Congratulations Governor Christie

When I voted this morning, and saw that many many more people than usual had voted before me, there was definitely a sense Christie may have done it.




Now, being the eternal optimist, I'm hopeful for this new chapter in our state's governance. Not only was Christie able to ride his corruption convictions to Trenton; his substantial county and local level coattails swept aside the first of Papa Joe Ferriero's hand picked Freeholders here in Bergen.


Regardless of who won the election, we were in for a few tough years ahead while trying to climb out of the mess we're in. Voters clearly wanted a change of direction at the top. Our state simply can't afford for partisanship to get in the way of progress. As Democrats control both Chambers in Trenton, compromise is going to be key if we're to rebound from this mess.

Voters have spoken, now we have to see if politicians will listen. I'm optimistic they will, even if cautiously.

Caroline Kennedy's Speech

This was quite the surprise, to have Caroline Kennedy speak yesterday before Governor Corzine and President Obama.

Obama's Entire Speech

It was quite the event. Here is Obama's speech for Governor Corzine:

Obama visiting NJ

Update: Corzine is hammering education and health. He's slamming mandate free policies.

Corzine: I believe we have a moral obligation to provide a world class education.

Update: Corzine is thanking everyone. This crowd is loving him. "Yes we can". "We are all in this together"

Update: Kennedy- Corzine introduced after she says he's never forgotten the value of a good education.

Update: This is a good speech. Real meat and potatoes, and now we get Caroline Kennedy.

Update: Oh, the "Jewish Grandmother" as hatchet woman is interesting to see in person. She's tearing Christie apart, but seems like she's about to offer the audience milk and cookies.

Update: Senator Loretta Weinberg is speaking now. She's highlighting NJ's diversity. She just used "Strength in Diversity"

Update: Just a reminder, you can watch live at http://www.joncorzine09.com/

Update: We're in the holding pattern dance party now. Nothing to do with politics, but watching senior citizens jam to "Sexy Back" is always fun.

Update: The obligatory Bon Jovi. Still can't believe they're having him open Giants Stadium.

Update: We're at the strategic placing stage, with people being lined up behind the podium.

Update: Rothman is tying his support of Obama into Corzine. He mention's Sarah Palin's name and the crowd boos loudly.

Rothman is claiming Corzine will go down in history as one of our greatest Governors ever.

"Let's get the job done" is his ending.

Update: Rep. Steve Rothman. Obama's first backer. They're rolling out the big guns in order.

Update: Huttle- "Chris Christie is wrong when it matters most"

Update: Valerie Huttle up there. Talking about stimulus money. "Jon Corzine knows what matters" seems to be the developing theme.

Update: Vernon Walton is getting the crowd chatting yes we can.

Update: Dennis McNerney is on the stage.

Update: 3,500 folks are going to be here.

Update: And here we go.

Update: The campaign is running live video on their website: http://www.joncorzine09.com/

Update: Ah. I doubt the music selection is as interesting at most political functions.

Update: Heard the Joe Ferriero verdict may come today. Would provide for an interesting contrast if he came back guilty the same day Loretta is on with the President.

Update: Best sticker so far: Mammos Matter. Cozine/Weinberg also have a ton of pink signs in the crowd.

Update: I'm actually hoping to hear State Senator Loretta Weinberg speak. She has been at the forefront of cleaning up politics in the Democratic Party and the state. After her battles, and more important victories against Papa Joe and the BCDO, her ending up NJ's Lt. Governor has great potential.


Update: All the regular press are starting to fill into our area. Very good to see some familiar faces.

Update: This venue is much more intimate than PNC, and has the temperature of the ice rink VP Biden visited so many months ago.

One thing that seems to be a common visit during the events this week is voter turnout. Less than 50 percent of people vote, and therefore 25.1 percent can decide who will be our Governor.

I wrote a rather long piece on this a few years back. Above all, people need to participate to gain accountability of their government.

President Obama has returned to NJ in support of Governor Corzine and I'm here. The crowd is starting to be let in and the music is starting to play. Frequent updates to come...

Christie Just Keeps Burying Himself

One has to wonder if Chris Christie is purposely trying to lose, or if his recent issues are reflective of what his management of the state would be like. We're in rough enough shape as it is, this kind of mismanagement won't help us get better.

In case you missed it, there are two issues that he just keeps making worse for himself.

First, Christie just keeps getting deeper in the scandal with Michelle Brown, his former assistant/travel buddy. The NY Times ran a scathing piece, highlighting her alleged interference at the US Attorney's office. Christie's surrogates then tried to deflect the criticism. However, they can't avoid the issue and the more they try and say he didn't do anything wrong the worse they're sounding.

Second, and this really should be first, on whether or not he's going to be a fiscal conservative, Christie himself has been quoted as saying he would allow cabinet officials to put themselves up at expensive hotels. The story was picked up by News 12:



And by WPIX:



You simply can't claim to be a fiscal conservative and then propose to govern like this. As Christie has started to attack Chris Daggett to stop from taking fiscal conservatives, one has to realize it's because Christie himself is not a fiscal conservative. No way, no how.

Daggett Supporter Drops By

As a former Independent candidate myself, I have a tremendous amount of respect for Chris Daggett and what his campaign has been able to accomplish to date.

He's earned the endorsement of the Star Ledger, seeks the council of solid centrists like Governor Angus King (quoted under my picture to the right), receives full write-ups in the New York Times, and is currently polling at 16%. Pretty remarkable.

