The Mikie Sherrill Campaign - What's Next?

MORRISTOWN - Now that the confetti on the ballroom floor of the Westin Hotel has been swept up, how does Mikie Sherrill win in November?
"I am ready to shake up the status quo and Jack is the status quo," she told her cheering supporters Tuesday night.
Sounds good, but what's next?
No one really cares about unsolicited advice, but just the same, here is some for Sherrill.
Jack Ciattarelli will make one point over and over again. That will be:
"After eight years, do we really want another four years of a Phil Murphy-type government?"
It's not a bad argument. The last time a Democrat was elected governor after a fellow Democrat had served two terms was in 1962. (The names were Robert Meyner and Richard Hughes for those who care)
Clearly, Sherrill has to separate herself from Murphy. Easier said than done, considering they share the same political philosophy.
One thing she should avoid is what Kamala Harris did. Recall that when Harris was asked how she would differ from Joe Biden, she said something like nothing comes to mind. Ugh.
Obviously, any differences between Sherrill and Murphy can surface over the next few months
But she can do a few things right off the bat - like pledging not to promote her spouse to be a United States senator.
Yeah, we are joking here, but not totally. The Senate candidacy of Tammy Murphy was political arrogance at its worst. Any candidate would be wise to condemn it.
A while back at an event, I heard Sherrill talk about "radical transparency."
She can move in that direction very quickly.
Sherrill can say she wants to rescind two glaringly anti-transparent bills signed by Murphy.
One weakened the state's Election Law Enforcement Commission, a watchdog agency, and the other did likewise to the Open Public Records Act.
In signing them, Murphy rewarded politicians and others who do not always have the public's interest in mind. Sherrill should pledge to correct that.
Sherrill got through the primary by relentlessly attacking Donald Trump. That was a great strategy in seeking votes from Democrats. But now the field has widened.
Ciattarelli is already making jokes about this.
"If this campaign were a drinking game and you took a shot every time Mikie Sherrill says Trump, you’d be drunk off your ass every day between now and Nov, 4," is how he put it.
All candidates make jokes - some are better at it than others.
But this one makes a genuine point.
Trump will be a factor in the fall election to be sure, but someone running for governor of New Jersey needs to address New Jersey stuff in detail - property taxes, transportation, school funding and the like. You need to go beyond what Sherrill said Tuesday about New Jersey being great because you can hike in the mountains in the morning and hit the beach in the afternoon.
Besides what one says, a word about campaigning is necessary.
Four years ago, Ciattarelli was everywhere, visiting diners, bars, pizza joints and the like.
Murphy held campaign rallies with groups that were going to support him anyway - Democratic-leaning and liberal groups. What good does that do?
As it turned out, not all that much. Murphy won in a race closer than expected.
Ciattarelli is already resuming the pattern. He plans a number of stops today in a bakery in Dover and diners in South Plainfield and East Newark.
Sherrill would do well to avoid the staged rallies with supporters and spend more time meeting "real" people.
Editor's Note: For what it is worth, we will offer unsolicited advice to Jack Ciattarelli in a subsequent column.