This morning, I walked up the street to my neighbor Chris Daggett’s house and recorded this video about his independent race for governor in New Jersey, drawing comparisons between his campaign and Jesse Ventura’s. At this stage in the campaign, Ventura was polling 15%; Daggett’s latest numbers have him at 18% (and with the margin of error, that could go over 20%). Ventura ended the election with 37% and victory. Daggett may look scrawny, but he says he’s Jersey’s Jesse:
(Disclosures: Daggett is a neighbor and friend. I’ve decided to vote for him. And I’ve helped by making a few Flip videos.)
Well, it would be good to hear what you stand for…I’ve heard your name for a couple of months…Heard about the Ledger endorsement and I’m curious now. But what’s your pitch? Even your website? A call to action? Jesse Ventura? Come on, NJ politics is already a joke enough. Invoking a buffoon doesn’t do much for your cause, in my opinion.
Yeah, Sean, I think this guy is blowing smoke – whatever, better to have new smoke blowers at least.
What happened to Jesse Ventura after he won as an *independent* is pretty bad; and it speaks volumes as to how firmly entrenched the political party duopoly is.
http://marginalizingmorons.blogspot.com/2008/12/jesse-mind-ventura.html
I find it hard to believe Jeff and his neighbor are so scrawny with all that good food nearby. If they lived in the culinary wasteland of Boston….they’d be mere skeletons.
Unfortunately, Jesse reverted to his old wrestler self. Started out good, self destructed. Too bad, he showed promise (or at least talked a good line).
the clue to Ventura winning the race was Minnesota’s same day voter registration: Essentially you could present an ID/driver’s license and register right there and vote…voter turn out was over 60%…
So all the kids and disgruntled voters decided to chose him over the Tweedledee/tweedledum official candidates.
As for Ventura: all I remember is that he decided to give us a tax refund rather than build a big stadium for Minneapolis, saying that the taxes came from everyone, but would only benefit that city. Since I lived 300 miles north of the twincities, I appreciated the money.
There are a lot of people here in NJ who are sick and tired of corrupt Republicans as much as corrupt Democrats. About the only difference is the Republicans are a bit better at hiding – they don’t get caught quite so often. The last good governor we had was Florio – and he was run out after one term because he tried to clean up after freespender Tom Kean. After that it’s been downhill all the way… and Christie is running on “I’m not Corzine.” That doesn’t cut it with large groups of the electorate.
Count me as another Daggett voter.
I think that Corzine’s campaign is the driving force behind Daggett. 30% of NJ voters work for one level of government or another. Couple that with the graveyard vote and those on government support. Corzine starts off with a base of 40 to 45% of the NJ vote. To play it safe he gets a stalking horse to get some of the votes in play and he wins with a plurality.
Geez-us! Who in their right mind would hold up bufoon Jesse Ventura as a role model.
A Great Slogan: “Hey New Jersey, help America get over making fun of the stupidity of Minnsotans for a moronic and colossal blunder of electing Jesse Ventura by electing me!”
Hey, Chrsi, will you don spandex leotards and a purple boa as well?
Just the winning part.
Good for you Jeff — vote for your friend. At least you have some direct personal experience that recommends him instead of a 30 second spot on television.
Its a shame its come to a choice between a failed democrat who shamelessly buys elections and a federal prosecutor who redefined prosecutorial discretion for his own benefit and that of his friends and family. Electing Christie will only set big government back temporarily while the republicans take over the executive office and proceed with business as usual. No net change. People outside NJ don’t really know how bad it is — the property taxes especially are just killing middle class people.
I’d like to thank the Christie campaign for its comments above, and I’m sorry, if Jim Florio was the best we’ve got, time to move to Chicago.
Corzine may be a crook, but he’s not stoopid. He is probably financing this “3rd party”. Think of Ross Perot. I pity you if you get Corzine again. Course, I’d pity NJ anyway.
Would you call me a buffoon to my face? I didn’t think so.
Why, would you assault me?
Given that Jesse Ventura spent an entire career as an actual buffoon, complete with frakking feather boa, I’d say it’s a perfectly appropriate term for his public affect.
I’m presuming the above isn’t actually Ventura, although given his demonstrated political unseriousness, it’s always possible…
From what I’ve read about Chris Daggett, he’s my kind of guy.
http://daggettforgovernor.com/wordpress/
If I lived in Joisey, I’d vote for him. Several times, in fact.
