| Andrews could start by arguing on behalf of an income tax increase on individuals earning more than $150K and couples earning more than 200K, instead of the mixture of gas tax and toll increases that Corzine has proposed to try to create some fiscal sanity in our state.
He could follow that up by replacing the existing rebate and muncipal aid forumulas that don't even come close to dealing with our state's property tax crisis with a comprehensive statewide commitment to assume responsibility for all public education-related payrolls and the purchasing of education-related goods and services, which would enable property taxes to be lowered dramatically in a fiscally responsible manner, because it would also allow for the elimination of a significant amount of bureaucratic largesse. He could also argue for the elimination of over 600 superintendent positions by replacing district-level superintendents with county-level superintendents.
And together with a slate of Assembly candidates who run on the party line in the Andrews-friendly counties and off the party line in the Corzine-friendly counties, Rob Andrews could make a commitment to passing marriage equality legislation within the first 30 days of being elected Governor.
When you consider the fact that most people are not paying close enough attention to this race for a primary loss against Frank Lautenberg to damage Rob Andrews, and that if nothing else, he is building name recognition that could serve him if he decided to run for Governor next year. He would also have much more to talk about than he does right now, and he would be challenging an incumbent with much lower positives and much higher negatives than Lautenberg.
That said, I don't expect that if Andrews challenges Corzine next year, he would run on the kind of issues platform that I have proposed above. And because of that, I would hope that a truly progressive alternative would present itself running off the line in every county in the state, supported by a slate of Assembly, county, and municipal candidates.
Sadly, Loretta Weinberg is too close a friend of Corzine's to make a run like this. Reed Gusciora would be a fantastic progressive standard-bearer, but he would have to give up his Assembly seat if he wanted to run against Andrews and Corzine and I would hate to lose him in the Assembly on what would be a very difficult primary challenge to win.
Cory Booker would be another fantastic option, but I seriously doubt that he is willing to leave Newark after less than one term as Mayor. Then again, if Barack Obama wins in November, Booker would have no better champion and fundraiser (especially against Corzine's millions) than Obama. And if elected Governor, Booker would have no problem picking someone, ideally Ron Rice Jr., to continue his efforts in Newark with the support of a very friendly Governor.
If Booker passes on a gubernatorial run against Andrews and Corzine, Jun Choi and Steve Rothman are other Obama supporters who could take advantage of having a friend in the White House and a statewide base of support through the NJ for Obama campaign to pose a serious challenge to both Andrews and Corzine.
But if none of these options present themselves, I think that the Blue Jersey community would have a golden opportunity to come of age and become more than just a place where progressives go to rant and rave about what is wrong with our towns, counties, state, country, and world if one of the front-pagers stepped up and ran for Governor.
Juan Melli is the obvious choice, but I have no idea what the minimum age for Governor is, nor do I know Juan's age. My guess is that he is too young. If Juan is indeed too young and/or unwilling to run, I think that the next best option would be the Xpatriated Carpetbagger himself, Thurman Hart.
There is not a single person in the progressive community with Thurman's encyclopaedic knowledge of policy and politics. But even more important than that, I think that he would be the first gubernatorial candidate in recent memory to regularly direct the foulest of language in the direction of either or both of his opponents in a public debate. The man uses profane words in as artful of a way as performance artist, Karen Finley, uses her body.
Upon further reflection, I don't think that we should even bother to wait for Gusciora, Booker, Choi, Rothman et al to announce, especially considering the precedent that Andrews established this year with his late entry into the senatorial primary. LET'S DRAFT THURMAN HART FOR GOVERNOR RIGHT NOW!!!!! WHO'S WITH ME???!!! |
