Garden State Patriot

First, allow me to offer my sincere congratulations to Mr. Christie. I wish him the best, and hope for his success, as he now faces the monumental task of repairing our very broken state. As with any politician, we the people should remain watchful and hold his feet to the fire. When our new governor is on the right course, he will deserve our full support. Conversely, if we feel he is off-course, we should responsibly and contructively say so.

With that said, here are my thoughts on yesterday’s election results.

New Jersey, in my mind, remains a deeply blue state. But even deeply blue states have a breaking point. New Jersey, this year, reached hers. This election is nothing less than a rejection of everything liberal, with voters fed up with an out-of-control, overbearing, overspending, over-taxing government.

Chris Christie’s victory was fueled by this sentiment and, despite a campaign that offered little in the way of specifics, New Jersey voters simply had had enough and opted for change. Christie successfully won over independent voters by a 2:1 margin – and conservatives pushed him well over the top, leading to a surprising 4-point win. Chris Daggett, who was well into double-digits according to some polls, faded badly and only garnered 6% of the vote.

Republicans, no doubt, are a bit euphoric today with Chris Christie’s victory. However, there is reason to temper that enthusiasm.

First and foremost, Chris Christie will still be facing a Democrat legislature. While Christie scored a significant victory, the same could not be said for the party regarding the state assembly races. In a year when the climate was as favorable as could be for Republicans in New Jersey, the party only gained one assembly seat – one.

Additionally, the open space ballot question passed despite opposition from Christie himself. While Christie won by a 4% margin, the ballot question lost by 2% (a 6% swing).

The inability to make inroads in the assembly is troubling to say the least - and speaks to a problem with the party apparatus. Whatever the NJ-GOP’s strategy is with respect to these races, it is failing – and failing miserably. With the election behind us, and the vital 2010 off-year election dead ahead, it is time for serious reflection and change for the NJ-GOP. The solution may not be a simple one, but I believe it begins with giving voters a real, tangible, conservative choice.   

Party chairman, Jay Webber, is certainly in an unenviable position in this respect. With the election behind us, the question remains as to whether Jay will now begin to move the NJ-GOP in a conservative direction. Additionally, we are facing the potential prospect of primary challenges to Reps. Smith, LoBiondo and Lance for their unforgiveable Cap & Trade votes. What happened in NY-23 to Dede Scozzafava could very easily happen with any one of these members of the New Jersey congressional delegation.  

The Christie victory should also teach us a lesson. Despite the misgivings among conservatives regarding Christie’s conservative credentials, on the surface he did run conservatively in many respects. He ran as a fiscal conservative, as well as a social conservative on issues like abortion and gay marriage. Whether Christie governs as such is another matter. To the average voter, perception is reality; and I believe the perception was that Christie was at least moderately conservative. As such, the lesson to be learned here is that conservatives can win in New Jersey.

As we look ahead to 2010 and beyond, let’s just hope that this lesson is not lost on the NJ-GOP.

This quote appeared in yesterday’s e-mail from Assembly Republicans called ‘The Pulse.’ When I first saw it I was a little taken aback. It seemed to me to be a bit of a slap at conservatives and typical of a party that continues to stake out the moderate/Dem-Lite/RINO territory. Well, I wasn’t the only one with a reaction.

Steve Lonegan also questioned its intent. Here is his e-mail response today:

Conservatives were surprised to read the following quote from “The Pulse”, the official newsletter of the Assembly Republican Caucus:

“The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters.”
– Dwight D. Eisenhower, Quoted in The New York Times, November 10, 1963

This quote was not accompanied by a link to the entire New York Times story of November 10, 1963, so we don’t know the context of President Eisenhower’s remarks.  Perhaps he was talking about the planned speech by Malcolm X, scheduled for later that evening.

What we do know is that this quote was unearthed and published at a time when tens of thousands of our fellow Americans are protesting at town meetings and “tea party” events, against attempts by a Democrat administration to enact socialist health care and the cap & tax energy scheme.

These Americans have been called “extremists”, all summer, by the liberal media and left-wing politicians like Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

For decades conservatives in New Jersey have been marginalized and treated with disdain by the Republican establishment.  This pattern continues.

In light of current events, the thought process behind including this comment is questionable, and the judgment, poor.

We expect more from people who call themselves “Republican leaders”.

Frankly, I couldn’t agree more. I’d like to hear someone in the Assembly try to explain this one away.

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!