Charles P. Pierce: Nat'l Democrats - Wrong. Very wrong. Incredibly wrong. Spectacularly wrong.

[frazzled]

77. Conservatives are making the exact same complaint about National Republicans

re: Cuccinelli. They're saying if national Repubs had thrown in some money, the Coochmeister would have won. And that turned out to be a close race. They actually may have had a point. (Though I don't even think they wanted him to win, given the level of crazy.)

The fact remains: this is how politics works on the national level. Politicians don't throw around their weight for a candidate who is destined to lose, because it makes them look ineffective and weak.

Christie was always going to win this election (thanks to Sandy), though he might have won it by less (like Mcauliffe) if more money and talent had been thrown at to Buono. But without New Jersey Democrats heading up the fight, which they didn't, it wasn't meant to be.

Even DFA (Dean's group--though Dean himself doesn't appear to have done any work for her) didn't commit any money to the race:

Buono said she will be "competitive financially," but noted that having the same amount of money doesn't always matter in New Jersey.

"Chris Christie was outspent three-to-one by Gov. Corzine and we saw how far that went," Buono said. "This governor does have a national persona; he's spent a lot of time outside of New Jersey for three years, criss-crossing back and forth in pursuit of really his national ambitions and so the fact that he is known on a wider, a broader scale than just in New Jersey has focused national interest on the campaign."

Buono has been endorsed by and getting help from national liberal groups like Democracy for America and Emily's List, as well as the Democratic Governors Association and the Democratic National Committee. Although most won't comment on how much money they are willing to dump into the uphill battle, it's clear that it's not just about this race and they are looking toward 2016.

DFA, Howard Dean's liberal PAC, officially backed Buono last week and although it has no plans to put money behind the endorsement, it says the official backing is more "about activating our boots on the ground in the state."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/chris-christie-challenger-barbara-buono-lost-amid-obama/story?id=19278119&page=3