N.J. Governor Corzine Trails Christie in Two Polls

[WriteDown]

Source: Bloomberg

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Republican Christopher Christie maintained his lead over Governor Jon Corzine in two opinion polls released today, even after the Democratic incumbent launched a series of attack ads.

Christie, a former U.S. Attorney, leads Corzine 47 percent to 37 percent in a Quinnipiac University poll, a wider margin than 46 percent to 40 percent findings last month. A survey by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind showed Corzine gaining slightly. Christie led the Democrat, 47 percent to 42 percent, compared with 45 percent to 39 percent in a July tally.

“New Jersey is hardened to in-your-face politics,” said Maurice Carroll, director of Quinnipiac’s polling institute in Hamden, Connecticut, in a statement. “Is the Corzine versus Christie slugfest just regular campaign stuff or nasty even by New Jersey’s rugged standards? Standard stuff, voters say.”

Corzine, a first-term Democrat, has trailed Christie in opinion polls since February amid voter anger over the state’s finances. New Jersey faces a projected deficit of $8 billion next fiscal year, even after cutting $4 billion of spending and raising taxes this year to close a budget gap, according to the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services.

The polls are the final ones before Labor Day, when people pay closer attention to the race and the campaign season heats up, said Peter Woolley, director of PublicMind. Both candidates have likely been holding back campaigning and advertising in anticipation of the final push in the two months before Election Day, he said......


Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aLgIMHLjVjm8

[ParkieDem]

1. Not surprising.

No matter his progressive credentials, the economy in NJ sucks, and the GOP can take a populist turn on Corzine due to his Goldman Sachs connections.

[WI_DEM]

2. Dems are going to lose both the NJ and VA governorships, I believe.

Governors across the country are in trouble due to the economy and dems or republican incumbents are bound to lose in many cases, unfortunately dems have the most governorships.

[karynnj]

6. Corzine may well win this

I can tell you the local Democrats I know are not enthusiastic about Corzine, but they really dislike Christie. The polls have tended to under-estimate Democrats in NJ - on a consistent basis.

I do agree with anti- incumbent feelings. If NJ had its election in 2010, he would be better off.

[burning rain]

3. Corzine needs to keep pounding Christie.

NJ Dems need to to define Christie--not let him define himself. They need to bang on about his corruption until election day so that the first thing anyone in NJ thinks of when hearing Christie's name is, "That corrupt piece of shit." Much the same with Deeds vs. McDonnell in Va.: Deeds needs to go negative with a brutal campaign defining McDonnell as a backwards, sexist oaf who hates all gays and anyone who has sex before marriage. Voters say they hate negative campaigning--ignore them. They say that because they know they're supposed to. In reality they respond to negative campaigning. And ignore the milksop media's prissy calls for taking the high road. The high road leads to defeat--just ask Mike Dukakis. And the louder people shriek for you to stop the nastiness, the more you need to keep it up.

Not saying this guarantees Corzine and Deeds victory, but it gives them a better shot.

[rfranklin]

4. They really haven't brought up his status as errand boy to Bush

junta. He leaked a story about Menendez being investigated right before the 2004 senate elections. Not a word about this since.

[The Wizard]

5. The faux Menendez probe

was the reason Christie wasn't fired. He did Rove's bidding. Rove's plan to take the Senate seat in NJ was to get someone with a well known name like Tom Kean and smear Menendez by any means available, including a bullshit investigation. Kean's entire campaign was saying Menendez was the subject of an ongoing federal investigation.
Chris Christie is an abomination.

[karynnj]

7. I have wondered why there has been no article on this to my knowledge

If memory is correct that faux probe disappeared as soon as he won re-election. Do you know of any good article written after it ended? It would seem that this both because it is slimy and because it links him to Rove and Bush could hurt.

[The Wizard]

9. It all stopped after the election

Rove put Christie up to the fake investigation with the hope that it would leave enough doubt to get Kean the victory.
Rove's strategy to use a well known name, regardless of qualifications, and innuendo and character assassination against the opponent was the reason the election was as close as it was. Twenty percent of the voters who voted for Kean thought they were voting for his father, the ex governor.

[karynnj]

10. That was what I thought

My local paper actually endorsed Kean, even after admitting the charges were false and bemoaning the fact that Kean jr's entire campaign was that Menendez was corrupt - giving few positions on anything - saying that they hoped in the Senate that he would be like his dad. (Possibly one of the most braindead endorsements ever.)

I wonder if the Corzine people are waiting until after Labor Day to raise this.

[karynnj]

8. This is what is already on NJ TV in ads and has been for months

I'm beginning to think both sides are trying to drive down the number of people willing to vote.

Corzine has begun to mix in a very nice Obama clip from their joint appearance this month.