December 01, 2004

A Case for Corzine

Patrick Ruffini suspects there's Presidential aspirations in the mind of Sen. John Corzine (D-NJ). As he writes, "Why give up a Senate-seat for life after just one term for a term-limited job [New Jersey governor] that doesn't have the best track record of enhancing reputations?" (Maybe Corzine wants the job so he can hang out with Ahhnold!) Ruffini then goes on to offer some possible reasons a Corzine candidacy would make sense.

However, he ignores Corzine's most glaring problem. He's a Northeastern liberal. Recent political history has shown that that type of candidate hasn't won the Presidency since JFK. The governor's angle is good. A Governor Corzine would have an actual governing record to run on. Lengthy, complicated explanations about Senate voting records could be called "old news." Could even a Blue State liberal governor be able to relate to the hopes and fears of Red Staters? Michael Dukakis certainly couldn't.

No, Democrats have to look away from the Northeast for their next nominee. I see Sen. Evan Bayh as the perfect nominee. He's from Indiana, is a moderate, and has executive experience from when he was governor. But does he have the personality and desire? More importantly, do the hard core Democrats that will choose the nominee like him?

"Corzine '08?"