It’s only July, but time is fast running out on Governor Jon Corzine (D) in the New Jersey governor’s race. Corzine trails Republican Christopher Christie by as much as 15 points in recent polling, and has only polled within ten points of the challenger twice in the last two months. Even a visit from President Barack Obama has been unable to buoy the Corzine campaign back into making the race competitive. Corzine needed to do something to change the dynamic of the race, and his best opportunity should have been his selection of a lieutenant governor running mate.
But rather than make a bold choice that would have signaled a new direction for the campaign, Corzine went with the safe choice, selecting veteran State Senator Loretta Weinberg. Weinberg is qualified, but at 74 years old she hardly brings energy to the ticket. And her 17 years in elected state government brings “Trenton insider” baggage to the campaign, exactly the image that is dogging Corzine. The Christie campaign wasted no time in driving home these points, releasing a mock Corzine-Weinberg movie trailer titled, “You can’t change Trenton from the inside.”
In the weeks leading up to the deadline for choosing a running mate, Corzine was rumored to be considering a former contestant from “The Apprentice” for the second spot on the ticket. Randall Pinkett was the winner of the popular reality TV show in its 2005, and is by all accounts a very accomplished person in his own right. Pinkett holds five degrees, was a Rhodes Scholar, and is a self-made millionaire with a successful consulting company based in Newark. But perhaps his greatest strength was his political inexperience. Pinkett has never held elective office, a qualificaiton that may have looked good to the voters in the wake of the latest New Jersey Democratic corruption scandal.
Ironically, it was likely that coruption scandal that forced Corzine into his biggest mistake of the campaign since he decided to seek re-election. Weinberg has a reputation in New Jersey as something of an ethics champion. She engaged in a very public spat with the former head of the Bergen County Democratic Party, Joseph Ferriero, which Corzine helped to smooth over. Ferriero, being a Democrat, later found himself indicted on corruption charges.
Facing a new statewide corruption scandal that is likely to bear heavily on his campaign, Corzine panicked and picked Weinberg for her reformer credentials. Given an opportunity to shake things up, Corzine went with the powerful Trenton insider over bringing fresh ideas to state government. This is exactly the point that the Christie campaign has been hammering Corzine on for months. And the pounding won’t stop.
Corzine may get a bump in the polls following the Weinberg pick, but it is likely to be very short-lived. Christie is sitting in a dominant position heading into the traditionally quiet month of August. Over that time, perceptions of the candidates will solidify, and when the campaign reemerges in September, Corzine will find himself even further behind. There will be no help from Washington either, as the Obama White House will be loathe to send the president anywhere near a losing incumbent govenror in his first year in office. It isn’t over yet – far from it – but Corzine’s selection of Weinberg has made Chris Christie’s election in November as close to a sure bet as anything in recent New Jersey political history.
Steve Maley
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
Expecting another end run
jerseyred Monday, July 27th at 10:25PM EST (link)There is great speculation here in New Jersey that should Corzine still be in this bad shape come fall, Obama will “find” a spot in Washington for Corzine allowing Newark Mayor Cory Booker (or perhaps State AG Anne Milgram) to be the Democratic candidate for Governor.
The Dems got away with such a switch once before – the 2002 Senate election. Incumbent Bob Toricelli was trailing Bob Franks. Facing a growing list of corruption charges, Toricelli withdrew from the campaign less than two months before the election. Although state law and the state constitution did not allow for any changes to the ballot that late, the NJ Supreme Court allowed Frank Lautenberg to come out of retirement and be the Democratic candidate. Lautenberg won.
In a somewhat similar end run, when Jim McGreevy announced in August 2004 that he would resign effective November 15, he was able to allow State Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) to be acting governor for 14 months avoiding a special election. Had McGreevy resigned before Election Day, we would have had a special election to determine who would finish McGreevy’s term. Again, the NJ Supreme Court allowed this end run, despite there being three months from McGreevy announcing his resignation to its becoming effective.
Given these two recent scenarios, I suspect that Christie will be running against Cory Booker come November.
Thanks for stealing my next story idea
Mark Impomeni (Diary) Monday, July 27th at 10:34PM EST (link)But I don’t think the Dems would risk Booker this early. He’s got a future in NJ politics for sure. They need someone with more statewide name ID. Someone like Sen. Bob Menendez.
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Damn the Obama! Full speed ahead!
NJ, what a country!
aaronqofmaine Tuesday, July 28th at 1:07AM EST (link)Not a big fan of people who are fans of Alberto and Scooter. All NJ needs is a favorites-playing lawyer as their governor. Both candidates are weak choices. Hopefully the Dems will switch out candidates and give NJ a better choice, but I don’t see it happening if Obama keeps loosing political capitol.
The video is simple but I don’t see it getting any independent votes.
I think that people who object to health care rationing are ‘domestic terrorists.’
Too late
Mark Impomeni (Diary) Tuesday, July 28th at 5:42AM EST (link)The trouble with your theory on the video is that Christie is already getting loads of independent votes. That’s why he’s so far ahead in the polls.
