4 users logged on

Tips: BlueJerseyDotCom (AIM) |

Bon Appétit

by: deciminyan

Mon Oct 31, 2011 at 04:00:00 PM EDT

Imagine that you are invited to a wedding reception at a snooty Five-Star restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. You know the chef is one of the best in the world, internationally famous, and you are looking forward to sharing a top-notch meal with your friends.

Imagine, also, that you are a vegetarian on a low-carb diet. You arrive at the reception and find that your dinner choices are filet mignon or pasta. What do you do?

Clearly, you can't order the meat. You're hungry, so you can't choose to skip the dinner. You reluctantly get the pasta, which tastes so good that you overindulge on carbs that evening. You opted for the lesser of two evils and had a satisfactory but not satisfying dinner.

deciminyan :: Bon Appétit

There's been a lot of discussion in the blogosphere on the dilemma progressives face these days. Nowhere is it more evident than in New Jersey. In the upcoming elections, we will be voting for all 120 members of the legislature, and it's safe to say that the candidates can be categorized in three buckets:

Republicans who worship Governor Chris Christie, the Koch Brothers, tax cuts, and reduction of social safety net and infrastructure programs (with a few exceptions, which I'll get into later).
Democrats who bow to the state's bipartisan axis of power brokers and political bosses and who capitulate to the governor's draconian agenda while lamenting the loss of funding for social programs.
Real Democrats who understand that government is complex and that tax cuts do not create jobs by themselves.

Since not all legislative districts have Real Democrats on the ballot, for many voters the choice is between a Republican and a "Christiecrat" - a Democrat who abets the anti-middle class Christie agenda.

Of course, a voter can choose not to vote, to write in a name, or vote for a fringe candidate. Like choosing not to eat at a fancy restaurant, that voter is throwing away an opportunity. Even worse, by throwing away a vote, the voter may be providing support to the most objectionable candidate.

All things being equal, it would be better to vote for the Christiecrat than for the Republican. And it would be better to vote for the Christiecrat than to throw away your vote on a third party or write-in. Under the assumption that the Christiecrat would vote correctly at least part of the time while the Republican would hardly ever vote correctly, this is satisfactory but not satisfying.

But the important thing is to vote.

The political landscape is littered with elections where Progressive Democrats stayed home and we are now stuck with the likes of Chris Christie and Jon Runyan. Maybe we didn't fully embrace Jon Corzine and the late John Adler, but we would be better served if those two men had been elected.

Lest you think I'm a partisan hack, I am not advocating voting for every Democrat over any Republican. Don't just vote straight party line. Learn about the candidates from both sides, and make an informed choice.

I've been fortunate enough to have had significant dialog with many of the legislative candidates from both parties. There are Republicans out there who are independent thinkers and don't toe the Christie line - at least now. Whether they will do so if and when they are elected remains to be seen. But I have advocated for some of the Republicans to friends and colleagues because I believe that supporting a moderate Republican over an ineffective Democrat nudges the political balance ever so slightly to the left.
That can only help the Democratic Party.

So while the fancy meal analogy is not perfect, starving the Democrats will do more harm than good. Sometimes the lesser of two evils is the best we can do in a two party system. Enjoy the pasta!

Tags: Jon Corzine, jon runyan, John Adler, Koch Brothers, republicans, Democrats, Chris Christie, (All Tags)

Print Friendly View

Send As Email

Bon Appétit | 9 comments

Good advice (0.00 / 0)

interesting choice of tags

Blog: Pick's Place

by: jeffpickens @ Mon Oct 31, 2011 at 22:03:05 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

Still undecided voter in the 4th (0.00 / 0)

I offer an alternative analogy. Say I'm a vegetarian and check on the alternative to the meat entree before the reception. When a pasta dish is offered I question whether a "5 star" joint in Manhattan would be willing to serve something vegetarian more in keeping with their "5 star" reputation. If the restaurant declines or doesn't respond I decide this place is not what it is reputed to be.
This is my problem with the Christiecrats in District 4. They are unapologetic and insist on rationalizing their vote on Pen/Ben through "the guy answering the phone" who says "I'll have someone call you back".

mmgth

by: mmgth @ Tue Nov 01, 2011 at 01:48:24 AM UTC

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

District 4 (0.00 / 0)

District 4 is an example of where even a progressive like me, if I lived there, would give the Republicans a good hard look. First, let's agree that one of the Democrats, Gabriella Mosquera, is not ready for prime time. Perhaps in a few years, when she accumulates some government experience from the School of Hard Knocks, she will be a viable choice. And Paul Moriarty is a Christiecrat to the bone.

