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State Races (VA, NJ) Seen as Tests for Obama
New York Times ^ | August 6, 2009 | Adam Nagourney

Posted on 08/07/2009 5:20:04 AM PDT by reaganaut1

President Obama has returned to the campaign trail. He is appearing in television advertisements in New Jersey this week on behalf of Gov. Jon S. Corzine, the embattled Democrat struggling to win a second term. And he campaigned on Thursday evening alongside R. Creigh Deeds, the candidate for governor fighting to keep Virginia in the Democratic column.

The New Jersey and Virginia races for governor are the only big-ticket political contests for 2009. And fairly or not — Mr. Obama’s advisers are not alone in arguing that the significance of these races does not extend beyond the boundaries of either state — the contests are being held up as an early measure of how Mr. Obama is doing and a predictor of how Democrats might fare in next year’s Congressional campaigns.

This is posing complications for the White House, as it dispatches Mr. Obama to help. Early polls show Republicans have staked out leads in the two states: Robert F. McDonnell, the former Republican attorney general, over Mr. Deeds to fill the seat being vacated by Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, and Christopher J. Christie, a Republican former prosecutor, over Mr. Corzine in New Jersey.

Officials in both parties say that in the end, the races will be driven by local forces and concerns and note that historically, state midterm elections have proved to be poor prognosticators about future elections.

...

New Jersey may not offer as much of a national lesson as Virginia, unless the economy fails to show signs of improvement and Mr. Obama cannot get his health care proposal through Congress. The New Jersey race is more a race about a strikingly unpopular incumbent, Mr. Corzine, besieged with questions about everything from a corruption investigation to his handling of property taxes.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections; US: New Jersey; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: 2009elections; corzine; deeds; obama; stateelections
It's true that New Jersey, unlike Virginia, is not a state that Republicans must win in 2012 to defeat Obama. But NJ and CA do offer "national lessons" -- big, unionized government funded mostly by the "rich" is not sustainable.
1 posted on 08/07/2009 5:20:04 AM PDT by reaganaut1
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To: reaganaut1
...the contests are being held up as an early measure of how Mr. Obama is doing and a predictor of how Democrats might fare in next year’s Congressional campaigns.

And they should be, though New Jersey more than Virginia. New Jersey has been a solidly Democrat state for decades and GOP gains there would be more of an indications of dissatisfaction in the Democrat ranks. But I think it's much too soon to hold these up as predictors for 2010, much less 2012.

2 posted on 08/07/2009 5:24:32 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur
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To: Non-Sequitur
But I think it's much too soon to hold these up as predictors for 2010, much less 2012.

True!! Cannot understand the dreaming about 2012, if changes are not made in the mid term, then the hand writing would be on the wall for 2012.

3 posted on 08/07/2009 5:29:27 AM PDT by org.whodat (Vote: Chuck De Vore in 2012.)
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To: reaganaut1
The New Jersey and Virginia races for governor are the only big-ticket political contests for 2009. And fairly or not — Mr. Obama’s advisers are not alone in arguing that the significance of these races does not extend beyond the boundaries of either state — the contests are being held up as an early measure of how Mr. Obama is doing and a predictor of how Democrats might fare in next year’s Congressional campaigns.

Why are they "not alone" in arguing against national significance? Because the media, seeing how well the Republicans are doing right now in the polls, are with the Democrats.

In 2005, Virginia and NJ were touted by the media as signs that "the people" were tiring of republican rule, and were ready for change. This even though both states were run by Democrats before the election, and NJ was solidly democratic.

Now, when both states voted solidly democrat last year, a win by Republicans in both states would certainly be a sign that the party is ending for the Democrats. So the media is trying to do early damage control here.

4 posted on 08/07/2009 5:38:12 AM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: reaganaut1

Lord, I pray the statists lose.


5 posted on 08/07/2009 5:57:31 AM PDT by Tigercap
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To: reaganaut1

Exactly right. The Blue State model of killing business while expanding entitlements is simply not sustainable. At some point it has to collapse.


