My neighbor down the street, Chris Daggett, is running for governor as an independent in New Jersey. Yeah, sure, an independent won’t ever make it in this contentious, party-run state. But tonight his wife called to say that in the morning he’s getting the endorsement of the Star-Ledger, the largest paper in the state – the first time, they say, that the paper has backed an independent. Daggett’s poll numbers have jumped from 8 to 17 percent, the latter taken both before and after the first gubernatorial debate where Daggett did very well. He’s on the way up and now they think they do have a shot.
So my son and I wandered down the block and watched as Daggett and his wife and daughters and hardy campaign workers strategized media, calling assignment desks, sending out email blasts, updating their site, and making videos:
(Full disclosure: I worked with the Ledger for many years and lent the Daggett’s my Flip camera for the videos.)
