A message from the Gina Genovese for Senate campaign

Thank You Gina... (0.00 / 0)

...for having the courage and the vision to run against entrenched/well established opposition. 

And thanks to Chip Robinson for doing a great job under the circumstances.

I am confident that you and the rest of the New Jersey Progressive/Democratic contingent will find the fruits of future victories all the sweeter as the seeds planted in this last campaign are nurtured, take root and grow.

No labor was wasted no effort unrewarded; the time for big change is coming a lot sooner than the entrenched "victors" might suspect!

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by: Nick Lento @ Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 06:23:31 AM UTC

You did a good job, Chip. n/t (0.00 / 0)

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by: JRB @ Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 16:02:57 PM UTC

A Precious Opportunity Unfortunately Wasted (0.00 / 0)

Anyone who has met Gina, and even those who haven't, invariably come away impressed with her passion.  I was very excited when she first announced she was going to run and posted that announcement here on Blue Jersey.  And I think it is admirable how she was able to get some young people newly involved to the political process through their volunteering on her campaign.

However, I also have to say that I sincerely think a precious opportunity was wasted in this race.  I simply can not believe that a stealth field program was undertaken in this race rather than using these past several months as a way to hammer away at Tom Kean Junior.

In other words, who ever talked Gina into turning her strategy into a base vote campaign against someone with the last name of Kean in a red district probably would have had a fantastic career last century selling Brooklyn bridges to newly arrivedimmigrants. 

Like I have said previously, taking the Morris special election model from an off day in an off month in an off year third go-around last May and trying to replicate it this past week in a legislative district race on a day when voters come out and vote partisan line just because it is election day against someone with the name recognition from both family ties and last year's senate campaign was just ridiculous right from the start.

Yes, that was a flawed strategy indeed.  But even more vexing is the fact that this race could have really been a prime chance to hit Tom Kean Junior hard and tarnish his already declined reputation.  By relying on a stealth base vote field program and not chipping away at the opposition, Tom Kean Junior was given a pass.  This was our chance to keep Junior in his district box at best.  There were a whole gaggle of people across the state  who could have lined up to help attack Tom Kean Junior these past few months.  There was a conscious effort to not generate press against Junior so as to "sneak up" on him.  I just don't get why this was the case.

Bluntly stated, instead of stepping on Tom Kean Junior's neck to keep him in his district box, he was allowed to lick his wounds this year and rehabilitate himself. 

Junior is now poised to be Senate Minority Leader and make a nice name for himself rehabbing the party from their wilderness of the past several years.  Moreso, Junior is now part of this new group of young GOP turks who are going to rattle the GOP cage of malaise - along with Beck, Baroni, O'Toole and Shore Kean.  Not to mention an ambitious young county chair in Bergen with fundraising prowess.  There is a lot of new blood on the Republican side indeed.  But, this race here could have been an ideal opportunity to keep Tom Kean Junior in his box, to hurt his chance to become minority leader and to stop him from running for higher office again.

Realistically, this is a very, very, very Republican district. And with Tommy Boy's name recognition and family name and money he could not be beaten unless he ended up having a wide stance incident in October or it was found that he had thousands of dollars stashed away in his freezer.  So all guns should have been pointed at him in an attempt to expose him for the phony and flip-flopping fraud he really is.

In all, this was a seriously wasted opportunity because this race became a field race with a seriously flawed model.  We need to start framing our opposition better, with our eyes on the big picture.

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by: Fielding Mellish @ Thu Nov 08, 2007 at 20:18:42 PM UTC

I Don't Know Enough About The Strategic Options... (0.00 / 0)

.....available in this particular race to either support or critique the central thesis of your comment.

I suspect that you are being overly pessimistic.

The fact is that, Junior will always be.....well, Junior. 

I don't see him as an effective leader in the Senate.  Let the Republicans idolize his name all they want. 

If he's to become the face of their party to the state; it may be a good thing for progressive Democrats.

Meanwhile, this election is done with.

And, I still think Gina will be elected to the NJ legislature while she's still a young lady!  :-) 

And Chip, will learn from any mistakes he may have made and will be made stronger and smarter by this election.  Say what you will about him;  but Chip shows up...and he gets directly involved.  If we had five thousand Chip Robinsons in this state, it would truly be a Blue Jersey!

Fielding, thank you for your passion and intelligence! 

Without that intensity, all is lost.  Let's all pull together!

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by: Nick Lento @ Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 01:50:00 AM UTC

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