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Article IndexThe Star-Ledger of Newark Sunday broke a long tradition of endorsing either Democratic or Republican candidates for governor and called for the election of Independent Chris Daggett.
The newspaper backed Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine in 2005 but in the Daggett endorsement editorial called the governor "the chaplain on a pirate ship.'' It also cited Republican challenger Chris Christie for appearing unfamiliar with the workings of state government.
Here is the editorial endorsing Daggett:
The Star-Ledger today endorses independent candidate Chris Daggett and recommends his election as the next governor of New Jersey.
The newspaper's decision is less a rejection of Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican Chris Christie than a repudiation of the parties they represent, both of which have forfeited any claim to the trust and confidence of the people of New Jersey. They share responsibility for the state's current plight.
Only by breaking the hold of the Democratic and Republican mandarins on the governor's office and putting a re in on their power will the state have any hope for the kind of change needed to halt its downward economic, political and ethical spiral.
New Jersey needs radical change in Trenton. Neither of the major parties is likely to provide it. Daggett's election would send shock waves through New Jersey's ossified political system and, we believe, provide a start in a new direction.
It would signal the entrenched leadership of both parties — and the interest groups they regularly represent — that an ill-served and angry electorate demands something better.
The lamentable fact is that the two parties are, themselves, little more than narrow special interests. Their competition for short-term political and/or monetary gain has jeopardized the state's long-term economic health and left it with a tarnished national reputation.
Where the major parties have differed, their differences have been inconsequential. Where they've been the same, their similarities have been destructive.
They have contributed equally to gross overspending in Trenton by consistently pandering to the pay, pension and retirement policies demanded by powerful public employee unions. Democrats have financed the spree with tax hikes, Republicans with borrowed money, and both with pension-fund raids.
How do we now signal them that this has got to stop if not by rejecting their anointed candidates? How if not by electing Chris Daggett?
The most disappointing of the three candidates is Christie. Six months ago he seemed an almost certain winner, a highly successful federal prosecutor facing an embattled governor saddled with a collapsing economy and soaring budget deficits. He could run a rocking-chair campaign, it seemed, make only safe commitments, avoid controversy, and win.
Unfortunately, that's mostly what Christie has done — a strategy that looks less promising now that his double-digit early lead has melted away.
Christie's game plan for dealing with a looming, record budget deficit of $8 billion has been a work in progress. After pledging for months to cut taxes deeply despite the budget red ink, he disclosed Friday that he has put most of the tax reduction on the shelf until the economy begins to recover.
But he'd still lower income taxes on the state's wealthiest households by roughly $1 billion and restore a portion of the nearly $600 billion in property tax rebates rescinded last year — a neat trick while still balancing the budget.
Christie's principal claim on voter support is based on his record as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey — and it's not without merit. The Star-Ledger opposed his appointment to that post originally, only to be pleasantly surprised as Christie surrounded himself with capable, qualified people and performed well.
But his sketchy budget plans and his relative lack of familiarity with the details of state government, as evidenced in debates and before The Star-Ledger editorial board, give us pause.
