New Jersey: Surrender Monkeys since 1864

Got onto this train of thought via a post at Red Generation:

As President Bush’s popularity continues to take a dive in New Jersey, I can’t help but be reminded of President Lincoln....

During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was very unpopular in the state of New Jersey. So much so, that despite winning re-election in 1864 by a landslide, he lost the state of New Jersey which was only one of three Union states Lincoln lost including Delaware and Kentucky.
Lincoln lost New Jersey to George McClellan....

Let's learn a little about General McClellan's Civil War activities, shall we?

His first personal command in battle was at Rich Mountain, which he also won, but only after displaying a strong sense of caution and a reluctance to commit reserve forces that would be his hallmark for the rest of his career. His subordinate commander, William S. Rosecrans, bitterly complained that his attack was not reinforced as McClellan had agreed. Nevertheless, these two minor victories propelled McClellan to the status of national hero...

On July 26, the day he reached the capital, McClellan was appointed commander of the Military Division of the Potomac, the main Union force responsible for the defense of Washington.

Seems like it went to his head - like all liberals, he had developed a tatse for power...in a letter he wrote shortly after receiving the commission:

...by some strange operation of magic I seem to have become the power of the land. ... I almost think that were I to win some small success now I could become Dictator or anything else that might please me...

More liberal tenencies - note how he "fights like a Clinton" -

He favored a war that would impose little impact on civilian populations, and one that would require no emancipation of slaves.

And he was insanely cautious, even for a general:

McClellan's future campaigns would be strongly influenced by the overblown enemy strength estimates of his secret service chief, detective Allan Pinkerton, but in August 1861, these estimates were entirely McClellan's own. The net result was a level of extreme caution that would sap the initiative of McClellan's army and cause great condemnation by his government...

McClellan's lack of courage, and fear of fighting, became legendary:

Lincoln, as well as many other leaders and citizens of the northern states, became increasingly impatient with McClellan's slowness to attack the Confederate forces still massed near Washington. The Union defeat at the minor Battle of Ball's Bluff near Leesburg in October added to the frustration and indirectly damaged McClellan.

So Congress got into the act, which always spells disaster - now this sounds familiar:

In December, the Congress formed a Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, which became a thorn in the side of many generals throughout the war, accusing them of incompetence and, in some cases, treason.

And so does this:

After being named to the top post, McClellan began openly to cavort with Democratic leaders in Congress and show his disregard for the Republican administration. To his wife, he wrote that Lincoln was "nothing more than a well-meaning baboon," and Secretary of State William Seward was an "incompetent little puppy."
Lincoln made frequent evening visits to McClellan's house to discuss strategy. On November 13, Lincoln, Seward, and Presidential Secretary John Hay stopped by to see the general....After an hour, McClellan came in and was told by a porter that the guests were waiting. McClellan headed for his room without a word, and only after Lincoln waited another half-hour was the group informed of McClellan's retirement to bed...

Snubs of the president, along with insults, all while hanging with the Democrats! And why did the Democrats love McClellan so? Well, one might say he was the first "PC" general!

... he was the most popular of that army's commanders with its soldiers, who felt that he had their morale and well-being as paramount concerns.

Er - isn't winning a war a general's "paramount concern"? Not to the Democrats of 1861 - or 2007.

So we already know the rest of the story - McClellan gets sacked by Lincoln, non-PC generals go on to win the Civil War and eradicate slavery (two things that the liberal McClellan and his Democratic cronies had no intention of doing), and McClellan runs as the Democratic nominee against Lincoln in the 1864 Presidential election, and promptly gets his clock cleaned, this time by the electorate. Excepting New Jersey, of course....

And what did George McClellan do after the war? Why, he ran for governor of the State of New Jersey, of course! And why not - he was as in tune with New Jerseyans then as he would be today; and if he ran in 2010 on a campaign of not fighting a war, "supporting" the troops by not putting them in harm's way, and by mocking a Republican President, he would be elected in a landslide! As he was back in 1874, in a tale that sounds so familiar it could have come from today's papers:

The Republicans nominated a weak but respectable candidate in the person of Dr. William A. Newell of Cumberland County who was an unwilling sacrifice on the altar of the national fame and prominence of McClellan. McClellan toured the State with a popular response that was remarkable. His meetings were crowded and he was followed and cheered through the streets. The November election was decidedly in his favor, his majority over Newell being 12,753. This was good for those days...

So cheer up a bit, my lonesome New Jersey conservatives! We are bucking a trend of liberalism, cowardice, and liberal backstabbing that has been going on for close to one-and-a-half centuries! Let us continue to fight our fight, and take our small victories to heart, and hope that one day we can avenge poor Dr. William A. Newell....