What if …

Could Booker have been governor?

I haven’t talked to a politician in more than a week, but I’m sure that in the days following last week’s gubernatorial election, many Democrats were probably asking themselves the age old “What if?”  Of course, it’s just an exercise in self-flagellation on the morning after by the leaders of the Party of Can’t (as in: pass a healthcare bill or win at least one of the governor’s races), but this is what you do when it’s all over, right?

What if, as was reported recently, State Senator Dick Codey had accepted the alleged White House overture to replace Corzine at the top of the Democratic ticket? Codey served as governor after the McGreevey fiasco, and got generally rave reviews for his Average Joe style (including that time he threatened to punch out that jerk from NJ101.5 for talkin’ smack about his woman). Would that the White House inquiry were true. I might’ve been inspired enough at the prospect of Uncle Dick taking on His Royal Smugness to actually go out and vote. Instead, Codey’s getting the the pointed end of the royal shaft from his party mates. I know I’m not the only one who thinks that Codey woulda beat Christie. Easily.

Might have been the once and future governor? (photo: PolitickerNJ.com)

Then there’s the other What if?, as in: What if Newark Mayor Cory Booker had been tapped by the White House to replace Corzine? That one was floated earlier in the race, when Corzine trailed the Republican by 15 points. That was a very sexy proposition then, but one that I think might’ve been ended in much the same way it did with Corzine at the top of the ticket. I am a Cory Booker fan. I think he’s the smartest politician I’ve ever met, and he has that rare mix of sincerity and savvy that sparkles. I’ve spent some time with him on the air and can tell you that he’s like a rocket ready to blast off.

But, like jokes about Ted Kennedy, it’s just too soon. Booker is gonna be president of the United Staes, maybe, but had he taken on Chris Christie this time around, he might’ve been successfully painted as another opportunistic urban New Jersey mayor. The city of Newark is a much better place to live and work in than it was when I lived there for a minute back in the late 80’s, but it is a long way from where Booker wants it to be (and promises to take it.) The Ledger’s deliciously acerbic Joan Whitlow has an interesting column on Booker’s future, and present, in the wake of the Corzine collapse. The man deserves credit for knowing which battles to fight, and when.

In the end, the most lasting What if goes something like this: What if Jon Corzine had been a better candidate?