Wednesday, November 2, 2010

Based on what you see, hear and read this morning you might think the big winner Tuesday was the Republican Party both locally and nationally. However I think the greatest joy this morning is shared by all of us who can now go nearly a year without having to go through another campaign season. While many commentators will spend today talking about how the system works and we the people have been heard you don’t have to be an Ivy League graduate to know that’s really not the case. Many of those who prevailed yesterday did so because they had more money and more organized efforts and you and I suffered because of it. We were the recipients of countless radio and TV ads, junk mail and worst of all…unsolicited and unwanted phone calls that made life miserable at times. We
couldn’t drive a mile in most cases without coming across intersections littered with a dozen road signs for the same two candidates and unfortunately many of those signs will still be around a few weeks from now, that is if they don’t blow away. Politics is dirty business and the quality of campaigns seems to reach new lows in negativity year in and year out. What will next November bring? Well at least we don’t have to worry for a while.

Trends come and go when it comes to politics but there is one constant and this is Ocean County is a safe haven for Republicans. Jon Runyan beat incumbent John Adler in the 3rd congressional district by about 6,000 votes because he carried Ocean County by more than 19,000 votes. With Freeholders Jack Kelly and Jim Lacey coasting to victory to keep their seats it means that a Democrat has not served on the board in 21 years and just about all the elections have been landslides. Throw in the fact that Chris Christie is Governor because of how he did here and you have one of the great GOP strongholds anywhere. While Democrats often do well in local town elections they just can’t seem to crack the Republican dominance when it comes to county politics and there is no end in sight.