The Culture of Corruption

The Hill has a piece on the NJ gubernatorial race:

EDISON, N.J. - Democrats may be fond of railing against the "culture of corruption" in Washington, but in New Jersey they're skirting that kind of talk.

With Election Day two weeks off, the gubernatorial race is much tighter than might have been expected in a state that strongly backed Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) last year and at a time when President Bush is tumbling in the polls and the GOP is in disarray.

The reason for the competitiveness of the race between Sen. Jon Corzine (D) and Republican Doug Forrester is clear, most everyone agrees: Voters are fed up with the "cronyism" and "bossism" of the Democratic-dominated state government.

What's decidedly unclear is how the New Jersey governor's contest - and that of Republican-leaning Virginia, where Democratic Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine is faring better than many in his party once expected - will shape the GOP agenda in the nation's capital.

Would a Forrester upset in New Jersey neutralize a loss by Republican state Attorney General Jerry Kilgore in Virginia? Would two Democratic wins cripple congressional Republicans' ability to get anything done before the midterm congressional elections?

Unfortunately for the state of NJ, we have Corzine, among the poorer candidates this state has seen in any election. That's saying something. On the right we have Forrester, a candidate who was handed a senate seat after the Torch fiasco and couldn't close the deal againt Laughtenberg.

As a Republican, I'll vote for Forrester because he at least speaks of lowering taxes, That said, this state deserves much better.