Do You Support Trenton's A.C. Takeover? 
Kean's Senate Presidency Maneuvers Helped Elect Christie
Matt Rooney | November 6, 2009
Some of the most important election activities happen behind the scenes. Clearly, one of the most under-analyzed elements of Chris Christie's historic victory may be Tom Kean, Jr.'s role in keeping the Democrat machine bosses off-balance during the final weeks of the campaign.
Every day, we're finding out the extent to which Jon Corzine alienated his fellow Democratic leaders. Corzine isn't known as an extremely warm or likable guy to begin with, and his leadership style wasn't sufficiently "inclusive" (consult Union's Ray Lesniak) for some of the Democrat bosses' tastes. It's not that Corzine didn't do what he was told, of course. He just didn't do what he was told well enough. Yup - it doesn't get much more degrading than that, Save Jerseyans!
Enter Tom Kean, who skillfully played Senate President Dick Codey (D-Essex) and Senate President in-waiting Steve Sweeney's (D-Gloucester) ambitions (and vanity) against each other during a critical time for Democrat GOTV efforts. A major leadership battle is the last distraction Democrats needed during the challenging 2009 election cycle. The empty "victory" parties in Essex and Husdon counties were evidence enough of that!
More importantly, Kean's move aided the deterioration of relations between key machine figures and the Governor. Corzine didn't navigate the North-South civil war well, and both sides developed a good deal of resentment heading down the final stretch. Corzine shouldn't expect any Christmas cards this year other than from immediate family and paid staff; it's no mistake that Donald Norcross's campaign signs didn't have any deep blue "Corzine-Weinberg" signs accompanying them on South Jersey's highways.
So kudos to Tom Kean, Jr. for providing the kind of political leadership the Republican Party has lacked in recent years.
Some of the most important election activities happen behind the scenes. Clearly, one of the most under-analyzed elements of Chris Christie's historic victory may be Tom Kean, Jr.'s role in keeping the Democrat machine bosses off-balance during the final weeks of the campaign.
Every day, we're finding out the extent to which Jon Corzine alienated his fellow Democratic leaders. Corzine isn't known as an extremely warm or likable guy to begin with, and his leadership style wasn't sufficiently "inclusive" (consult Union's Ray Lesniak) for some of the Democrat bosses' tastes. It's not that Corzine didn't do what he was told, of course. He just didn't do what he was told well enough. Yup - it doesn't get much more degrading than that, Save Jerseyans!
Enter Tom Kean, who skillfully played Senate President Dick Codey (D-Essex) and Senate President in-waiting Steve Sweeney's (D-Gloucester) ambitions (and vanity) against each other during a critical time for Democrat GOTV efforts. A major leadership battle is the last distraction Democrats needed during the challenging 2009 election cycle. The empty "victory" parties in Essex and Husdon counties were evidence enough of that!
More importantly, Kean's move aided the deterioration of relations between key machine figures and the Governor. Corzine didn't navigate the North-South civil war well, and both sides developed a good deal of resentment heading down the final stretch. Corzine shouldn't expect any Christmas cards this year other than from immediate family and paid staff; it's no mistake that Donald Norcross's campaign signs didn't have any deep blue "Corzine-Weinberg" signs accompanying them on South Jersey's highways.
So kudos to Tom Kean, Jr. for providing the kind of political leadership the Republican Party has lacked in recent years.
Rooney didn't take long getting back to his liberal Republican roots!
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Give it a rest. Kean deserves credit for keeping the Dems occupied. This has nothing to do with ideology.
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