Corzine campaign in trouble. Former President Bill Clinton called in to help.

[Moooooo]

NY Daily News:

WASHINGTON - Former President Bill Clinton is being called in to help rescue the slumping New Jersey gubernatorial campaign of Jon Corzine, who has given up a double-digit lead and is just 4 points ahead of Republican Doug Forrester in a new poll.

"It's 911 time in the Corzine campaign. Obviously, he's in trouble," said a senior Democratic strategist.

Clinton will campaign with the Democratic U.S. senator today at Kean University in Union, hoping to turn around Corzine's stalled run for the New Jersey statehouse.

A Quinnipiac poll gives Corzine a 48%-to-44% lead over Forrester - a 6-point drop from a month ago. Other recent polls have Corzine up by 9 points, but they also show him ceding a double-digit lead.

Strategists say it's not too late for Corzine to turn it around, and one said "it's not a surprise" he has tapped the ever-popular Clinton to help fix the problem.

Corzine is accused of trying to conceal a $470,000 loan to ex-girlfriend Carla Katz, the head of New Jersey's largest state workers union.

The race has become a titanic TV ad war, with both millionaire candidates digging deep into their pockets to buy time on New York and Philadelphia stations that penetrate into New Jersey.

[WalterMitty]

i hope to goodness corzine goes down. 

[© tweed]

i hope to goodness corzine goes down. 

He will, along with every other candidate Clinton has campaigned for since 2000.

[Keystone Phil]

"NJ is a lock with Corzine."

[nini2287]

i hope to goodness corzine goes down. 

He will, along with every other candidate Clinton has campaigned for since 2000.

He campaigned for Allyson Schwartz and we all saw how that turned out.

[Keystone Phil]

i hope to goodness corzine goes down. 

He will, along with every other candidate Clinton has campaigned for since 2000.

He campaigned for Allyson Schwartz and we all saw how that turned out.

I don't remember him coming here but even if he did, it wasn't a high profile visit like the other visits Tweed is referring to.

[Flying Dog]

Even with these recent polls, I expect Corzine to win 58-41

[Keystone Phil]

Even with these recent polls, I expect Corzine to win 58-41

We like to keep these conversations serious...

[Flying Dog]

Even with these recent polls, I expect Corzine to win 58-41

We like to keep these conversations serious...

Even with these recent polls, I expect Corzine to win 58-41

We like to keep these conversations serious...

I dont take New Jersey polls seriously.

ex. 2004

[nini2287]

i hope to goodness corzine goes down. 

He will, along with every other candidate Clinton has campaigned for since 2000.

He campaigned for Allyson Schwartz and we all saw how that turned out.

I don't remember him coming here but even if he did, it wasn't a high profile visit like the other visits Tweed is referring to.

Oh ok, I just got a couple roto-calls from Clinton (I also got one from Bruce Castor for Brown)

[dazzleman]

Let's hope Clinton enjoys the same success he had campaigning for McBride against Jeb Bush in Florida, or for Bill Curry against John Rowland in Connecticut.

[Moooooo]

Just a follow up to this story, TIFWIW.


From Philly.com Clinton's a hit at Corzine rally:

UNION, N.J. - New Jersey needs a governor "full of new ideas and capable of implementing them," former President Bill Clinton told Democratic Party faithful who packed the 3,200-seat Harwood Arena at Kean University yesterday afternoon for a rally championing Sen. Jon S. Corzine's candidacy.

The former president stole the show, as even Corzine knew he would.

"I'll shut up now," Corzine said as he introduced Clinton. "You didn't come to hear me."

Waving to the screaming, standing crowd, Clinton said, "You have to stop that, or I'll forget that I'm not president anymore."

Turning serious, Clinton told the audience: "If you ever needed a governor who's strong and smart and good and experienced and full of new ideas and capable of implementing them, you need that person now... . I don't know of a better-qualified person I ever saw present himself or herself for the office of governor than Jon Corzine."

Clinton said Corzine's plan for property-tax relief, which would increase rebates by 40 percent in four years to eligible residents, was preferable to that of Corzine's Republican opponent, businessman Douglas Forrester.

Corzine, who once led Forrester by double-digits in polls, has seen his advantage erode to as little as 4 percentage points in one independent poll released this week. In two other polls released this week, Corzine led by about 8 points, with 10 percent or more undecided.

Forrester called Clinton's visit the mark of a desperate campaign.

"Jon Corzine's campaign is stumbling badly," Forrester said. "I'm sure they are looking for all the help they can get."

Forrester downplayed his own high-profile visitors from Washington, including Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who was in New Jersey on Wednesday. Appearances by Vice President Cheney and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also have benefited the Republican; Sen. John McCain of Arizona is slated to stump for Forrester in October.

