We Wish Governor-Elect Jon Corzine Well

Jon Corzine will be the next Governor of New Jersey and we wish him well. A disastrous term as Governor is not something we wish for the state just to set the stage for a Republican win next time. Our hope is that Corzine will prove to be like other politicians and not keep his campaign promises. Yes, we know politicians have a pretty good record of keeping their promises when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars. Hope springs eternal.

It does seem hard to believe Corzine won the election considering his proposals for huge increases in state spending and the turmoil the state has experienced during the past four year under control of Democrats. As Tom Moran points out in his column today:

They have spent the last four years stumbling from scandal to scandal, pausing only to increase spending and borrowing to record levels.

On their watch, property taxes have gone up, the state's bond rating has gone down, and ethics reform has stalled.

Most voters say the state is moving in the wrong direction. Hard to argue with that. And they blame Democrats for corruption by a margin of 2-1..

Moran blames Republican defeat on the failure of the party to clear the field for a run by U.S. Attorney, Chris Christie and eventually nominating a lousy candidate, Doug Forrester, who ultimately ran a terrible campaign, being outspent by Corzine 2 to 1.

As our regular readers know, Doug Forrester was not our choice for the Republican nomination, but we believe he was a far better choice for Governor when compared to Jon Corzine. We also believe Forrester is a decent man who gave his all to win. He obviously was not just going through the motions of running for Governor, not when he committed such a tremendous amount of his time, energy and millions out of his own pocket to win the race. While the election outcome is not what we had hoped, we appreciate Forrester’s efforts and dedication to the campaign and New Jersey.

Looking to the future, Republicans need to do a better job of educating voters in New Jersey about the causes of the state’s financial crisis and why the Democrat’s ever increasing spending programs are detrimental to nearly everyone in the state. High taxes hurt everyone and not just those who pay them. Dumping the blame on the candidate is an easy out and will not bring about the necessary changes the Republican Party must make to be competitive throughout the entire state of New Jersey. The Party needs to provide voters with a clear choice, effectivley communicating Republican ideas that make the case for change and not offer up Democrat-lite alternatives.

In the end, it is status quo in New Jersey with the balance of power between Democrats and Republicans in Trenton remaining unchanged. The election is over, the people have spoken. All that remains to be seen is if taxpayers will be happy with the choices voters have made in this election.