Why I never posted yesterday’s run, I can’t say. But yesterday — ah, Tuesday, beautiful, wonderful, an outdoor run down Ridge to Perrine through the Princeton Collection and back down Perrine to Ridge, five miles in all, 46:48, while listening to a nice mix on the iPod.
Today: four miles on the treadmill in 35:44 listening to Highway 61 Revisted.
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Listening to the FAN and a caller — didn’t catch his name — offers what I think is the perfect analogy to explain how Isaiah Thomas “earned” his new contract with the Knicks. He said Thomas was like a kid who always brings home Fs on his report card. Then, once, he brings home a B and his parents are so happy, they throw him a party. In this case, though, Thomas is bringing home a D and getting a brand new Cadillac for the effort.
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An interesting take from Politics NJ calculations and turmoil that followed the announcement yesterday that Sen. Peter Inverso is not seeking re-election. The upshot is that the Democrats could go for an older candidate from Hamilton — Gil Lugossy or Skip Cimino — though that seems an absurd approach when dealing with someone like Bill Baroni.
(S)ome Democrats insist Baroni is beatable in a toss-up district, pointing specifically to his strong connections with the upper echelons of a national Republican Party in trouble.
There is some thought that a Hamiltonian with experience in elected office and deep community roots — ideally going back to the Chambersburg migration from Trenton to Hamilton — a (former Sheriff) Gilbert Lugossy, for example, or a (former Assemblyman) Anthony Cimino — would provide exactly the kind of gravitas transfusion at the top of the ticket that could propel the Dems to victory in November.
Anything is possible, I guess. But Baroni has built deep connections not only to Hamilton, but to Democratic South Brunswick — the district’s second largest town. He has carried the township in both of his runs, making him the only Republican aside from Inverso to carry South Brunswick in about a decade. (Even retired Police Chief Michael Paquette couldn’t carry his home town, losing it to Greenstein by 40 votes and Baroni by about 60.) The chances of an old lion having real success in South Brunswick at the expense of Baroni appear slim, though I suspect that the overwhelmingly Democratic voters of Monroe and Plainsboro would be there for the taking (Monroe and Plainsboro were the only towns in the district to back Dan Bensen, Greenstein’s running mate).
And all the talk about Hamilton, though, ignores this fact: Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein lost Hamilton in 2003 by about 2,000 votes and in 2005 by about 700 votes, yet she’s still standing, primarily because she has a huge base in Monroe and Plainsboro.
As for tying Baroni to the national party — this is a real stretch. Yes, he is close to John McCain, but he also vocally endorsed the civil union legislation, is a proponent of clean elections law and ethics reform and has already won endorsement from CWA. Not exactly the profile of a Bush acolyte.
Plus — and this is key — no one knows how the botched tax reform effort will play out electorally. Will the Democrats’ failure to deliver on anything other than a tax credit cost them votes in high-tax towns like Hamilton and West Windsor? I wouldn’t bet against it.
The only thing we know for sure is that Sen. Inverso’s retirement has altered the dynamic in the district.
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Four miles in 36:10 today.
iPod: a mix including some Billy Joel and PiL.
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The Record pats the governor on the back today in an editorial — and with good reason. The governor has held off on signing the 20 percent tax credit into law as a “way of pressuring reluctant lawmakers into following through on substantive change.”
Lawmakers, of course, have been rather timid in their commitment to reform — “particularly in regard to dual office holding.”
But Corzine should continue to pressure lawmakers to make the ban on dual office holding complete. No grandfathering. The governor has the bully pulpit, and he should use it to get the public’s attention.
Almost 80 percent of New Jersey voters agree with Corzine. In a recent poll, they said state lawmakers should not be allowed to have another government job of any kind, elected or otherwise.
The governor’s vision of real change in New Jersey also includes pension and health care benefit reforms for all elected and appointed officials, not just public employees. It includes more transparency in political campaign contributions at all levels of government. Corzine wants to end pay-to-play and eliminate “wheeling,” the practice that both Democrats and Republicans use to evade campaign contribution limits by moving money from one part of the state to the other in general elections.
This is a vision that threatens the very heart of the state’s political power structure. But it’s what true reform is all about.
Let’s hope his pressure works and we get more than the lukewarm reforms currently being served.
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Hank Kalet 