On the Republican side, I really like Pat Fraticciolli. She is a supporter of public education and is not a zealot on tenure or teacher evaluation. She's passionate about public service and I hope that if she is elected, she doesn't succumb to Christie's vindictiveness against Republicans who don't toe the party line. Her running mate, Shelley Lovett, I believe was endorsed by the NJEA (please correct me if I got this incorrect).

So I would have a difficult choice if I lived in District 4. Voting Republican sends the wrong message to Christie, but clearly the two Assembly Republican candidates are moderates who would bring a breath of fresh air to the GOP caucus while their opponents are what a friend of mine calls "empty suits".

As for the Senate race, that's another story.

Blog: http://www.deciminyan.org

by: deciminyan @ Tue Nov 01, 2011 at 02:01:22 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

my previous comment applies here as well (0.00 / 0)

I commented on deciminyan's diary about Troy Singleton with a mathematical analysis of how the leadership fight could break down if Norcross lost his Assemblypersons in LD1, LD4, and LD7 and his Senators in LD2 and LD4.

When I was doing this analysis, I was not even considering the possibility that their Republican opponents might actually be better than the Democrats in question. If this is the case, then there is an even better argument for voting Republican in that district.

While I do not believe that even the most decent of Republicans will vote the right way on key issues while Christie is Governor, it is very possible that they would vote the right way if/when a Democratic Governor were elected in 2013.

Quasi-moderates like Diane Allen, Kip Bateman, Jen Beck, and Sean Kean gained their moderate reputations under Democratic Governors when their votes could be bought relatively cheaply and easily, but once Christie was elected and the TPM gave the far-right-wing of the Republican Party added muscularity, it should not have surprised anyone when they began to vote the wrong way.

It is possible that the threat of a TPM-backed primary challenge might make it harder for a Democratic Governor to buy the votes of quasi-moderate Republicans in the future, but it is still more likely than it would be under Christie, so I see nothing wrong with voting Republican in a district like LD4, particularly given deciminyan's assessment of the Republicans in question as I wholeheartedly trust his perspective on matters like these.

What's the story with the Senate race?

by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Tue Nov 01, 2011 at 02:42:26 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

Aren't you undercutting your own message? (0.00 / 0)

I would never vote for a Republican, unless they resurrected Clifford Case. But I would vote independent.

It's one thing not to vote for a Christiecrat. It's an entirely different thing to vote for a Republican.

by: 12mileseastofTrenton @ Tue Nov 01, 2011 at 12:59:41 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

You want Wisconsin? Vote GOP (0.00 / 0)

Cut the crap! If you put Republicans incharge of the Senate and Assembly Chrisite will go crazy and turn into the Dr. Jekyll of the GOP.

Remember, Wisconsin could never imagine their State becoming a South Carolina but it happened.

Wake up! Your choice is between giving Christie free reign or making him moderate his policies with a Democratic legislature.

by: firstamend07 @ Tue Nov 01, 2011 at 10:21:53 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

Wake Up Call (0.00 / 0)

The reality is that the Republicans will not get a majority in either chamber. If control of the legislature were an issue, I'd be more inclined to recommend voting for Democrats, no matter how flawed they are. But this time around, electing a Republican like Fraticciolli would be good for the state, good for the people of the 4th District, and in the overall scheme of things, good for the Democrats. Throwing around inflammatory terms like "Wisconsin" is inappropriate.

As far as rachael'sdad's question is concerned - the District 4 Senate race is between Christiecrat Madden and gelato maker cum part-time teacher Giancarlo D'Orazio. D'Orazio is a a pleasant man, but he is a dyed-in-the-wool Tea Party sympathizer and because this race is between a Christiecrat and a solid right-winger, I would choose the Christiecrat as the lesser of two evils.

Blog: http://www.deciminyan.org

by: deciminyan @ Tue Nov 01, 2011 at 11:20:43 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

by: you @ soon

To post this comment click here:

Otherwise click cancel.

I like gelato... (0.00 / 0)

...and Fred Madden is Steve Sweeney's #1 toadie. I say let's give the tea partier two years so that we can get someone better in 2013.

by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Tue Nov 01, 2011 at 13:11:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]