Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: For Jersey Democrats, it looks like it'll be Buono vs. Christie

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' NJ-Gov: Well, it looks like it's going to be state Sen. Barbara Buono for the Dems. State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, who contemplated a run for governor but never seemed particularly interested, announced on Monday that he would not enter the race. Meanwhile, PolitickerNJ reports (according to unnamed sources) that Rep. Bill Pascrell won't run either, though Pascrell has messed with us repeatedly on this score before.

And finally, Rep. Frank Pallone endorsed Buono on Monday as well. While Pallone is apparently interested in the Senate race and not the governor's mansion (the deliciously named Drumthwacket), I suspect he might have held off on lending his support to Buono if it looked like any other major players were about to enter the contest. But it really does appear we're at the end of the line.

On that note, I encourage you to read another great Steve Kornacki piece, this one titled: "Exit everyman: How the Jersey Democratic bosses destroyed Dick Codey and unleashed Chris Christie." Kornacki's lede wastes no time:

They won't say it publicly, but there is fear, genuine fear, among New Jersey Democrats that this year's gubernatorial election will produce a Republican landslide not seen since the Tom Kean-era, threatening Democratic control of the legislature and key county offices.

These fears have percolated up a little bit recently in other reports, but Kornacki gives them their fullest airing. But as you can see based on the fascinating thesis expounded in the headline'obsessed with Jon Corzine's cash, New Jersey Dems shoved the much more likeable Codey aside, setting up Corzine's fateful loss to Christie in 2009'it sounds like Dems at least partly have themselves to blame for this state of affairs.