Scozzafava’s withdrawl (and subsequent endorsement of Owens) is a strategic disaster for the GOP.

The GOP worked hard to create this populist monster (“Joe” the Plumber?), and it’s already blowing up on them (note the race in New York). Corzine in Jersey? Much of the anger revolves around property taxes. Look at a map of almost any county in North Jersey; all those little towns are each likely to have their own courts, their own libraries, their own schools, their own police. The biggest thing they share is probably welfare and transit. Corzine has tried to push consolidation of some of these services, but most people don’t want to give up the fantasy of local control (this is a growing issue from the Northeast and into the Great Lakes). Do you want more for your tax dollar by giving up local control, or do you want local control at the cost of losing services? None of the candidates in Jersey has really presented a viable option, because the viable option is to consolidate services and that’s politically unpopular.

This may turn into the “be careful what you wish for” election. The American people–espeically seniors and the suburban middle class–are unused to politicians telling them no. They may vote with their spleens, and if they do, it’ll only generate more social tension. There’s too much “I want” and far too little “how do we?”.