Politics As Usual in NJ

The great Dodger/Giants/Cubs manager Leo Durocher once said, "You win some, you lose some. Some get rained out, but you gotta suit up for every one."

That saying is as true for politics as it is for baseball. And I try to suit up for every political race, and always hope for the best. Yesterday had some mixed results.

It was a good day overall for Democrats in the state---picking up a seat here and there, and more control in the Senate. Unfortunately, several key people lost their seats ----including Senator Ellen Karcher. She was a truly well-guided spirit in the Senate, and her clear thinking and progressive viewpoints will be missed. Hope she stays active.

My own Senator, Leonard Lance, won his own seat easily. However, he is too nice a guy for his own party, and they are going to toss him to the side and hire Senator Tom Kean, Jr. as their new Minority Leader. Lance is the better person, but the better person does not always win in politics---especially in New Jersey. Go figure. Picking Kean over Leonard is the Republican’s loss. My prediction: Leonard will step aside in a classy way, and let Kean be the leader. Leonard is class all the way.

I was surprised to see the stem cell research referendum fail. I thought that the subject matter was very important, and would have passed as easily as the open space question. So it goes. This defeat, I fear, will be one of the things New Jerseyeans look back and regret in years to come.

And, constitutionally at least, we no longer can have ‘idiots’ or ‘insane people’ be able to participate in politics in New Jersey. See how that lasts, with the early primary just around the corner on February 5th. The measure passed 707,987 to 476,595 ----just under 60% to 40%. So, 40% of New Jersey voters want to see idiots and insane people mill about here and there. Go figure, again. Maybe, I will post on that issue later on.

And so, I move from the macro to the micro and to my own home town of Flemington. Last year, I lost the Mayor’s race to a candidate who felt comfortable using personal attacks and innuendo as the basis for his race. In this year’s race for Borough Council, the sting was still there enough to shave off enough votes to have me lose by a hair. Again, so it goes. I will continue to focus on getting good candidates elected locally. And that Democrats have been very good at in Flemington. In a town out numbered about 2-1 Rs to Ds, we have the majority on Council now and out polled the Rs for the last three years overall.

My running mate, Linda Mastellone, won giving the Democrats control of the Borough Council for the first time in many years. My advice to them: Use your majority wisely; it is a very fragile thing.

Linda is also the first tenant to be on the Borough Council in many years, and I hope she represents their interests wisely and well. Tenants are in Flemington a diverse group, who are not treated very well by the Borough at times. They need an active, assertive, knowledgeable representative.

So, in baseball as in politics, there’s always next season. And what a season 2008 will be.