Monday, November 07, 2005

Last Throes?

In case you've forgotten, tomorrow is Election Day in a handful of states. At the top of the list are the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia.

The New Jersey race has gotten a little bizarre lately, as the campaign of Republican Doug Forrester has tried to throw everything they can at Democrat Jon Corzine, from his ex-wife's claims that Corzine would "let down the state" the same way he let down her family to recent charges that Corzine had an affair with a staffer and then paid her to get an abortion. Man, I am so glad that Republicans have brought honor and integrity back to politics. The groin-punching has taken a bit of a toll, with Corzine's lead down to five points in the latest Rasmussen poll, but it still seems likely he'll pull out a win.

Meanwhile, in Virginia, the Republicans have tried similar dirty tactics, with the Kilgore campaign sending out deceptive flyers and misleading robo-calls in a misinformation campaign. Despite the dirty tricks, Kaine is widening his lead in the Rasmussen poll, with the latest showing him up by three points.

While the Republican tactics are despicable, they're not exactly surprising. As this Time piece on the Virginia race notes, if they lose these races, then the GOP will know it's in for some serious trouble. Because if the gubernatorial races can be tainted by the stigma of the Washington establishment, then you know the Washington establishment is going to feel a hell of a lot of heat when they're up for re-election themselves in 2006.

If you live in these states, see what you can do to help out on election day.

6 comments:

Thrillhous said...

Yeah, we got that Kilgore mailing. What a weird piece of junk it was.

Last time I let polls get my hopes up I ended up pretty disappointed, but I'm feeling good about the VA race. Back when Kilgore was in the lead he was running neck and neck with Kaine in N. VA, but lately he's been getting pummeled in these parts. The demicrat always has to clean up in N. VA to counteract the rural areas that reflexively vote republican. I think the vote in the Richmond area, where Kaine was a well-regarded mayor, will be the clincher.

Mr Furious said...

One (sort of) word... IOKIYAR.

Otto Man said...

Great piece in
Washington Monthly
on the Kaine campaign and the role of religion in politics.

Otto Man said...

Stolen from Kos, the latest polls:

NEW JERSEY

Star-Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers Poll. 11/1-5. Likely voters. MoE 3.6% (9/2005 results)

Corzine (D) 44 (49)
Forrester (R) 37 (31)

SurveyUSA. 11/4-6. Likely voters. MoE 3.5% (10/25 results)

Corzine (D) 50 (50)
Forrester (R) 44 (41)

VIRGINIA

SurveyUSA. 11/4-6. Likely voters. MoE 3.9% (10/17 results)

Kaine (D) 52 (47)
Kilgore (R) 43 (45)
Potts (I) 3

ORF said...

For some reason, the NJ ads have been playing here in NY. Man, are they nasty. I wish that the McCain Feingold bill would include some bits about ceasing the mudslinging. It's just ridiculous.

And then there's Bloomberg who is just trouncing Ferrer because he's got a bajillion more dollars to spend on the advertising, etc.

Otto Man said...

NYC gets the NJ ads because NYC's media market blankets the northern part of the state. I bet Philly is getting flooded with ads as well. Especially since this is the biggest money race in NJ history.