Republicans and Democrats both want to win next week’s gubernatorial election in New Jersey. The Dems want to hold on to that seat, and of course nationally they want to show that they can win now an election, despite the public’s dissatisfaction with President Obama on economic issues. The Republicans are yearning for a big win following their ’06 and ’08 defeats, and the Independent candidate in the race is there for, em… I have no clue.
The Dems are spending millions of dollars and are bringing in all the star power they got, from former President Clinton to Obama, and ended with VP Biden, to give the Dems a win in a Dem State. So even IF the Dems keep NJ, it will be done only after pulling all the capital in their book, a thing they cannot repeat in all important ’10 races.
Wining NJ only under the above circumstances in addition to a third party candidate that helps the Dems, will confirm the Democrats’ biggest fear: ’10 is a tough year for them, as of now. In other words, the Dems might as well not spend there so much capital just to have a nice 2010 cover story, because even with a win, the writing on the wall for 2010 is for everyone to see.
