A Repeat of a Sad History?
August 10, 2009 Filed in: Bob's
Corner
Remember Jim Florio, the one term governor of New
Jersey, elected in 1993 and turned out of office in
1997?
The 2009 Gubernatorial campaign has the look and feel of the end of Florio's tumultuous first (and last) term. Back in 1994, Governor Florio rammed through a sudden tax increase that so ticked off NJ voters that they held the grudge for four years. The Republican candidate Florio lost to, Christine Todd Whitman, had a particularly effective campaign message: I am not Jim Florio. Whitman, the elected protest candidate, turned out to be quite the irresponsible Governor, rewarding the voters with a lethal dose of "fiscal conservatism" which featured raiding the state pension fund and increasing state debt from $7 billion to $16 billion. Sound familiar?
While Governor Corzine has some plausible deniability regarding responsibility for the tanked economy of NJ, USA, he has little excuse for his "go along to get along" approach to County Bosses whose support he courted, regardless of the cost to his credibility and reputation. Now that the Democratic political perp walks continue, candidate Corzine has chosen State Senator Loretta Weinberg as his running mate to, no doubt, buff up his thin ethics resumé. After all, while the Governor was making nice with the Bosses, Senator Weinberg -- famously and repeatedly -- got in the grill of now indicted BCDO Boss Joe Ferriero. Weinberg's nervy exploits against Ferriero and his cronies have been chronicled here in The Englewood Report. When Corzine's new running mate was introduced to a cheering throng of supporters in Englewood’s own Bergen PAC theater, she thanked the Governor for being on "her side" in her running battle with County boss Ferriero. Still, the question remains: will Mr. Corzine be able to bask in Loretta Weinberg's moral authority? Perhaps not. But, then again, the incumbent governor is running against a protest candidate who, like Whitman, has some obvious and critical weaknesses of his own. Twelve years after Whitman challenged the Democratic incumbent, history is repeating itself.
Now, as before, the Republican gubernatorial candidate's chief claim to fame is that he is not the Democratic incumbent. Yes, Christie made a name for himself as a prosecutor who made a small dent in the subset of NJ corruption that is illegal. But even that record is undercut by some inconvenient truths. For one, while posing as the Avenging Angel of the Pay-to-Play State, Christie himself awarded a huge, sweetheart, suckup, no-bid contract worth tens of millions to a political crony -- lobbyist/"consultant", Republican ex-Attorney General and Christie's former boss, John Ashcroft. This should lead any alert, Independent voter to immediately suspect the character of someone who can deliver political goodies in the millions while disingenuously claiming to be a reformer. Such a voter will be forgiven if they imagine what a gladhanding Christie might do with billions if elected Governor. But, this is not all.
For those who think that it's time for NJ to have a prosecutor as governor, need we point out how major examples of the species (Elliot Spitzer, Rod Blagojevich and Rudy Giuliani) turned out? Insatiable grandstanding, ethical grandeur, sanctimonious anger, arrogant swagger and large personal appetites are the sine qua non of the stereotypical testosterone laced prosecutor who works the courts. But that macho junk isn't predictive of success in an executive who has to work the legislature.
This election season, there are two things worth remembering before pressing the lever in anger:
"Be careful what you wish for, you might get it" and "those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
The 2009 Gubernatorial campaign has the look and feel of the end of Florio's tumultuous first (and last) term. Back in 1994, Governor Florio rammed through a sudden tax increase that so ticked off NJ voters that they held the grudge for four years. The Republican candidate Florio lost to, Christine Todd Whitman, had a particularly effective campaign message: I am not Jim Florio. Whitman, the elected protest candidate, turned out to be quite the irresponsible Governor, rewarding the voters with a lethal dose of "fiscal conservatism" which featured raiding the state pension fund and increasing state debt from $7 billion to $16 billion. Sound familiar?
While Governor Corzine has some plausible deniability regarding responsibility for the tanked economy of NJ, USA, he has little excuse for his "go along to get along" approach to County Bosses whose support he courted, regardless of the cost to his credibility and reputation. Now that the Democratic political perp walks continue, candidate Corzine has chosen State Senator Loretta Weinberg as his running mate to, no doubt, buff up his thin ethics resumé. After all, while the Governor was making nice with the Bosses, Senator Weinberg -- famously and repeatedly -- got in the grill of now indicted BCDO Boss Joe Ferriero. Weinberg's nervy exploits against Ferriero and his cronies have been chronicled here in The Englewood Report. When Corzine's new running mate was introduced to a cheering throng of supporters in Englewood’s own Bergen PAC theater, she thanked the Governor for being on "her side" in her running battle with County boss Ferriero. Still, the question remains: will Mr. Corzine be able to bask in Loretta Weinberg's moral authority? Perhaps not. But, then again, the incumbent governor is running against a protest candidate who, like Whitman, has some obvious and critical weaknesses of his own. Twelve years after Whitman challenged the Democratic incumbent, history is repeating itself.
Now, as before, the Republican gubernatorial candidate's chief claim to fame is that he is not the Democratic incumbent. Yes, Christie made a name for himself as a prosecutor who made a small dent in the subset of NJ corruption that is illegal. But even that record is undercut by some inconvenient truths. For one, while posing as the Avenging Angel of the Pay-to-Play State, Christie himself awarded a huge, sweetheart, suckup, no-bid contract worth tens of millions to a political crony -- lobbyist/"consultant", Republican ex-Attorney General and Christie's former boss, John Ashcroft. This should lead any alert, Independent voter to immediately suspect the character of someone who can deliver political goodies in the millions while disingenuously claiming to be a reformer. Such a voter will be forgiven if they imagine what a gladhanding Christie might do with billions if elected Governor. But, this is not all.
For those who think that it's time for NJ to have a prosecutor as governor, need we point out how major examples of the species (Elliot Spitzer, Rod Blagojevich and Rudy Giuliani) turned out? Insatiable grandstanding, ethical grandeur, sanctimonious anger, arrogant swagger and large personal appetites are the sine qua non of the stereotypical testosterone laced prosecutor who works the courts. But that macho junk isn't predictive of success in an executive who has to work the legislature.
This election season, there are two things worth remembering before pressing the lever in anger:
"Be careful what you wish for, you might get it" and "those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
