Is Jon Korzine In Trouble?
Could be. His New Jersey gubernatorial candidacy, thought to be a shoo-in in that heavily "blue" state, is taking on water at an alarming rate, as a double-digit poll lead not too long ago has shrunk to as little as four points over RINO underdog Doug Forrester:
Forrester, no prize himself, is using his own not-inconsiderable personal fortune (that he used to drown hapless GOP rival Brett Schundler in a tsunami of slime) to compete with the moneybags Senator Korzine in the New York and Philadelphia media markets and is apparently doing more than just holding his own.
Korzine must think he's in trouble, a lot of trouble, because he's decided to take the most desperate gamble any imperiled Democrat candidate can ever accept - he's asked Bill "sadiM" Clinton to campaign for him:
{shaking head} Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Didn't Korzine pay any attention to Bob Toricelli's senate re-election bid three years ago? Surely that should look eerily familiar right about now - poll numbers collapsing, accusations of corruption (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), Doug Forrester as the Republican opponent.
Of course, Korzine hasn't sunk that low yet - Forrester had pulled ahead of Toricelli and was pulling away. Indeed, the New Jersey senior senator may be trying to recruit Mr. Bill to campaign for him now in order to avoid Don Clintone giving him the kiss of political death a few weeks from now, as Toricelli found out when he was unceremoniously (and illegally) shoved aside in favor of retread Frank Lautenberg.
But that just leads into the other incredulous question: isn't Korzine aware that every prominent Democrat for whom Bill Clinton campaigns loses? In 2002 it was a clean sweep, everywhere from Walter Mondale in Norm Coleman's Minnesota senate victory to the Hawaii gubernatorial race where the GOP won for the first time since before statehood. And last fall, despite open heart surgery, Clinton managed to lend his anti-Midas touch to John Kerry's ignominous cavalcade of incoherence in time for Mr. French's well-earned defeat.
I would never have guessed this outcome to a race that never should have been competitive. And while it'll certainly be no favor to any hope of conservativizing the Garden State GOP any time soon, I think Jersey 'Pubbies can start getting ready for Governor Forrester.
And if not, well, it's not as if there'll be that much of a difference anyway.
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.
Forrester, no prize himself, is using his own not-inconsiderable personal fortune (that he used to drown hapless GOP rival Brett Schundler in a tsunami of slime) to compete with the moneybags Senator Korzine in the New York and Philadelphia media markets and is apparently doing more than just holding his own.
Korzine must think he's in trouble, a lot of trouble, because he's decided to take the most desperate gamble any imperiled Democrat candidate can ever accept - he's asked Bill "sadiM" Clinton to campaign for him:
"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....
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.
{shaking head} Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Didn't Korzine pay any attention to Bob Toricelli's senate re-election bid three years ago? Surely that should look eerily familiar right about now - poll numbers collapsing, accusations of corruption (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), Doug Forrester as the Republican opponent.
Of course, Korzine hasn't sunk that low yet - Forrester had pulled ahead of Toricelli and was pulling away. Indeed, the New Jersey senior senator may be trying to recruit Mr. Bill to campaign for him now in order to avoid Don Clintone giving him the kiss of political death a few weeks from now, as Toricelli found out when he was unceremoniously (and illegally) shoved aside in favor of retread Frank Lautenberg.
But that just leads into the other incredulous question: isn't Korzine aware that every prominent Democrat for whom Bill Clinton campaigns loses? In 2002 it was a clean sweep, everywhere from Walter Mondale in Norm Coleman's Minnesota senate victory to the Hawaii gubernatorial race where the GOP won for the first time since before statehood. And last fall, despite open heart surgery, Clinton managed to lend his anti-Midas touch to John Kerry's ignominous cavalcade of incoherence in time for Mr. French's well-earned defeat.
I would never have guessed this outcome to a race that never should have been competitive. And while it'll certainly be no favor to any hope of conservativizing the Garden State GOP any time soon, I think Jersey 'Pubbies can start getting ready for Governor Forrester.
And if not, well, it's not as if there'll be that much of a difference anyway.
posted by JASmius at 12:47 PM
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