The Race to Join California

Mark of New Jersey

Mark is a Founding Editor of The League of Ordinary Gentlemen, the predecessor of Ordinary Times.

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12 Responses

  1. Koz says:

    Really? It seems to be that “not being a Democrat” is a pretty good first step for those of us into pattern recognition and such.

    “Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin join California as those most at risk of fiscal calamity,….”Report

    • Mark Thompson in reply to Koz says:

      AFAIK, Florida’s state government has been pretty Red for awhile; Nevada’s governor has been Red for a decade; Illinois had a GOP governor for a quarter century before Blago; Arizona currently has a GOP governor and only had a Dem governor for 6 of the last 18 years, and has GOP majorities in both legislative chambers; California’s had a GOP governor for the last 6 years; and so on.

      If we’re into pattern recognition, the only pattern I see is that all the governors and legislative majorities in recent memory hail from only two parties. Perhaps one can make a case that Republicans are marginally less fiscally irresponsible and thus slow the downward spiral, I don’t know, but one simply cannot make the case that Republicans are inherently fiscally responsible and capable of actually stopping the downward spiral merely by being “not Democrats.”Report

  2. Scott says:

    Jeez, can you give the new gov a chance before you totally pan him? Or do Repubs get panned just for being a Repub?Report

    • Mark Thompson in reply to Scott says:

      No, he gets panned for running a campaign utterly devoid of any message beyond “not Corzine,” leaving him with no mandate and no vision of how he will actually solve the myriad problems this state has.Report

      • Scott in reply to Mark Thompson says:

        So what? Politicians run as the “not X” candidate all the time. Do you have a conniption every time that happens? Why can’t you give the guy a chance before you write him off.Report

        • Mark Thompson in reply to Scott says:

          “So what? Politicians run as the “not X” candidate all the time.”

          Politicians also have a tendency to make matters worse all the time, as well. Nor am I having a conniption here – just pointing out the problems with the GOP as it is currently structured and pointing out that New Jersey (where I happen to actually live) is in deep shit right now, and that what usually passes for “good enough” is no longer “good enough.” Maybe I’m wrong; I sure as hell hope I am. Maybe Christie secretly has a plan to fix the situation beyond a 30-year old GOP toolkit; maybe he even found himself persuaded by Daggett’s plan. But I doubt it.Report

          • Scott in reply to Mark Thompson says:

            “But I doubt it.”

            Why won’t you give him a chance to do something first before you write him off as a failure?Report

            • Mark Thompson in reply to Scott says:

              I’m not writing him off as a failure. But unless he shows something that he didn’t show on the campaign trail, he will be a failure. Even if he does show something he didn’t on the campaign trail, his failure to articulate any kind of positive agenda left him without a mandate, which will make it even more difficult than it would otherwise be to strong-arm the Dem legislature into enacting desperately-needed reforms.Report

              • Scott in reply to Mark Thompson says:

                Please, did you really expect a Repub to get a elected much less a mandate in NJ? Besides didn’t Corzine run a negative campaign and not about how he would fix the problem?Report

              • Mark Thompson in reply to Scott says:

                Christie was actually a huge favorite to win coming out of the primary against Lonegan, with a consistent double-digit lead due to Corzine’s deep unpopularity and widespread Dem corruption in the state. Yes, Corzine ran almost entirely a negative campaign (Christie’s wasn’t much better), but I’m far from a Corzine apologist or supporter. That the race wound up as close as it did – only a four-point victory – is testament to Christie’s weaknesses as a candidate.

                Regardless, that’s not what I’m referring to when I talk about a mandate. Instead, I’m talking about the ability to point to a platform that you ran on and say “this is what the voters elected me to do.”

                Also – New Jersey is not nearly as Blue as people seem to think. It really wasn’t all that long ago that we were considered a swing state, and for quite some time in the 90s, Republicans completely dominated Trenton.Report

  3. cfpete says:

    Any candidate for NJ Governor who actually ran an honest and forthright campaign would surely be brought before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
    Because acknowledging the fiscal realities in NJ (ridiculously underfunded state pensions) would almost certainly cause mass suicide among the electorate.

    Seeking elected office in NJ should alone be a disqualification from holding that office.
    New Jersey needs to start a secret commission to identify “candidates” for elected office.
    Secret, because those “candidates” will surely flee to locales lacking extradition treaties with the US and then you will have to bring in the CIA … extraordinary rendition … it will get messy.
    When you have captured er… elected your candidate, I would suggest this.

    But seriously, the difference between Florida and New Jersey is that Florida can raise taxes to make up for the budget shortfall and still be nowhere near the level of taxation in NJ.
    It took a long string of Democrats and Republicans to create New Jersey’s problems, and it will take nothing less than once in a lifetime – extraordinary politicians to fix those problems.
    It will be fun to watch, from afar.
    Good Luck Mark!Report

    • Mark Thompson in reply to cfpete says:

      Indeed. Of course for a brief moment we actually had an indy candidate in the spotlight who was doing exactly that, even geting as high as 15% in the polls despite virtually no funding. Then Election Day came and the voters did what they always do.Report