Corzine dismissed Forrester's remark about the campaign's desperation after the latest polls.

"This has been on the schedule for a long time," he said. "You don't get President Clinton on a 24-hour notice."

Joanna Kidd, 60, of Browns Mills, said she had ducked out of work early to grab a ride to the rally.

"I came so I could hear him firsthand, so I could go back to where I live and say, 'I was there. I heard it. And you should support him,' " Kidd said, referring to Corzine.

[Keystone Phil]

"Corzine needs to bring in big names instead of talking about the big issues. New Jersey cannot afford Jon Corzine."  That's all one ad has to say to counter Clinton's visit. Corzine can use Clinton in his ads but whenever the issues are brought up, Forrester is the clear winner.

[dazzleman]

McBride would've lost no matter what, and Clinton didn't endorse Currry or  his opponent.

Clinton came and campaigned for Curry in 2002.  That sounds like an endorsement to me.  Curry was a policy wonk in the early days of the Clinton administration, and has a reputation as a bonehead.

[Kevin]

Maybe this is Forrorsters chance to get some help from big time Republicans like Rudy or Gingrich.

[Keystone Phil]

Maybe this is Forrorsters chance to get some help from big time Republicans like Rudy or Gingrich.

I read an article about McCain visiting the Garden State sometime this month. Rudy would help Forrester, too.

[Kevin]

Getting the support of both Rudy and Mccain would be a great and Maybe Forrester could take the lead and defeat Corzine. 

[A18]

Getting the support of both Rudy and Mccain would be a great and Maybe Forrester could take the lead and defeat Corzine. 

Well, it definitely helped Bush win New Jersey

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Clinton endorsed Curry about a week before the general.

[Erc]

Corzine'll still win.

My hope for this race:

Corzine wins, but narrowly (so narrowly that it's sort of disputed--not quite Dino-Rossi style, but nearly).

Corzine's seat gets lost come '06.

And Forrester's still around and not-disgraced so he can win Lautenberg's seat in '08.

[Keystone Phil]

And Forrester's still around and not-disgraced so he can win Lautenberg's seat in '08.

That might just happen. Lautenberg is doing some serious fundraising so I guess he is running for re-election. Bad move for him since his ratings aren't so hot.

[Erc]

And Forrester's still around and not-disgraced so he can win Lautenberg's seat in '08.

That might just happen. Lautenberg is doing some serious fundraising so I guess he is running for re-election. Bad move for him since his ratings aren't so hot.

That's one guy I really want out of the Senate.  Revenge for 2002.

Didn't he suggest back in '82 that Millicent Fenwick was too old to be a Senator?  She was 72 at the time.  Lautenberg's going to be 84 in 2008.  Sheesh.

[Keystone Phil]

Didn't he suggest back in '82 that Millicent Fenwick was too old to be a Senator?  She was 72 at the time.  Lautenberg's going to be 84 in 2008.  Sheesh.

Yeah, that's exactly what happened and he'll get hammered for it in '08. It will work, too, if his weak numbers last. It's three years away but if it stays, he'll be going.

[dazzleman]

Didn't he suggest back in '82 that Millicent Fenwick was too old to be a Senator?  She was 72 at the time.  Lautenberg's going to be 84 in 2008.  Sheesh.

Yeah, that's exactly what happened and he'll get hammered for it in '08. It will work, too, if his weak numbers last. It's three years away but if it stays, he'll be going.

I don't know.  I think New Jersey is brain dead at this point.  They'll probably re-elect Lautenberg if he dies and the Demos stuff him and prop him up in a chair.  And given their level of corruption, I wouldn't put it past them to do it.

[Cashcow]

Didn't he suggest back in '82 that Millicent Fenwick was too old to be a Senator?  She was 72 at the time.  Lautenberg's going to be 84 in 2008.  Sheesh.

Yeah, that's exactly what happened and he'll get hammered for it in '08. It will work, too, if his weak numbers last. It's three years away but if it stays, he'll be going.

I don't know.  I think New Jersey is brain dead at this point.  They'll probably re-elect Lautenberg if he dies and the Demos stuff him and prop him up in a chair.  And given their level of corruption, I wouldn't put it past them to do it.

Though the braindead comment is frustrating, there's really nothing I can say to refute it.  However at least in Central Jersey, saying Lautenberg is good is like saying you love Nazis.  I doubt he can win anything, even if he was younger.  And Corzine will most definately be replaced by a Republican especially considering that there are pretty much no big name Democrats left in New Jersey while the Republicans are stacking up.

My representative would beg to differ...