Sunday, December 30, 2012

No Street Fight in New Jersey's 2013 Governor's Race



No, this is not a commercial for Newark Mayor Corey Booker (though I am a big fan of the Mayor).  Corey Booker recently announced he would not challenge incumbent Governor Chris Christie in the 2013 New Jersey Governor's Race.  His announcement brought back memories of my recent tour of duty in the Republic of Georgia (yes, the other Georgia).

While I was in Georgia, I worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development during some very interesting political times.  Georgia's capital city, Tbilisi, was holding direct elections for mayor for the very first time, as were other localities throughout the country.  Throughout the country, there were tales of dirty politics, rummors of voter intimidation, threats to candidates and shakedowns of local businesses.  Sounds a lot like a good old New Jersey election, doesn't it?

I am still not sure if it was a good idea or not, but the U.S. Embassy decided to show the Georgian people what a hotly contested municipal race in the U.S. looked like.  How?  By showing Street Fight, of course!  If you haven't seen it - you should (see clip below).



As one of the few people at the post that new anything about Mayor Booker or New Jersey politics, I was volunteered to present the video and moderate discussion in several locations around the city and the country.

Street Fight is a great story of the underdog going up against the political giant.  And showed the good and the (alleged) bad of New Jersey politics.  It features cameos of former Governor Jim McGreevey and current Governor Chris Christie, then a U.S. Attorney.  It is a great tale of dirty politics, rummors of voter intimidation, threats to candidates and shakedown of local businesses.  Sound familiar?

What did the Georgians think of Street Fight?  They all said those dirty tricks would never happen in Georgia.  Not in a former Soviet Republic.  They were upset that Booker lost, and glad to hear that he came back to become Mayor.  No one said it, but I think deep down they were glad to see their elections were not so different from a country that has been practicing democracy for over 200 years.  

I see some parallels between Mayor Booker and Georgia.  Corey Booker did not quit - obviously.  He came back and won.  He is now Mayor of Newark and prolific tweeter.  The Georgia opposition party did not quit either.  The opposition party (with some great work from k-global) formed the Georgia Dream Coalition and gained a majority in the Georgian Parliament.  Let's just hope that Bidzina Ivanishvili does not announce a run for the U.S. Senate in 2014 as well.

But since I do U.S. state government relations... What does the Mayor's announcement mean for New Jersey?  It might mean former NJ Department of Environmental Protection and current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, who recently announced her resignation effective January 21, 2013, enters the race.  It probably means a second term for Governor Christie.  But really, it means a much less interesting race without a Street Fight.

No comments:

Post a Comment