Voter Suppression, Chris Christie Style

So this is all pretty obvious, innit? Chris Christie calls a special election for the Lautenberg Senate seat for October, even though there is already an election scheduled for November. He's running for reelection in that one.

So why October? He says he is planning on appointing an interim person here soon, so what's the diff in that person serving until October or November? It's just a month. In having an extra election, he's costing his state an extra $12 million.

What could the reason be? Gee, do you think it could have anything to do with the fact that the Democratic Senate candidate is going to be Cory Booker, who is black, and who will draw African American voters to the polls in large numbers? So let all those black voters get their electoral ya-ya's out in October, see, and they'll stay home in November and not vote against him. And he'll run up a huge margin and keep alive his 2016 prospects, dimmed though they might have been by the stuffed animal affair. Sidenote: Keeping the Booker election off the November card can't hurt state and local GOP candidates, either.

It's smart, but it's sooooo obvious. The questions will be: 1, will the newspaper editorialists and other civic guardians complain about that $12 million such that it becomes an issue? 2, will African American voters care enough about being played like this to come out in large numbers in November?

By the way, his Democratic opponent, whose name is never mentioned in these things, is Barbara Buono, and from the accounts of friends of mine who know Garden State politics she's a rather impressive human being. Here's her bio. Give her a hearing why dontcha.