New Jersey GOP runs on "robbing of the suburbs"

America's suburbs usually mean high incomes - and a healthy return on federal tax dollars.

Wealthy exurbs rake in more federal government money than they pay in taxes - while poor central cities bring in less. Call it the spoils of the conservative machine that ruled the country for 28 years.

But don't tell that to Republicans in New Jersey - as out of step as they are.

The Garden State is now the site of a hotly contested election for governor. And the Republicans seem to be as illogical as ever - until you realize that their suburban strategy actually pays off better than you'd think, because of deliberately suppressed voter turnout in the cities.

One columnist suggests the New Jersey GOP is running on "the robbing of the suburbs."

What "robbing of the suburbs"?

As rich suburbs get a better return on their tax dollars than the cities, it's the cities that are being robbed. Like the Tea Party meltdowns, the Republicans' meme appeals to persecuted privilege - a sense of entitlement sported by the monied exurban Establishment.

It's more effective than the Tea Parties though, because its public face is channeled through seasoned political figures - and because of suppressed turnout in poor areas.

Nationwide, the cities have been robbed to pay for corrupt GOP machines in the suburbs. The Democrats and the Greens should be talking about the robbing of the cities, because they can actually prove that it's real.

In the off-chance that the GOP can pull it off in New Jersey this year, when the party is nearly dead in other Northern urban regions, I can say one thing with 100% certainty: The margin of victory will be accounted for entirely by rich exurbs. Entirely. Take away that, and they lose.

But that has been the story of almost all major Republican electoral successes in my lifetime. Without the suburbs, they would have barely been a major party.