| For the first time since 1882, a Democrat will be sworn in as the next Congressman from New Jersey's 3rd Congressional District. The perfect political storm known as the 2008 election has broken a 126-year drought and turned an impressive state Senator into a promising Congressman-Elect. But it was not a storm that "just happened". It was a storm that was planned and executed with precision.
State Senator John Adler announced his campaign for Congress to challenge then sitting Congressman Jim Saxton very early, on September 20, 2007. From the beginning, Adler waged his campaign on progressive values; his decision to challenge Saxton came shortly after Saxton voted against expanding S-CHIP. This would have been his second time challenging Saxton (Adler ran in the then 13th Congressional district in 1990), but on November 9, 2007 Congressman Saxton announced he would not seek re-election due to health reasons. Now the race was for an open seat, an easier proposition for Adler.
To understand the political dynamics at play, you first have to understand the geographic composition of the district. The 3rd District includes Cherry Hill in Camden County, most of Burlington County and a sizable chunk of Ocean County. On the Democratic side, the field cleared for Adler and he received the early support of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. On the Republican side, many wanted Burlington County native State Senator Diane Allen to run. When she declined, Chris Myers emerged as the Burlington County Candidate.
Much more on the flip. |
| For the Republicans, the seat became a proxy war as long-simmering tensions erupted between party bosses with Burlington County Boss Glenn Paulsen pushing Myers and Ocean County boss George Gilmore touting Freeholder John Kelly. Saxton, a Burlington native, backed Myers, while the Ocean county GOP apparatus believed it was Ocean County's turn to occupy the seat. This feud produced a bitter and costly primary where both candidates attacked each other viciously. Negative TV commercials, shark-jumping press release wars, and ugly mailers were ubiquitous.
Though the 3rd district had a moderate, Dem-leaning tilt at the Presidential level, there's a reason it had been in Republican hands for so long. For a Democrat, the formula to win the seat is tricky and requires three things: 1) Racking up a large margin of victory in Cherry Hill, 2) Cutting into the GOP margins in Ocean County, which traditionally had delivered mammoth margins for Republicans, and 3) Winning the swing county of Burlington by pumping up turnout in the district's Delaware River base towns in Burlington and remaining competitive in other more conservative areas. A difficult hat trick to pull off, to be sure.
Early on, the campaign realized they needed to have an extensive field operation, bringing on former NJ Democratic State Party Operative and field director of Jim Whelan's successful state senate campaign, Mary Campbell, who was hired in January of 2008. Next, the campaign opened offices in both Burlington and Ocean Counties - and real offices that really engaged and focused local activism, not cookie cutter stuff to just throw Ocean County a bone. This was significant because it showed Ocean County residents that Adler was not going to take a single vote in Ocean for granted. From here, the campaign hired an army of organizers, who expanded the field program exponentially. These decisions paid off as in the closing days, the Washington Post dubbed the Adler campaign one of the best field organizations in the country. That organization helped to turn out the votes, sweeping in changes from top to bottom, including a new Congressman.
On the political front, Adler's campaign took nothing for granted garnering endorsements of district media outlets along with actively seeking and receiving the support of many organizations, many of which supported Congressman Jim Saxton for decades. The Atlantic City Press lambasted the Myers campaign with its endorsement of Adler, saying about Myers:
He has run a disturbingly combative and negative campaign, and too often merely parrots Republican talking points on foreign policy, trickle-down economics and other issues.
The Press's endorsement proved a critical point, as it took Myers's campaign head-on, calling him out for hypocrisy and trying to evade his ties to Bush.
Despite the fact that the NRCC seemed to eventually shift their NJ focus to NJ-3 and Freedom's Watch decided they wanted to play ball, the Adler campaign stayed focused on their message. In contrast, Adler's opponent often times appeared to be running a campaign for State office, failing to connect his criticisms to the likely result on a federal level. Though we have not examined, it's probably a safe bet to assume Myers's campaign mentioned "Trenton" far more than it did "Washington." The evolving message of his campaign led Myers to flounder, beginning with "the economy is basically strong" only to follow that in his television commercial saying bluntly, "the economy stinks." He attempted to use his military service as a club that would prevent legitimate questions from being posed. Coupled with gross distortions of John Adler's record, Myers' flailing and negative campaign turned off voters, who were looking for a sensible problem-solver to send to Washington. John Adler's pragmatic progressive style fit the bill perfectly.
John Adler endorsed netroots activism from the start, standing with this very blog when we were attacked by his opponent for allowing a veteran to have the temerity to question a fellow veteran. He brought on Blue Jersey alum Jay Lassiter who produced compelling, informative videos giving people a unique look at the campaign on many different levels, utilizing new media more effectively than most congressional races this cycle. The Adler campaign utilized their YouTube page and facebook profile to communicate directly with potential voters and their strategy could serve as a model for other campaigns using new mediums to distribute their message. Regular announcements regarding campaign activities were distributed through the campaign facebook page, keeping supporters informed of the latest news, videos and opportunities to help.
When Myers attacked "liberal bloggers", Adler refused to denounce his friends. But he also refused to wade into the issue of Myers' military service, thereby depriving his opponent of any opportunity to attack him directly. That allowed the press to investigate the issue, with the vast majority of press clippings turning away from Myers' claims of combat experience afterwards. Myers' "ace in the hole" was neutralized because Adler had the sense to get out of the way and let the netroots do what they do best.
In short, Adler ran a professional level campaign that focused on legitimate issues and progressive values. Had his opponent done the same, the race might have had a different result. As it was, Adler refused to let his opponent's childish antics pull him off-message and off-target. The result was that Adler took on the persona of a reasonable adult while Myers was the tantrum-throwing child. The voters' choice was obvious. |
