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Gas Buddy
Christie's tough task
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Voters on Tuesday wanted change - they wanted it enough to overcome New Jersey's powerful Democratic Party organization and elect Republican Chris Christie as the next governor of the state.
The victory in many ways was surprising. While Christie was ahead in the polls for months, his lead eroded after Gov. Jon S. Corzine poured huge amounts of his personal wealth into the campaign, much of it for negative advertising. Democratic superstars - including President Barack Obama - made multiple visits to New Jersey on Corzine's behalf.
But this election was not about Obama. It was about Corzine - and the entrenched problems of New Jersey that he has not been able to solve.
Now, for Christie, the really tough job starts.
The Press endorsed Christie in this race because we believed he could best bring about the kind of changes that are critical to New Jersey's economic health. He promised not to raise the tax burden, to cut spending and to reform the state's pension and benefits system. Those goals are all headed in the right direction.
But there was some truth to the charges that Christie was short on specifics. Now, he will need to put some tangible proposals behind that rhetoric and convince a Democratic Legislature to enact his reforms. Neither will be easy.
The new governor is facing an estimated $8 billion deficit in the next budget. But we hope Christie does more than simply put Band-Aids on the state's financial bleeding, and fixes the state's structural budget problems without putting future generations in debt. He must also rein in the forces that contribute to New Jersey's ridiculously high property taxes. That means bringing spending in line with recurring revenues, fully funding pension obligations and scaling back the kinds of public pensions and benefits that are unheard of in the private sector.
What has been most interesting about this gubernatorial race has been Chris Daggett's candidacy. Daggett had specific and substantial plans to solve the state's problems that weren't sugarcoated or unrealistic. He talked to voters as if they were intelligent adults. At one point, a Rutgers University poll pegged Daggett's support at 20 percent of voters. Tuesday, he got just 6 percent of the vote - still higher than any independent in recent history.
Were his one-time supporters, including those who ultimately did not vote for him, validating Daggett's refreshing and thoughtful candidacy - or were they looking for someone, anyone but the two major candidates in the race and the tired, business-as-usual parties they represent?
We don't know. But we do know that leaders from both parties in this state ought to take what happened this year seriously and do a little political soul-searching.
Posted in Editorials on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 2:10 am
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