Can a third party candidate win the governor's race in New Jersey? Independent candidate Christopher Daggett has been asked that question during his campaign. His reply is that he is "in it to win it". He says that he is not a spoiler - that he is running a real campaign that can win.
He may actually believe that. But what does he think the people and organizations donating to his campaign are trying to do? Are they also "in it to win it"? It seems incredible that a candidate with no established organization behind him could get enough monetary contributions to qualify for matching funds if all of that money came with the purest of intentions.
Make no mistake - a vote for Daggett is NOT a vote against Jon Corzine. It is a vote against Chris Christie. Corzine supporters know that, and there is no doubt they don't mind Mr. Daggett climbing in the polls. I kind of think that is their plan.
This reminds me of one of John Grisham’s novels, “The Appeal”. Pretty much tells a story, in great detail, of how a state supreme court justice election can be bought. The story takes place in a southern state where state supreme court justices are elected by the people and not appointed by the governor. You’d think that would be better, the people deciding, but in this story it shows how the justices are now politicians who need to decide verdicts on who contributed to their campaign and what they would think.
ReplyDeletePart of their bag of tricks to get their guy elected was to push in a third party spoiler. Of course this novel is fiction, or is it?
Hi Mike.
ReplyDeleteI think it is reasonable to believe that the third party candidate does not even need to know he is a spoiler. I am not saying that this is definitely happening in New Jersey - but can't you imagine Corzine supporters sitting in a room somewhere and saying, "we need to get this guy over the top so he can get the matching funds"?