Dump Corzine. Draft Bruce!

Photo by flickr user <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/2922450866/">Barack Obama</a> used under a <a href="http://www.creativecommons.org">Creative Commons</a> license.

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It’s become increasingly clear that New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, a Democrat, is in big trouble in his re-election race against former US Attorney Chris Christie. Do Democrats really want to lose the governorship of an important state like New Jersey because they’re backing a weak, unpopular incumbent? Losing the race will undoubtedly be touted as a rebuke to President Barack Obama’s agenda. Thankfully, there’s a solution: it starts with a “B” and ends in a “ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce.” That’s right: Democrats should draft the Boss for governor.

It’s clear that Springsteen has a lot of sympathy for liberal causes—he may even be to the left of Corzine. The Boss campaigned hard for Obama, so Obama might be inclined to back him if he has to run as an independent (the primary already happened)—although I think that Corzine has enough good sense to pull an LBJ and decline to run if he sees that Bruce is getting in. Bruce is immensely qualified—he’s already been the Boss in New Jersey for decades. Being governor would simply formalize the arrangement. Springsteen also makes electoral sense—do you really think anyone is going to be able to beat Bruce Friggin Springsteen in New Jersey? Of course not.

Now, some of you might quibble and say that there’s no indication that the Boss is even interested in being governor. That, of course, is where you come in: some enterprising citizen should register DraftBruce.com and TheBossforNJ.net and so on and start the campaign to get Bruce to announce his candidacy. If everything goes as planned, Springsteen will crush Christie, spend a few years in charge of the Garden State, and then run for President. That way my real goal will be achieved: the Maxwell Sachel Weinberg vice-presidency. Also the Clarence Clemons-run Department of Defense.

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It’s risky, but also unavoidable: A full one-third of the dollars that we need to pay for the journalism you rely on has to get raised in December. A good December means our newsroom is fully staffed, well-resourced, and on the beat. A bad one portends budget trouble and hard choices.

The December 31 deadline is drawing nearer, and if we’re going to have any chance of making our goal, we need those of you who’ve never pitched in before to join the ranks of MoJo donors.

We simply can’t afford to come up short. There is no cushion in our razor-thin budget—no backup, no alternative sources of revenue to balance our books. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the fierce journalism we do. That’s why we need you to show up for us right now.

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