Sorry, bad habits from my hometown, the Windy City, have stayed with me.
I don’t have any cheap shot insults to throw NJ’s way.
I lived in Chatham (yes, the place where that priest was killed) till last Dec. I liked NJ, but I’m done living in a one party state where the Republicans would rather lose than run someone that will stop the madness, like Shundler or Lonnegan, and Democrats don’t even bother to hide their rampant, breathtaking leaps of demagoguery, hypocrisy & corruption because they know they can just crank out the Bergen-Line project/welfare/3rd grade educations set that vote for whoever that corrupt P.O.S. Robert Menedez tells them to. NJ’s heading for the CA sized crater. If you lived there, you’d know how sad that is.
I’m fourth generation Jersey and likely the last in my family. Florio was the worst governor ever. Then we got McGreevey and his hack successor, Corzine. Those two raised more taxes in seven years than Whitman and Kean did in 16 COMBINED.
Jobs have evaporated. An average 1,100 taxpaying, job holding people leave here every day. We’re controlled by a thoroughly corrupt combine of Democrat political machines that Christie tried to break for years. But the smears are working; he’s going to lose.
NJ is doomed. Not even the bones will be left if Corzine or Daggett win. By the way, Daggett’s tax plans make Corzine look moderate.
Hey Jesse, don’t sweat the cheap shots. You’re still number 2 on my “Dream Team”.
Yeeeah! Ron Paul and Jesse Ventura for the White House!!!
I was going to vote for him too until I heard about the tax on services. My husband and I are expert consultants in a technical field and although we write our reports in NJ, our clients are all over the US. Since NJ would be the only state taxing services, we could not compete or even stay in business with this tax. Sooooooooooo, we would have to leave NJ. Absolutely no choice.
If he won, we would have to rent space in Pa. immediately while we made plans where to relocate. Its too bad. I had wanted to vote for him.
Speaking as a Minnesotan (pronounced Minneesodin), you are welcome to have the real thing. For the right price, Jesse would be interested.
Daggett is a douche. He is ensuring 4 more years of Corzine for what? The Thrill? I’m all for 3rd parties and the will of the people to be heard, However if he is siphoning off voters from one candidate more than the other and causes the other to win, is the will of the people being heard?
Why is there no runoff? The final vote should be between 2 candidates.
Why would anyone in their right mind live in New Jersey?
Great towns, great food, great beaches, great parks (the largest natural preserve between Boston and Washington, DC), great neighborhoods, great history, sarcasm, humor, proximity to NYC and Philly, two NFL teams, one each in the NBA and NHL, Atlantic City, great arts venues, great hospitals and more Nobel prizes than most countries.
Where you from, dude?
ventura was popular from the start, being a former big name baddie/wrestler himself.
daggett is no ventura. this is just hype from the media to split the republican votes and the anti-corzine votes and help corzine. mark my words.
Proximity to NYC, Philly, and the beach and ocean (I think it is impossible to be more than 30 minutes from one of those). 10 major sports teams. Great pizza and subs. Italian food off the hook. Pretty victorian homes. Nice parks. Pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwiches. Lotsa cultural niches like Ocean Grove and Ironbound and Fort Lee and Lakewood. There are a lot of reasons to live in New Jersey. Not sure they outweigh the reasons to leave though.
Yes, I agree. I lived near Princeton for 11 years and always appreciated the access to NY, Philly, AC, the beach, the Poconos, etc.
But the cost and the taxes did in fact outweigh those considerations and now I live near Lake Tahoe and pay one-third the property tax I would pay on a comparable house in Mercer County (and probably one-FIFTH of what I would pay in Essex County)–and Nevada has no state income tax either!
Here’s the thing, they’ve elected Democrats and things get worse. They’ve elected Republicans and things get worse. They then elect Democrats and things get even worse. What’s that definition of insanity again?
So elect an independent.
I live in Minnesota and voted for Jesse because I was sick of the two parties who talked a good game and never produced. Jesse did the same thing they did in the end but it did send a shock wave and slap in the face of our two party system. It’s good to spank the arrogant politicians once in a while.
How would you like to be Norm Coleman. Loses to Jesse in governor race, gets into office as senator because Wellstone dies then loses to Al Franken a terrible comedian. Daggett may have a chance if people want to take a backhand to the “public servants” and see if it wakes them up.
Too bad, he showed promise