Where are the "New Jersey Values"?

As people who know me know well, I often defend my home state of New Jersey against the pernicious rumors that plague us. One thing that bothers is me, is a negative self-image that results.

You know all of those campaign commercials that talk about how so-and-so is standing up for "[enter state here] values"? If you are not familiar, a few examples are shown below from a quick YouTube search of certain states.

People in New Jersey, New York, California, Massachusetts, and other liberal states never do that. Why is that? Are we ashamed of our values? I'd prefer New Jersey values to Nebraska values any day. We are still honest, hardworking people, even if we don't have that farmer, rural-townfolk charm.

Adding to that is the liberal use of the buzzwords "New York values" and "San Francisco values" as stand-ins for "immorality." I've never seen a Democratic ad use "Oklahoma values" or "Alabama values" as a stand-in for "backwards" or "ignorant" or something like that. I wouldn't want to see that ad because it's wrong, but still, is this just a microcosm of the bigger differences between Democrats and Republicans in campaign commercials, and more importantly, are we losing big elections because the Republicans are better at hitting voters in the gut with black-white emotional connections. San Francisco is "the other" and "gays" are bad. Period.

But it's certainly not only Republicans doing this. In fact, I found just as many Democratic candidates use this rhetorical strategy in my quick YouTube search.

What do all of you think? Why aren't the commercials touting "New Jersey values"?

Examples:
Scott Kleeb (D) running for Hagel's open seat in Nebraska:

Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) during his awesome campaign!:

Governor Ernie Fletcher (R-KY) in his unsuccessful! reelection campaign:

And my personal favorite, Congressional candidate David Landrum (R-MS):

Here are some others for your perusal:
Mike Ciresi
Mark Kennedy
Tom Cole
Chris Carney
Joe Lieberman

Here's my take on New Jersey values:

New Jersey, Hillary, and Hypocrisy - all in a day's news

A couple of interesting things in today's paper.

1) Hillary fired her campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle and replaced her with Maggie Williams. Maggie Williams happens to be one of those people you meet who just seem so nice and genuine. Maybe she can change the tone of Hillary's campaign. First she has to convince her own family that Hillary is the best choice. Williams, who is African-American, told a group of Hillary supporters at the IOP last fall, that her little nephew (not voter age...), among others in her family, was pulling for Barack.

2) As usual, I present evidence that New Jersey is better than your state (or at least could kick its ass in a bar fight...).

3) Also as usual, President Bush is a giant hypocrite. After spending his last (!) State of the Union address lambasting Congress for their many earmarks, he goes and does this. I especially appreciate the $6.5 million going to research about the properties of asphalt.

Garden State Pride!

Today began the first day of hopefully many in New Jersey where gay couples gained legal recognition from the state.

It is days like these that help bolster my spirits against Jersey-haters.  My previously proudest day was when New Jersey became the first state in the nation to divest its state pension from companies with ties to the Sudanese government. 

Next proudest day: when New Jersey - now that its primary is on Super Saturday - plays a decisive role in choosing our next president. 

Sure we are known for malls, diners, highways, and petrochemical industry, but we are one of the most progressive states, and I love it.