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Damn the Obama! Full speed ahead!
I DISAGREE. LORETTA WEINBERG IS WISE AND SENSIBLE CHOICE FOR CORZINE.
Rod_Patrick (Diary) Tuesday, July 28th at 4:50AM EST (link)1. 74 Years Old. Experience and emotional stability.
2. 74 Years Old. No babies or adoslescent children to be devoured by the slimy attacks of Rs and Cs (but funny, Rs/Cs don’t know that such strategy was very effective since 2005).
3. Feminist Woman. Feminists are satisfied in a very feminist state (as they claim). She’s one of the top picks in Marquis Who’s Who of American Women List”.
4, Woman of Correct “Standing”.. Good only for second level position. Not a head of ticket. The rightful position for women.
5. Gay Supporter. She predicted Gay Marriage in NJ.
6. Victim of Heartless Large Business in New York. Weinberg lost $1.3 million in a retirement fund that had been invested through a Beverly Hills, California financial planner with Bernard Madoff, without her knowledge. GOSH, she had millions and lost them. Poor old lady.
7. IS SHE A JEW? An award recipient from the National Council of Jewish Women. Strong lady?
8. EXPERTISE IN HISTORY. Women, as Koooourikt and Givemeson pointed out, must be well-versed in history. She has a B.A. on History from University of California (History). Moderates and RINOs in NJ love brainy liberal women.
9. LIBERAL. A Grassroot liberal not elitist liberal like Corzine.
10. QUITTER-BENEFICIARY AND NEVER A QUITTER. Weinberg ran for the New Jersey Senate after fellow District 37 legislator Byron Baer resigned from the Senate on September 8, 2005.
11. CHARISMATIC. She’s more charismatic than Corzine, some people say. Democrats always pick up Charismatic Liberals to power up their base and get funding and grassroot support. [Republicans hate rising stars due to charisma; they hate identity politics. We want to vote with lifeless principles and not erring humans, right?]
Proof of Item 11: A more recent July 19 column.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/politics/political_stile/Weinberg_bandwagon_is_growing_bigger_louder.html
Note: A comment on th article said that liberals and Dems preferred Weinberg over Corzine.
So, to Christie handlers:
THINK OF THE ABOVE PERCEIVED JEWELS OF SILVERING LORETTA and immediately run the attack.
ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK! NOW, HERE!
well yeah but...
bk (Diary) Tuesday, July 28th at 5:34AM EST (link)If Corzine chose some old white lady over an accomplished young black man, doesn’t that make him a racist? Maybe Gates can skip on down to NJ and host some protests.
Those protests only happen if it is our side that makes those choices.
penguin2 (Diary) Tuesday, July 28th at 6:45AM EST (link)Good early morning comments Rod and BK. A laugh to start the day!
Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. – Benjamin Franklin
When Good stands up to Evil, Evil blinks. – Vassar Bushmills
Conservative Education: Suggested Reading List
Activists Taking Action: Unified Patriots
You mean Randal Pinkett?
Rod_Patrick (Diary) Tuesday, July 28th at 5:40PM EST (link)Logically maybe. Young, Black, and Techno-expert, Apprentice-winner, etc. And Q polls shows that Christie has the support of at least 25% black, which is the highest in the State since Gov. Keane.
MY TAKE NO. 1: But that’s not how the Democrats in NJ operate. Weinberg is supported by many grassroot organizations (read: they will surely get projects if their candidate, Weinberg, wins.), something that the Young Pinkett doesn’t have yet. Note that many of these grassroot orgs believe in “pay for play” – can switch sides depending on how real the promises are. Pinkett is too ideal for these grassroot groups. Besides, Pinkett has never been elected before.
OFFICIAL TAKE: Weinberg (despite Take No. 1) is viewed as NJ’s cleanest Democrat in office. The recent indictments in NJ by FBI are a major blow to Corzine. I’m not sure now if Obama will really go down to NJ and publicly support the Dems in NJ. So, the logical choice for Corzine is Weinberg.
To Christie Handlers:
Corzine’s camp is now running a subtle disinformation campaign against Christie. They’re trying to link Christie to Ashcroft re monitoring contracts. They can’t do it publicly because the money on such contracts also came from Corzine’s office. Poor Corzine.
You really needed a snark tag, here.
Moe Lane (Diary) Tuesday, July 28th at 7:29AM EST (link)Anybody who wandered in to this thread cold might not pick up on the sarcasm.
The Kim Kardashian of blogging.
Check out my blog at http://moelane.com/.
http://moelane.com/filthy-lucre-filthy-lucre/
http://twitter.com/moelane
My (combined) wish list.
Sorry, boss.
Rod_Patrick (Diary) Tuesday, July 28th at 5:11PM EST (link)IT’S A SNARK, of course.
I understand Corzines logic here.......
jimc1969 Tuesday, July 28th at 5:21PM EST (link)I think she was picked because she is from Bergen County. In statewide elections, the state tends to go for the same candidate as Bergen County. In this respect his choice was sensable ( But 74 years old ??? She could have health issues at any time, that part is certainly risky )