Do N.J. Democrats get what happened on November 2nd? Doubtful.

November 15, 2021 Matt Rooney Uncategorized 0

A win’s a win, folks. Governor Murphy was reelected on November 2nd, and as a result, he’s got four more years to imposed executive mandates, champion ruinous policies and talk down to the people of New Jersey.

But a “win” for Phil Murphy could prove a Pyrrhic victory for the Democrat governor and his state party, and the people around our chompers-in-chief seem oblivious to it.

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The Bergen Record‘s Dustin Racioppi retweeted the subject line of a Murphy campaign memo on Monday morning:
“How Murphy for Governor 2021 Defied History to Re-elect Governor Phil Murphy.”

That’s more spin than you’ll see from one of King Phil’s offshore windmills, Save Jerseyans!

Alternate suggestion for a memo headline: “How to barely win reelection – and sink half your ticket – despite having every advantage in the world.”

Yes, Murphy is the first Democrat since the 1970s to win reelection, but it’s a small sample… only Florio and Corzine sought reelection post-Brendan Byrne, and both did so in rough economic waters. It’s therefore doubtful that this particular historical benchmark tell us all too much. Each cycle is unique.

Let’s stick to things that are quantifiable. Phil Murphy governs a state with a one million plus Democrat registration advantage over the GOP, and this state gave Brandon a nearly 16-point statewide margin of victory over Donald Trump just one short year ago. Heading into Election 2021? The public pollsters predicted a Murphy victory from 8 to 11+ points.

Winning by 2-3 points? And losing seven legislative seats and dozens of competitive county/local races in the process? Like I said: a win’s a win, but his reelection (much like Christie Whitman’s narrow victory in 1997) decimated his party’s position in South Jersey an down at the Shore, rolled back Democrat advances in many suburbs, took out the Democrat Senate president, and probably wrecked Phil Murphy’s presidential aspirations.

There’s no sign in the early going that Democrats get why they lost. They thought increasingly woke burbs and working class Democrats were theirs indefinitely no matter how fringe the Democrat agenda becomes, and the man at the top is doubling-down. Phil Murphy spent the first full week after the election talking about his $525 billion green energy scheme that won’t extend the earth’s life by a day but will shitwreck New Jersey’s economy.

Meanwhile, retiring State Senator Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) – the dean of the legislature’s wacky far-left contingent – penned an op-ed for NJ.com suggesting that the problem is… odd year state elections?

She was rightly and justly mocked by Twitter (including yours truly):

By the way… Tom above (executive director of the NJGOP) ended up blocked by Loretta for calling her out:

I’m divided on all of this, folks.

I don’t want to see my state go through any more unnecessary pain, so in that spirit, I do wish that New Jersey Democrats would get the hint, adjust their priorities, and head back to the center.

But as someone who recognizes that saving Jersey can’t be accomplished in the end without a fundamental transformation of state government?

I accept Democrat delusions regarding November 2nd as a means to an end. The more they don’t get it, the closer we might be to ending one-party rule in Trenton. The lame duck session may be the first test of where all of this is going.

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Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8449 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.