ignore what danger signs are flashed by these elections is …., well stupidity.
Fact of the matter is Dems passed a stimulus bill which does not deliver what they promised in the first place and have been spending the entire year to produce Health Care Bill which in the end does not address the problem of cost control and is very well on the way to bloat our deficit. And then you want ‘voters to love you’ and if they do not; then you want everyone to ignore that.
Hello? Am I the fool one bothering at all to see if you can think and see the dangers?
November 4th, 2009 at 1:18 am
“Hello? Am I the fool one bothering at all to see if you can think and see the dangers?”
Yes. You are the fool one bothering at all.
November 4th, 2009 at 1:21 am
By the way, since we’re all so busy reading the tea leaves here, what does it say that the first impact the teabaggers have on an election is to flip a near-certain republican victory into a democratic seat? How much of a repudiation of Obama is that? I would say that its a sign that people in a district don’t particularly want to elect a fundamentalist that doesnt know anything about their district. But apparently all elections have national ramifications, so what are they in this case?
November 4th, 2009 at 1:57 am
You, Matt, who all the time stick to Krugman in asking to spend more money have never been vigilant about how that money is spend
Listen to Umesh, Matt!! Surely you can figure out the right amount of Keynesian stimulus during an economic catastrophe instead of blindly following Krugman. Its not as if Krugman knows something about macroeconomics that we all don’t.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:08 am
Note to historians who run into this page on Wayback and find themselves confused: in November of 2009, “Keynesian stimulus” was a conservatard shibboleth, to be read as “fascism.”
November 4th, 2009 at 3:47 am
“Keynesian stimulus” was a conservatard shibboleth, to be read as “fascism.”
It’s primarily an Austrotologist shibboleth, spat out by such cultists as Bob Roddis, junior assistant high priest of Zombie Mises.
November 4th, 2009 at 7:04 am
Traffic at my Essex County, NJ polling station was unusually brisk yesterday. Voters looked like they were coming with a serious purpose in mind. Christie’s win merely reflected the anxiety of people burdened with crushing property taxes at a time of economic malaise.
Christie will in due course prove himself utterly unequal to the impossible job.
November 4th, 2009 at 7:13 am
Is anyone in NJ politics really clean these days ?
November 4th, 2009 at 7:37 am
Re: God has truly shat upon us all. I’m donning sackcloth and ashes and awaiting our coming uber-conservative overlords.
The uber-conservative (Hoffman) lost, and in a strongly Republican district– showing up the emptiness of the Beck-Palin-Teabag movement. Christie meanwhile is a moderate, and in VA McDonnell moved to the center walking away from his earlier hard right social conservatism. The lesson here is pretty obvious: the GOP can win elections if it doesn’t run wingnuts and if it focuses on issues (the economy stupid) that people are actually worried about.
November 4th, 2009 at 7:42 am
My special election isn’t until November 17th. Hopefully Palin and the teabaggers will double down on a California State Assembly race. Business is slow at our restaurant and Fred Thompson loves chicken fried steak. I will even brew up some sweet tea if it will help.
It could be a replay of NY23 since there is one D and two Rs one of whom is apparently a carpetbagger. They tbaggers might even win this time since the districts is about +10% Republican based on registration.
November 4th, 2009 at 7:51 am
The key is to start the economic catastrophe on your way out of office, to ensure a swift return.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:01 am
The lesson here is pretty obvious: the GOP can win elections if it doesn’t run wingnuts and if it focuses on issues (the economy stupid) that people are actually worried about.
Yes, but did the wingnuts learn that lesson, or will they become even more enraged after their second champion’s defeat?
And as a former resident of NJ, I find Corzine’s defeat very good news. If only King Bloomberg had been deposed, that would have been a perfect night.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Corzine didn’t strike me as a bad guy, but it’s certain a bad time to be an incumbent politician with deep ties to Goldman Sachs.
And as a former resident of NJ, I find Corzine’s defeat very good news.
I’ve been out of touch of goings-on in NJ and found myself somewhat surprised to discover that Corzine was one of the most loathed governors in the nation. How did that happen?
November 4th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Here’s a prediction on the lesson the Tea-Baggers are going to offer up on the basis of NY23:
The GOP should never have nominated someone we didn’t like in the first place.
November 4th, 2009 at 10:34 am
I just wish Rubin were contesting an election so I could move to that state and vote against him.
I can’t stand the national GOP right now, but any chance to see someone like Corzine get taken down is *awesome*
November 4th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
To be all one-issue for a minute — with Corzine gone, we won’t get our marriage equality vote in NJ. I didn’t care otherwise, one corrupt bastard or the other, but goddamn — every time I get my hopes up about another state getting marriage, it all goes wrong again.