Direct election of U.S. senators wasn’t always the case; it was viewed as a necessary reform. One infamous instance in the late 19th century involved our immediate neighbor to the south (Delaware) lacking representation in the U.S. Senate for two whole years owing to an epic impasse in its state legislature. Reformers believed, perhaps understandably, that the people would produce better results than the bosses and their hand-chosen state representatives.
The law of unintended consequences had other ideas. Cory Booker is no Daniel Webster, folks, as if you needed me to tell you!
Flash forward to 2024 and the evolving Democrat U.S. Senate primary in New Jersey.
Let’s not fool ourselves: anything is possible but New Jersey hasn’t voted for a Republican for U.S. Senate since before Watergate. A GOP presidential candidate hasn’t carried the state since 1988, and New Jersey Republicans have only one four statewide gubernatorial contests in 30 years. The winner of the Democrat primary will begin the general election cycle as the heavy favorite. That much is clear.
Now let’s evaluate the choices:
- Bob Menendez, the career incumbent, who is facing his second lifetime indictment. This time? The allegations read like a Sopranos script. He’s accused of accepting gold bars, a car, cash, and other goodies as bribes and functioning as an unregistered foreign agent for Egypt. The Menendez saga goes well beyond garden variety corruption; he’s lucky that he isn’t being charged with treason.
- Tammy Murphy, the frontrunner who is locking up endorsements in all corners of the state. Is she a captain of industry? Seasoned public servant? Someone of substance who stands out in any notable way in her own right? Nope. Her claim to fame is spending $500,000 for fancy pillows, curtains, and other assorted wasteful crap in her capacity as the queen consort of King Phil Murphy. And then there’s that infamous soccer team which the couple own…
- Andy Kim is in his third House term but is best known nationally for picking up trash in a suit after January 6th. A walking, talking virtue-signaling photo op angler with less charisma than Cory Booker and a stolen valor resume, Kim is the classic modern member of Congress who is more meme than man.
A crook, an evil queen and an empty suit (who donated his suit to the Smithsonian).
Is this the best we can do? Really?
Even for New Jersey, notorious for making questionable electoral choices, this primary constitutes a new low. We’re slumming it and it shows in the results.
