New Jersey has always been a fairly competitive state. It has also, unfortunately, produced some truly horrible political figures (going back to George McClellan in 1864). Worse yet is the corruption and the liberal statism of both state parties. The last actual Conservative Governor was Charles Edison, then a Democrat, in 1940 (and he had to go on bended knee to the corrupt Boss Hague of Jersey City to get the nod).
Go back to the 1980s and you had Governor Tom Kean who won a sweeping reelection victory in 1985 (and getting even a substantial % of the Black vote), but he did next to zilch for the state GOP (and the “Republicans” he did try to help in those days were people like Albio Sires — yes, THAT Albio Sires) and the state swiftly fell to Flim-Flam Florio.
At least one good thing you can say about Florio is that in his midterm elections, the GOP won gargantuan majorities in the legislature. The bad news is with the execrable Christie Whitman beating Florio (and only narrowly in both her runs), she proceeded to piss away all those incredible gains with her statist leadership, and by the time DiFrancesco took over, it was all wiped out for good (and the parting shot from those establishment imbeciles was to sabotage Bret Schundler, a Conservative who should’ve been a national star, from succeeding them — indeed, you can thank both Chrissie and Donnie for the pervert McGreevey and all the 8 years of rotating Governor chaos that followed).
While Christie not Whitman is perhaps a slight improvement, I’ve been wary of him going back to his days as U.S. Attorney. He doesn’t “get it” on illegals and the same threat posed by Mohammandans to our way of life. He’s more sound and fury but little else. You may get 8 years out of him, but ultimately as with Kean & Whitman/DiFrancesco, will you get much else ?
Oh Lord, Sires was a republican? I have it on good authority that the man is as dumb as a box of rocks! I guess we were well rid of him.
And you are 100% correct about Schundler, the party completely betrayed him. That was all abortion uber alles stuff, disgusting. Also, I have heard there was a lot of resistance to vouchers.
But, he could have won, if he had had support and you are right that led to McGreevey and all that stuff.
I work in a law firm and it was pretty amusing the day McGreevy came out of the closet. 1/2 the people were completely shocked, to the other half it was old news.
I think The Onion had the best take on it. Their headline read:
TEARFUL HOMOSEXUAL ADMITS TO BEING GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY.
I saved that one.
i vividly dreamed I was at a campaign strategy kick-off meeting. I was giving them brilliant ideas.
Then i woke up. Glad the nightmare is over. Keep me out of it.
I don’t have much of an opinion on George McClellan as a politician, he sure was a lousy general.
That was messed up how the 1864 rat platform was for making peace and McClellan was allegedly for winning. Talk about schizophrenic.
Almost like the GOP being against Osamacare and yet nominating....oops never mind. ;d