The DGA role in the New Jersey election

by: Hopeful

Mon Oct 26, 2009 at 03:18:01 PM EDT

The reason we don't see DGA-branded advertising is that it is restricted by New Jersey state election law. Governor Jon Corzine is a member of the DGA so ads would not be "independent expenditures." In contrast, Chris Christie is not a member of the RGA (and, cough, cough, hopefully never will be) so it can run legally "independent" ads. The RGA has made a strategic decision to spend heavily to try to keep Christie competitive and to evade the spending limits the Christie campaign faces, though the DGA believes the RGA wasted money in the summer trying to bring down Corzine's numbers. (I guess if you're the one of the 40% on board with Corzine, a few attack ads are not going to discourage you at this point.)

The DGA has made a "different strategic decision," and has instead largely invested in party infrastructure to enable Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts. Around $1.5 million have been put into local party efforts. The DGA believes that this strategy will ensure sufficient Democratic voters will turn out, and that Democrats hold a significant advantage over Republicans. Furthermore, they think Daggett's lack of a local party infrastructure will hurt him at the polls. Experts have observed Democrats have a turnout advantage ("In the 2006 election for U.S. Senate, about 7-in-10 registered partisans showed up, but only 1-in-3 unaffiliateds did") but this reflects hard work made possible by major spending.

That's not to imply that the DGA has completely ignored the TV ad wars. They can -- and did --  direct money to independent progressive groups who in turn advertize. You might remember the Mid-Atlantic Leadership Fund's ads last spring, or the New Jersey Progress ads this fall. All in all, the DGFA will spend more than $3 million on the race.