Democrat Phil Murphy wins in New Jersey

| 3:23 pm EDT November 3, 2021
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Democrat Phil Murphy has won a very close race for Governor of New Jersey (the TV news networks haven’t called it yet, but the respected Cook Political Report has called it). That’s the good news.

But because the final result in New Jersey will be so close, Republicans will claim it was “rigged.” Nothing will come of this claim, just as nothing came of similar claims in the 2020 election. But liberal media pundits will obsessively fret over the supposed “damage” being done (even though they can never define this “damage”), and a lot liberal activists will sit there staring at their screen paralyzed in fear by it.

This is the real problem coming out of the New Jersey election. The lesson we should be learning is that far too many liberal activists spent 2021 staring at their screens in fear instead of putting in the work required to win elections, and far too many liberal activists spent so much time bashing the Democrats within earshot of undecided voters who took it as voting advice. This kind of behavior is toxic and it costs us elections.

But will we learn that lesson? Time will tell. The media, for the most part, is pointing to the Virginia loss (and the underwhelming New Jersey win) as supposed proof that Trump is going to make a magic comeback in 2024 no matter what, the Democrats are doomed, and there’s nothing left to do but stare at the screen and help the media rack up its ratings and page views. But more than ever, we have to push back against this nonsense, or the doomsday defeatism will bait us into not putting in the work required to win in 2022 and 2024.