Posted on 06/04/2013 2:09:46 PM PDT by neverdem
Five-term Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey passed away Monday from viral pneumonia. Lautenberg, the last World War II veteran in the Senate, had retired from the upper chamber in 2000, only to be drafted at the last minute in 2002 to replace...
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So he has a bit of a dilemma here. Legislative leaders have to stand for re-election this year, so appointing one of them could create a vacancy in a pair of bodies where Republicans are already outnumbered.
There is also an ideological dilemma. He could appoint a conservative, but having to run with him or her on the ticket could hurt Christie in the general election. He could appoint a moderate, such as former Gov. Christie Todd Whitman (who almost defeated Bill Bradley in 1990) or Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, but that would not play well in Iowa, to say the least.
On top of all this, there’s a reasonable chance that whomever he appoints will lose in 2013 or 2014, which could make him look weak and complicate his presidential bid. And if he appoints a moderate, there is always the possibility of a Tea Party challenge; New Jersey was the site of two of the earliest such challenges to establishment Republicans. Gov. William Cahill lost in 1973 to conservative Congressman Charles Sandman (who lost by over 30 points in the fall); Sen. Clifford Case lost in 1978 to activist Jeffrey Bell (who lost by 12 points in the fall).
Oddly enough, there aren’t any clear winners here. Christie likely comes out of this a loser however it plays out. Corey Booker and other Democratic candidates just had their path to the Senate complicated. And whoever gets appointed to the seat will have to face an unfriendly electorate twice in the next 18 months.
(Excerpt) Read more at dyn.realclearpolitics.com ...
>> Christie likely comes out of this a loser however it plays out.
Well, he went in a loser, so nothing lost.
Political clarity in New Jersey hung on the fate of an 89 year old man??
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New Jersey ping list, or if you want to volunteer to keep a copy of my list, and grow it hopefully. I'm in NYC.
Sean Trende is almost as good as Michael Barone for political analysis, IMHO.
Christie...Do your duty...Appoint the very best Republican available.
...or welcome to my world.
I prefer to believe that Lautenberg finally expired from accumulated evil!
Keep Cruz (and a few others?) and THROW THE WHOLE LOT OUT.
Does this special election in October mean that there will be another election for the same Senate seat just over a year later, in November, 2014?
Yes, the end of the Laut’s term was Jan 2015.
A headline with two good things!
There will be one in ‘14 and every two years until the 6-year cycle is back in synch. If Louse was just reelected, there will be three.
As to the precise spelling of that person's name ... well, I'm totally muddled on that.
Thanks, I did not know the year Louse was elected last time.
He’ll appoint Corey Booker.
Booker agreed not to run for Governor and Christie agreed to not support someone for Senator against him.
Lautenberg’s term was due to expire in 2014, so the person who wins the special election this fall will run again in November 2014 as the incumbent to start a new six-year term in January 2015.
impossible for any “dark horse” from outside the present NJ political class to even get a tiny % of even just “name recognition” at this point
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