A Wake-Up Call

by: Paul Aronsohn

Mon Nov 23, 2009 at 02:31:15 PM EST

Wow.  What an election.  The Statehouse.  The Freeholder Boards.  The Borough  Halls. Across the State and across the board, Democrats lost big at the ballot box as New Jerseyans voted overwhelmingly for change.  

This is particularly true here in Bergen County, where we Democrats are still trying to make sense of it all.  Why did it happen?  What are the implications?  What should we do next?

So, now is the time to step back and take a sober look at our Party - our organization, our purpose, and our approach to running and governing.   No excuses.  No rationalizations.  No finger-pointing.  We just need to figure out our way forward.  

Simply stated, it is time for Bergen Democrats to regroup, rebuild and reconnect.

Granted, I am sure there are many who will seek to justify a "business as usual" approach.  They will cling to the reality of yesterday - the Bergen Democrats' fundraising prowess and the Bergen Republicans' lack of organization -- to prove that all is well and that the election results were just a fluke and "a sign of the times".  Stubbornly, they will argue that there is no need to change.

In my mind, however, such thinking will effectively kill our Party.

We need to turn a corner and offer voters something different - something that reflects who we really are as a Party and as a group of well-meaning individuals trying to do the right thing.

To that end --

Values - We need to get back to basics and start talking again about our core values. Community.  Responsibility.  Opportunity.  Family.   The Democratic Party is rooted in values ... guided by values ... and fueled by values.  We should not shy away from this great tradition.  Rather, we should embrace it, and we should rise to any occasion that allows us to talk about our values and to act on them.

Issues - We need to start a discussion of the issues affecting life in our community. Taxes.  Healthcare.  Education.  Security.   Bergen County should be an incubator of progressive ideas - a place where the rest of the State, if not the country, turns to for innovative thinking.   Our residents are among the nation's most educated, most hard-working,  and  most successful.  We should engage them - with the help of our  vibrant college communities - in a conversation about the full range of issues - large and small. And the  Bergen Democratic Party should be at the center of that effort - as a convener,  as a facilitator, as a leader.

Integrity - We need to lose the cloud of corruption that has been hanging over our organization for too long.  Fair or not - it does not matter at this point.  We just need to demonstrate to the voters that when it comes to clean campaigns and good government - we get it, we care about it, and we are, in fact, the champions of it.  No more pay-to-play.  No more no-bid contracts.  No more "wheeling" campaign donations to circumvent the law.  We are better than that, and we should no longer tolerate that type of activity.

Taken together, this is not an indictment of any particular person nor is it an attempt to play down past successes.   It is just a reality check - one that we need to heed before it is too late.

There is an old saying - "When in a hole, stop digging."  Well, it is clearly past time for us Bergen Democrats to put down the shovels and try a different approach - one that better embodies our values, our commitment to meaningful public policy, and our passion for good, effective, purposeful government.    And we must do so without pointing fingers and casting blame. The past is the past.  The future, however, is what we choose to make of it.