RSS Feed MenuConservatives are up in arms over the third party candidacy of Chris Daggett in New Jersey’s gubernatorial race. Daggett, a Republican turned independent has been pulling votes away from the GOP candidate, Chris Christie. Many fear that Gov. Jon Corzine, once expected to lose, will pull away with a win. But the criticism towards Daggett is misplaced. If someone should be blamed for a probable Corzine win, the blame should fall on Christie.
Christie is responsible for putting a likely Republican pick up in peril. A center-right Republican in a red year running against an incredibly unpopular, terrifically corrupt incumbent simply has no excuse. The people of New Jersey were begging for a defined alternative to the Corzine administration, and Christie’s campaign strategy has let them down.
Christie hoped that by lying low and doing nothing to remove the focus from Corzine, he would be able to coast to victory, a strategy similarly employed (and unsuccessfully) by Hillary Clinton in 2008. Christie thought he was entitled to the governorship and made no real attempts to campaign on specific issues or policies. The polls consistently show that New Jersey voters believe he has been too opaque concerning his budgetary plans. His unfavorability rating now matches Corzine’s in percentage, if not in intensity. Christie purposely ran a campaign filled with vague platitudes, hoping to coast by and watch Corzine drown in the voters’ anger. But people actually wanted a substantive alternative to the ruling regime — and an anti-establishment third party independent came along and offered it.
Chris Daggett has every right in the world to mount a campaign — a campaign, that, I must note, would have gotten nowhere in a hurry if Christie had actually bothered to assure the people of New Jersey of his plans for governance. It is no accident that the majority of Daggett voters name Christie as their second choice or that the governor is still stuck at forty percent in the polls.
If New Jerseyans re-elect a discredited Democratic governor in November, don’t blame Chris Daggett. Blame Christie.
Arch // Oct 19, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Agreed. It was Christie’s to lose. Too bad he did.
johnmarzan // Oct 19, 2009 at 11:57 pm
do you think the thesis hit job vs mcdonnell backfired on deeds and his gang?
johnmarzan // Oct 20, 2009 at 1:20 am
but seriously why isn’t david frum doing any reporting on the viriginia gov race?
oh yeah… because it doesn’t fit the narrative.
ellaquince // Oct 20, 2009 at 8:39 pm
A “red year”? Please share your support for that claim.
No, It’s HIS Fault! - In The Agora // Oct 22, 2009 at 5:00 pm
[...] articles on the race earlier this week, each with a different take. Alex Knepper says, “Don’t Blame Daggett, Blame Christie.” John Vecchione says, “no, blame Daggett.” Frum himself compares the NJ [...]