First the facts:
The GOP primary was bitterly contested. Conservative Christopher Christie,a former U.S. attorney under former President George W. Bush, bested his ultra-conservative opponent Steven Lonegan, the former mayor of Bogota, by a 55% to 42% margin.
I was not paying much attention to this race, so I consider myself a representative electoral sample for lesson drawing purposes. But what I saw was Christopher Christie utterly ignoring his primary opponent and running against Corzine from the get go.
That is the model that I’d like to see in more Delaware Democratic primaries where the candidates too often get caught up in sniping at each other. As a result, Republican incumbents get a free pass throughout the primary period, and the the winning Dem challenger ends up belittled and bloodied by the primary experience.
By mutually running against the ultimate opponent, the primary becomes a test of the candidate’s ability to attack Republican weaknesses and make a strong Democratic case for governance.
Bottom Line: If you are in a primary, think of the big picture. It worked for Christopher Christie.