Election Results

So we in New Jersey's First Legislative District now have a new state senator and assemblyman. And they're all Democrats for the first time. I think it has a lot to say about Republicans nationally, that people are fed up with the party nationally and want a change locally. Republicans in New Jersey complain the state is tax and spend happy - which they are - but the people overwhelmingly voted for Democrats in a Republican stronghold.
Based on a need for change, independent voters chose Nelson Albano and Matt Milam over Republicans Norris Clark and Michael Donohue, two very intelligent, articulate gentlemen with plans to help fix the spending mess in Trenton. Just because someone is a Republican doesn't mean they reek of sulphur and have horns. Some are actually moderates and not rabid evangelicals with a hard right-wing agenda. Clark and Donohue were moderate Republicans, yet voters chose Albano and Milam, two working-class guys who are, shall we say, less polished or articulate. Not that every elected official must undergo extensive ditciton lessions, but it would be nice to hear a sentence that sounded like it wasn't coughed out on a loading dock. Our new seantor-elect, Jeff Van Drew, who is articulate and intelligent, referred to his saltier compatriots as "citizen legislators". Okay, so you don't need a doctorate from Yale to represent people in New Jersey, but at least run someone who is knowledgable about the issues enough to expound about them on the fly when asked and not sound like memorized talking points. The editorial board interviewed all of the candidates so we got a closer look at them than most people.
To have the Democrats beat Republicans this badly in Republican territory is a sign something is wrong, especially when the Democractically-led Congress has abysmal approval ratings. All of those smug Limbaughites must have choked on their dry martinis when they learned Milam beat their candidates.
Only time will tell if these "citizen legislators" can get us out of this financial mess in Trenton.
Oh, and one more thing: Republicans who whine about the Democrat's overspending on the campaign should look to history and shut the fuck up. This year, Democrats in the First District spent $2.1 million, mostly donations from Democrats elsewhere in New Jersey, while the Republicans spent around $200,000. Yet the Republicans forget during the 1990s, when they were in power, that they had all the cash and were obnoxious assholes. Now, a decade later, the Democrats in power have the money and are obnoxious assholes. See how politics is cyclical?