Monday, November 02, 2009

HORSERACE

Chris Daggett, Looking for a Crowd in Paterson

A New Jersey reader says he accidentally ran across independent Chris Daggett in his neck of the woods:

In the for-what-it’s-worth department, yesterday I was on my way home after exercising my second amendment rights at a Paterson, NJ, shooting range when I spotted an oddly out of place blue-blazered gentleman who looked positively bewildered on Main Street.  After seeing a couple of kids in lime-green T-shirts near the man, I realized they were Daggett’s retinue, if not entire advance team, and that indeed I was witnessing a woeful attempt at a man-of-the-people campaign moment.

It was around 2:00 pm, many locals were out on their business, and traffic crawled slowly enough to allow me a good glimpse at Daggett’s attempt to engage passerbys.  In the minute or so  I had to view the spectacle, no one stopped or even acknowledged him as he and his handlers worked the citizens.  I won’t vote for him, but I have to admire his willingness to absorb a public humiliation in the form of outright disregard.  On the other hand, it also caused me to curse his irresponsibility in continuing a moribund campaign, which by siphoning votes from Christie may in fact harm the lives and future of the very people he was soliciting.

A photo of Daggett in Paterson can be found here. But let's acknowledge the strong suit of a third-party guy who isn't named Jesse Ventura isn't drawing a big crowd on a city street; Daggett's strongest aspects of his campaign have been his ads, getting on stage for the debates, and the get-out-the-vote ads run by, allegedly, the New Jersey Democratic state committee.

11/02 09:58 AMShare