6 posted on 08/07/2009 6:11:52 AM PDT by Malesherbes (Sauve Qui Peut)
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To: reaganaut1

We’re gonna kick Corzine’s ass to the curb. If NJ can do it, anybody can do it.

2010 is going to be a bloodbath for the ‘Rat Party, and they know it.


7 posted on 08/07/2009 6:14:06 AM PDT by gridlock (The ‘RATS are +70 in the House, 60 in the Senate, but it's the GOP’s fault he can't get Health Car)
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To: reaganaut1
It's true that New Jersey, unlike Virginia, is not a state that Republicans must win in 2012 to defeat Obama.

But NJ and CA do offer "national lessons" -- big, unionized government funded mostly by the "rich" is not sustainable.

*******

2010 Senator and Representative campaigns:

I think that the 2010 Senator and Representative campaigns could be a big test of the success or failure of the birther movement.

1. For instance, if a lot of Democratic candidates for Senator and Representative quietly tell President Obama that they would rather he not appear in their district or state to campaign for them, then we will get a good picture as to how strong or weak President Obama has become politically because of the birther movement and because of Obama's own highly critical programs like Obama's health care program.

2. However, if I were Obama, I would be scared to visit towns and cities during 2010 to campaign for Democratic Senators and Representatives, because it is very obvious that Obama will be greeted by angry crowds like the angry crowds that greet Senators and Representatives during this August 2009 recess.

3. And if somehow Democrats force their health care plan down the throats of the American people when they return to Washington after this August 2009 recess, then Obama could be greeted by very angry crowds in the American heartland if he decides to campaign for Democratic Senator and Representative candidates in 2010.

4. WARNING TO OBAMA: Obama better double and even triple his Secret Service guards if he dares to go out and campaign for Senator and Representative candidates in 2010 in the American heartland, because it could get pretty ugly out there.

8 posted on 08/07/2009 6:17:36 AM PDT by john mirse
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To: Non-Sequitur

Don’t think NJ can be considered a litmus test. Why?

Corzine isn’t a machine Democrat. He has NO base. Corzine has Corzine’s wallet to rent his base. That was all he offered. That was the entirety of his Democrat party affiliations.


9 posted on 08/07/2009 11:00:07 AM PDT by JerseyHighlander
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To: JerseyHighlander
Don’t think NJ can be considered a litmus test. Why?

I think that if Corzine is defeated then it is an indication that Obama has been weakened. I don't think that it alone can be considered a litmus test because there are 15 months to the mid-terms and 39 months until the next presidential. That's a lifetime in politics.

10 posted on 08/07/2009 11:41:25 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur
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To: CharlesWayneCT

When that weasel, Kaine was elected, the media told us it was a forerunner of pending future Republican electoral disasters. They were right.

But now it’s spin and simply local politics. Independents are with the out party right now. They usually are. That portends well if future elections are not Al Frankenstein type frauds.

Obama’s policies have barely taken affect and they are already unpopular. The 2010 ballot box will demonstrate that, if elections are fair.


11 posted on 08/07/2009 11:47:14 AM PDT by Luke21
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To: Luke21

We are fortunate that most of our machines are touch-screen voting machines that don’t create paper ballots. So there is nothing to “examine” for which they could “devine” a voter’s intent. Having seen how the democrats on the board interpreted the marked optical ballots, swinging hundreds of votes toward Franken when the public had viewed the same ballots and interpreted them the opposite, I am very happy not to have that possibility here.


12 posted on 08/07/2009 1:21:37 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: reaganaut1

I don’t know which is more hilarious, that Corzine trails Cristie by 15 points or that these dimRAT morons think Obama’s campaigning for him is doing less harm than good.


13 posted on 08/07/2009 5:00:24 PM PDT by South40 (If socialized medicine is best, why didn't Ted Kennedy go to Canada?)
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