Election Endorsements 2017

Election Day is less than a week away, and I am glad to see it come . . . and go. The gubernatorial race in my home state of New Jersey is heating up, and I can't bear the heat - all of those insults between Phil Murphy and Kim Guadagno are annoying me.  Many voters are hoping that New Jersey will be a more decent place after Chris Christie leaves office in January, and in fact it will already be a more decent place this time next week, because the election campaign will be over. 

So there are four major elections this year - the aforementioned New Jersey gubernatorial election, the Virginia  gubernatorial election, the New York City mayoral election, and the special U.S. Senate election in Alabama on December 12.  I will not be making an endorsement in the New York City mayoral election; I don't really know enough about the issues in the city to weigh in on it, especially given the October-surprise corruption charges against Mayor Bill de Blasio, and besides, how many sophisticated, serious, worldly New Yorkers are going to take seriously the unformed opinions of a suburban Essex County bridge-and-tunnel rube like me? So here are my endorsements for the other races:

For governor of New Jersey:  This blog enthusiastically endorses Democrat Phil Murphy.  A lot of folks are annoyed at the idea of a rich man swooping into the Democratic Party and cornering the nomination, but I suspect that these same people would have rejected Franklin Roosevelt for President in 1932 because he was an aristocrat.  Murphy grew up poor and had to put his way through college, so he knows what it's like to struggle. So, unfortunately, do a lot of New Jerseyans, thanks to Chris Christie and his lieutenant governor, Republican gubernatorial nominee Kim Guadagno.  Murphy, like Trump is a rich guy who says that insider politicians can't fix the messes they've created.  But unlike Trump, who once said, "I alone can fix this," Murphy says that while insider politicians can't fix things, "together, we can."  "Together." "We."  That's all you need to know about how Murphy would be different from Trump or Christie.

For governor of Virginia:  This blog endorses Democrat Ralph Northam.  He has made it clear that he will be a fair governor who will work for everyone, while Republican opponent Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman, has demonstrated with equal clarity that he will only work for those who vote for him.  Just like Trump.  Also, Gillespie is kind of creepy.  I hope his pledge to preserve Confederate monuments in Virginia has the adverse effect of increasing black voter turnout.

For U.S. Senate, Alabama: This blog endorses Democrat G. Douglas Jones. Jones supports quality affordable health care as a right, a first-class education for all children, protecting the right to vote, and working to slow or hopefully reverse the impact of climate change.  Meanwhile, Roy Moore, his reactionary Republican opponent, is . . . f--king nuts!  F--king nuts!  

Those are my endorsements for 2017.  No go out and vote on Tuesday, November 7 . . . or on Tuesday, December 12 if you're an Alabama resident.  And remember  - all general elections are on Tuesdays.  Don't miss 'em.