I f you thought we might get a breather after the big election on Nov. 6, let me ask you two questions. One: How many times have you heard the words “fiscal cliff” in the last week? Two: Did you happen to notice that U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida and a Hispanic who many say is already a GOP frontrunner in the 2016 presidential race, is making a trip to Iowa, the first caucus state, on Nov. 17 for a political fundraiser?
The event is an annual bash for Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, and while Rubio’s pilgrimage this year might not mean anything definitive, you have to remember that last year, all of the Republican hopefuls — except Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman — went to the fandango to curry favor with Iowa’s GOP bigwigs. This year, Rubio is the only politician with any real buzz to attend, and they’re excited to have him.
“Gov. Branstad welcomes any candidates that might be looking ahead to the Iowa caucuses,” said Tim Albrecht, a spokesman for the governor. Rumors that Karl Rove is already trying to drum up at least $500 million to support a Rubio candidacy through American Crossroads are unverified, so far. Stay tuned.
In a historic election where no incumbent Democratic U.S. senators or congressional representatives were turned out of their jobs, the fact that U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. of Long Branch crushed Tea Party darling Anna Little to keep his 6th District congressional seat with 63 percent of the vote didn’t come as much of a surprise.
Little, whose main claim to fame was that she was the mayor of Highlands and a member of the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, came much closer to unseating Pallone when she ran against him in 2010, losing by about 16,520 votes. This time, the margin was much more dramatic, with Pallone winning by about 62,000 votes.
Although some New Jersey Republicans — Little among them — said the defeat came because the top of the ticket was so strong in the presidential race, and Pallone outspent her considerably, I have two alternative theories.
One: After a brief flirtation with Tea Party politics in 2010, the largely moderate voters in the district are coming back to their senses. Two: Anna, they’re just not that into you. I’m betting we’ll see a lot less of Anna Little in years to come (she’s made a lot of enemies, even in her county’s Republican organization), and I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.
After Tropical Storm Irene, I was critical of the emergency management office in my home community, but they did a better job before and after Sandy, with some glitches. They were great with pre-storm warnings and information, but because they rely almost exclusively on telephone communication, that tends to break down relatively quickly. Example: East Brunswick was one of the few communities in the state to impose a travel ban in the immediate aftermath of Sandy. I understand the logic behind the travel ban — to protect public safety and access to emergency vehicles — but almost nobody knew about it until those of us whose phone service was restored got a call from emergency management telling us that if folks continued to ignore the ban, they could get a ticket. Example: There was a laudatory gasoline distribution effort wherein East Brunswick residents could go to the municipal center and get a few gallons of gasoline for their generators at $3 per gallon. Great idea, same problem — the only people who knew about it were those with phone service.
The last example was kind of funny. On Sunday, Nov. 4, we got a recorded call from emergency management telling folks with kids to stay home on Nov. 5, the day Gov. Chris Christie had designated as the post-storm day for trick-or-treating. It was simply too dangerous for young’uns to be out and about, the robo voice said. The gist of the message was that if you ignore our warnings, at least stay away from downed trees and power lines. Within an hour, we got a seemingly contradictory recorded call from East Brunswick Mayor David Stahl, telling those of us with kids to enjoy Halloween and trick-or-treating, but to stay away from downed trees and power lines. Their hearts were in the right place, so I’m sure we can forgive the mixed message.
Speaking of hearts in the right place: I don’t care whether you voted for him or the other guy, if you’re from Jersey it has rankled to hear those national Republicans running Gov. Chris Christie down for saying nice things about the president after Sandy devastated the Jersey Shore. Some of them are even trying to pin some of the blame for Romney’s defeat on Christie, because he praised the president’s leadership after the storm, which was a lot more substantial than the “You’re doing a heck of a job, Brownie” flyover variety of Obama’s predecessor.
At this point, opinion is mixed on how Christie’s civil interaction with the president will affect his own presidential run, should he decide to hop in. Some Republicans say it will raise questions about his loyalty to the party, and some Dems say his display of bipartisanship will only help his cause. Around here, I think we’re smart enough to know that Christie was doing what was best for his state, and had he alienated the president to the detriment of storm-ravaged Shore residents, there would have been hell to pay for the governor on the home front.
For his part, the governor is having none of it. Pointing out that he was the first governor to endorse Romney, traveled tens of thousands of miles to campaign for him and “worked harder, I think, than any other surrogate in America other than Paul Ryan, who became his running mate,” Christie had a simple explanation for Romney’s loss. “He didn’t get enough votes,” he said. It’s pretty hard to argue with that. Gregory Bean is the former executive editor of Greater Media Newspapers. You can reach him at [email protected].