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Party
Failure
The Republican parties in both New Jersey and Virginia doomed this
year’s gubernatorial candidates.
By
NR Editors
From “The Week,” December 3,
2001, issue of National Review
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 epublicans
have no shortage of excuses for the defeat of their gubernatorial
candidates in Virginia and New Jersey: In the former, Mark Earley's
campaign was invisible for much of the summer; in the latter, the
September attacks made it hard for Bret Schundler to get his message
out; the president was too busy to help either one. Much of this is
true. But the Republican parties of both states also doomed the campaigns.
The Republican establishment in New Jersey stiffed Schundler because
he's a conservative reformer. Republican legislators in Virginia kept
the Republican governor from delivering on his popular campaign pledge
to end the state's car tax, and failed to pass a budget. The post-election
spin is, as always, that Republican candidates lose because they are
too conservative. But in these cases, Republicans lost because their
colleagues were not conservative, or competent, enough.
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