The Daily Newarker

I told my wife this morning on the way to the train station, “Well, tomorrow’s the big day! I’m going to have to do something really big with the blog — like maybe blog every hour of Election Day!” She sniffed, “Why? Just blog once: everybody knows what’s going to happen, anyway.”

It’s true. ??Damien Cave?? notes in today’s ??New York Times?? article, “In Newark, Booker Mayoral Campaign Takes on Air of Coronation”:http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/08/nyregion/08newark.html?_r=1&oref=slogin, that Booker’s last few days on the campaign trail — despite Rice’s best efforts — have made his installation into office seem inevitable. Tomorrow will see the first major administration change in the city of Newark for the first time in twenty years. On July 1, 2006, Cory Booker will be sworn in as Newark’s new mayor.

Sure, there will be some drama. Yesterday’s bizarre breakfast rally for Rice resulted in “this classic quote”:http://www.nj.com/newslogs/mayorsrace/index.ssf?/mtlogs/njo_mayorrace/archives/2006_05.html#138643 from Mayor James about Ron Rice:

“I got to get him to shut up now,” James said as he exited the ballroom.

The media will have a good time with more moments like this as the Rice campaign works through its “denial”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stages_of_dying before conceding the victory. I have a feeling, though, that Rice will handle it with grace. He has been in public service for years and seems like a good guy.

The nail-biter for tomorrow’s election, however, lies with the 9-member city council seats that are all up for re-election. The race is particularly close in the North and East Wards, which have seen “intense campaigning”:http://www.newarkspeaks.com/forum/showthread.php?p=20769#post20769, “allegations of fraud”:http://newark06.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=186 and “bitter court battles”:http://www.nj.com/newslogs/mayorsrace/index.ssf?/mtlogs/njo_mayorrace/archives/2006_05.html#137150. More commentary on the North Ward race at “Newark Confidential”:http://newarkconfidential.squarespace.com/journal/2006/5/7/tight-in-the-north.html.

Whether Booker can land the rest of his team into the city council positions is the real question for tomorrow. His ability to get a city council in place that will be sympathetic to his legislation will be a key success factor for his administration for the next four years. Rumor has it that Booker will be staging a “shock and awe”:http://www.newarkspeaks.com/forum/showpost.php?p=20864&postcount=14 ground campaign tomorrow to mobilze the vote for his team.

So, while we know _some_ of what will happen tomorrow, it is guaranteed to be an exciting day for Newark that will be fun to watch. Will I be blogging throughout the day tomorrow? Well, you’ll just have to stay tuned.