The Jaffe Briefing - November 5, 2021

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – The state of American politics: Winners win and losers refuse to lose. Both Jack Ciattarelli and Steve Sweeney are gifted politicians who have a certain future in New Jersey – perhaps as head-to-head contenders for governor in 2025. And that is why both should concede this election and regroup. So far, both have refused to make the congratulatory calls to their opponents, waiting for every single last vote to be counted. Meanwhile, Gov. Phil Murphy is planning his next four years, while the Senate Democrats are already jockeying for the Senate President job, as well as musical chairs for all those leadership positions, suddenly up for grabs.

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Bleary-eyed political scientists have likely not slept since Tuesday, still wrapping their heads around this gubernatorial election. Why wasn’t it a blowout? Murphy figured he perfectly nailed what New Jerseyans want: A higher minimum wage, legal pot, pay equity, more gun laws, more taxes on millionaires, etc. With a roaring budget surplus and cash funneling into the state pension system, it was the ideal resume for re-election among both progressives and budget-conscious Democrats. But what the heck happened? The governor wonders: Why did all these knuckleheads vote for Ciattarelli?

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Here’s why, says NJ Spotlight. A lingering pandemic, in which the state still has high unemployment, angry business owners, high taxes and even more spending in Trenton. Instead of focusing on the progressive issues that Murphy embraced, a weary New Jersey retreated to more Republican topics, like taxes and the economy. Voters wondered if the governor had gone too far, with all his executive orders, business restrictions, vaccine requirements and masks in school. And while there are plenty of crappy jobs in New Jersey – in a mall near you – there are a lot of professionals who have been walloped because of this health crisis and have lost comfy jobs. And hearing the governor gush about free county college for low-income people just didn’t seem to resonate as a priority, at this moment, especially among the centrists in suburbia who clung to Ciattarelli’s no-nonsense, matter-of-fact, kitchen-table sensibility.

PISCATAWAY – Just as we’re now supposed to be calling Rutgers Stadium by some corporate name, after it had another corporate name, we’re now instructed to do the same thing with the RAC. So, let’s all forget the decades of our hate/love relationship with the trapezoid of terror, in which we proudly say we graduated at the RAC, or saw a Mike Rice tirade at the RAC or witnessed a talentless Nets team play at a near-empty RAC or who saw Geo Baker whip up the crowd at – you guessed it – the RAC. But, hey money talks. And Rutgers will net $28 million over 20 years for the RAC to now be called Jersey Mike’s Arena. So, we are told to be excited that the RAC is now bringing desperately-needed cash to the athletic department, while helping to sell sub sandwiches. So be proud, but hold the cheese.

BRIEFING BREATHER

There's a trademark on the world's darkest shade of black.

(Vantablack)

TINTON FALLS – With all this election news coverage this week, we’re a little late to getting around to lauding America’s oldest mayor. “No rush. I’ve got plenty of time,” says Vito Perillo, perhaps, who turned 97 in September and was just re-elected to his second four-year term in Tinton Falls. The great-grandfather staved off challenges from three whipper-snappers in the non-partisan election, clinching 38% of the vote. To the credit of his challengers, they did not make Perillo’s age a talking point during the campaign. Perhaps they figure his second term may be his last before he heads off on a long, well-deserved retirement. NJ.com reports Perillo is nothing special, noting the late Booneville Mayor Charles Long in Kentucky was 99 when he died in office in 2019, less than three months shy of his centennial celebration, likely the oldest mayor ever.

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

NEWTON, Mass. – What’s going on with Boston-area real estate? There was Boston’s famous 10-foot-wide Skinny House that sold in September for $1.25 million, and a home gutted by fire in Melrose going for nearly $400,000. And now a ridiculously-small house in a wealthy suburb has gone for $315,000. The owner – with a straight face – wanted to sell the 250-square-house for $450,000. But after it languished on the market for a month – a record during this hot real estate market – it sold earlier this week for $315,000. For that cash, the lucky owner gets a one-bedroom, one-bath house on 0.06 acres. The creative Realtor describes the 51-year-old speck as an “adorable tiny studio home ... featuring a completely open living space,” with a loft and “ready to finish basement.” Other benefits: A $2,900 tax bill, a complimentary mailbox and no need to leave the couch to shower.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It was this day in 1997 that Davey Johnson quit on the Baltimore Orioles. Two hours later, he is named American League Manager of the Year.

WORD OF THE DAY

Hector – [HEK-ter] – verb

Definition: To criticize or question in a threatening manner

Example: I hectored the guy who called my cell seven times today to remind me that the warranty just expired on a car I do not own.

WIT OF THE DAY

“It's not true that to be a good Catholic `you have to be like rabbits.’ Instead `responsible parenthood’ requires that couples regulate the births of their children.”

-Pope Francis

BIDEN BLURB 

“God love ya.”

-Joe Biden, to Pope Francis

WEATHER IN A WORD

Gorgeous