The New Jersey Election: National in Scope

Yeah, the Democrats have been singing from the same playbook all day today - politics are local, the candidates were weak, Obama was disinterested, or - if, like Nancy Pelosi, you want to go the Baghdad Bob route - the Democrats were actually the big winners last night because they picked up a House seat (for 12 months, anyway).

Wrong, wrong, and wrong. New Jersey exposed a major weaknesses in the Democratic/Liberal program, which may have only a year left to live.

Look, folks - Corzine turned New Jersey into a laboratory for liberalism. Each economic crisis was met with massive tax hikes, assets of great value (the toll roads) were willing to be pawned off cheaply for a quick fix, businesses were hit with fees, taxes, and bizarre regulations (forced Family Leave) that left then unable to survive or unwilling to expand, income and resources (thinks school dollars, road repair, and tax revenue) were redistributed from the middle-class to the poor, all while spending rose at an unbelievable rate for a state in a recession.

Sound like the governing philosophy of a nation you might now? Regardless, New Jersey's residents, after a decade as liberal lab rats, got tired of being the victims of a misguided political philosophy - confiscation and redistribution masquerading as kindness. In a state where there are 600,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans, a 100,000+ vote victory for Chris Christie is a repudiation not just of the candidate, but of his governing philosophy as well.

Yes, Christie did not campaign against Obama, he campaigned against Corzine. But on each of Obama's many trips to New Jersey, he praised Corzine's handing of New Jersey's economic crisis as well as his governing philosophy (no surprise, as they are virtually identical). And Chris Christie was no RHINO; he offered a clear contrast in how he would handle the state's economy - lowering taxes, protecting businesses, reducing spending, and limiting the influence of the unions.

New Jersey - Blue Jersey! - chose the Republican vision of government over the Democratic model, with independents breaking for Christie 58% -32%. If the rest of America - most with less Democrats, all with large amounts of indies - also rejects the liberal Corzine/Obama model of government management, the Age of Obama will come crashing down to an early curtain. First in 2010, with the remainder cleaned up in 2012, if necessary.

There hasn't been such a rapid fall to the bottom since the Titanic hit the ocean floor almost a century ago.

And those Democrats mentioned above, all claiming the New Jersey means nothing to them?

Mere attendants, re-arranging the deck chairs...