The Star Ledger explores the history of Angry New Jerseyans, the rise of Chris Daggett, and whether hope will finally land on the shores of New Jersey with the election of an independent candidate.

The Star Ledger
The Angry Jerseyans, too, embrace their rage. It’s who they are. And it seems they don’t want to make that anger go away. What would they do if they couldn’t complain about living in New Jersey and constantly threaten to leave?

A Rutgers-Eagleton poll, released Monday, found that almost 70 percent of New Jersey voters are open to a strong alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties. Thirty-seven percent said they would prefer more than two major parties. Yet independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett gets the support of only 20 percent of likely voters.

“It is striking how many New Jersey voters say they want an alterative, yet how unwilling they are to vote for that alternative when available,” poll director David Redlawsk told PolitickerNJ.com.

For the past two decades, the message of the Angry Jerseyans has been the same: The two-party system is broken and corrupt and manipulated by party bosses and special interests. Taxes are out of control.

An, while they screamed from the bleachers, the Democrats and Republicans, like two crooked boxers, have stood in the middle of the ring, winking and throwing haymakers at each other — all the while knowing the fix is in.

“We need an independent candidate to save us!” the masses shouted as they scanned the political horizon for a savior.

This year, a year like no other in New Jersey politics, Daggett fell into their laps. He’s a rational, clear-thinking independent who doesn’t make voters fear that one day he’ll announce that he believes in UFOs and has even ridden in one. Or that he will balance the budget by replacing the dollar with M&Ms.

Read the full article at: http://blog.nj.com/njv_kevin_manahan/2009/10/corzine_christie_or_daggett_an.html