So, as I have spoken about the other two candidates, I figure it only fair to let one of Daggett's folks have a voice here. Here's a comment left on my post yesterday (I took the liberty of connecting the hyperlinks):

Unfortunately politicians in both parties do this. We need to shake up the system by electing Chris Daggett.

That's why The Star Ledger’s endorsement of Chris Daggett is great news. I wish the Republicans would stop the Bush/Rove Fear mongering. There is obviously a consensus that a vote for Daggett is not a vote for Corzine.

Daggett is a viable candidate and there are many of this who are voting for him because we know he can win and is the only candidate who can change this state. The Star Ledger’s endorsement echoes and re-affirms that opinion.

We need people to get involved and spread the word about Chris Daggett.

Learn 15 ways to help and get started now.

Even if your not from NJ you can still cyber volunteer. Go here to get Html and Text code to post on the web or in an email!

Christie's Room(s) at the Inn

Update: Hotwire lays out the trips; Blue Jersey promoted a thoughtful comparison between Christie and Sharpe James.

I'm going to flat out say it, Chris Christie is not the sharpest politician in the world.

From the AP:

On trips in 2007 and 2008, his top deputy, Michele Brown, also exceeded the guidelines after Christie approved her requests for rooms in the same five-star hotels where he was booked.

The vouchers show Christie and Brown stayed at the NineZero Hotel in Boston on Oct. 16, 2007 and each billed taxpayers $449 plus taxes and fees for their rooms, more than double the government allowance for a Boston hotel room at the time, according to a General Services Administration travel reimbursement table.

You can't claim to be fiscally conservative, and then act like it only applies to everyone else. To make matters worse, in addition to Christie taking taxpayers for a ride, Christie approved his assistant doing it, too.

In fairness to Christie, he's said he couldn't find a room. Although the Red Sox were playing in the playoffs that night (was he there?) and Tori Amos was in town (or there?), it's unlikely every affordable hotel in Boston was booked on a Tuesday night. In fact, Christie has a demonstrated history of this sort of blatant waste, exceeding federal limits on 87.5% of his trips.

Then, going back to things you should think about, the AP article points out some interesting timing:

Christie made a mortgage loan to Brown five days after they returned from Boston, on Oct. 22, 2007. He failed to report the loan on federal ethics forms and on his 2007 federal income tax returns, omissions he later described as a mistake. Brown has since resigned and joined a private law firm.

While no one is saying that Christie and Brown have had an affair, he should have realized at some point in time, such a coincidence in timing would sow seeds of doubt in the public's mind.

So not only does he abuse taxpayer dollars, he doesn't think.

New Jersey has a long and sorry history of politicians who don't think, which is part of the reason we're in the mess we're in. While people are already seem burned out over the campaign, it will be interesting to see how the public reacts.

Christie Vs. Christie on Mammograms

While I've written about whether or not Representative Scott Garrett supports the elimination of mammogram coverage for women before, the argument is getting a fresh look in our Governor's race.

Tom Moran of the Star Ledger has a must read piece on what Chris Christie is saying about mammogram coverage now, versus what he said in the primary:

"He’s saying under my plan women would not be able to get mammograms,” Christie says.

Really? Corzine’s television ads are careful on this point. They charge only that Christie would allow insurers to sell policies without mammogram coverage. That happens to be true.

And Christie could not point to even a campaign stop where Corzine went overboard and made a phony accusation.

There have been many times that I've argued that on paper, many conservative ideals are very appealing to many people. However, soundbites of the appealing nature generally have real world implications and many times cease to be practical. This happens to be one of those times.

This should be an interesting test case of the argument for whoever ends up running against Garrett next year. Take what he's said, and explain to people what it means in the real world.

Nearly 10% of NJ's Lost Jobs Are Back

Correction: It was pointed out that the 150,000 jobs lost was total, not simply private sector. Therefore, with the public sector losses, the overall gains are actually about 5%.

In a conference call that just finished up a little bit ago, Governor Jon Corzine touched on something that probably is getting lost in all of the press about Chris Christie's apparent violation of the Hatch Act and the overall politicization of our Justice Department under Karl Rove and George Bush.

We here in NJ gained 13,000 private sector jobs last month. Since 2007, we've lost about 150,000, so we've gained 8.6% back. It's still a long way to go, but 9% in a month is progress.

Since the beginning of the recession in December 2007, New Jersey has lost 150,100 jobs (-3.7%). Nationally, employment has declined by 6.7 million jobs (-4.8 %).

Considerable over-the-month job gains occurred in the leisure and hospitality (+6,200), construction (+3,400), professional and business services (+3,200), and manufacturing (+3,100) supersectors. Hiring in the arts, entertainment and recreation component (+5,300) was responsible for the gain in leisure and hospitality, while most of the growth in professional and business services employment was due to gains in the administrative support/waste management/remediation segment (+2,900). In construction, the job gains were mainly due to hiring by specialty trade contractors.

So not only did we add jobs, we've lost fewer jobs as a percentage than the nation. As someone who regularly reads the reports, and chastised those who ignore them, the fact we actually added manufacturing jobs is, well, shocking. When you consider that since the recession began in 2007 as a nation we've lost 2 million, and in New Jersey we've been losing them for months, the gain is definitely a positive sign.

With Christie's ethics armor getting dented (daily at this point), if New Jersey can get a few months like this before the Election, Corzine will definitely be in a stronger position.

It's good to have some good news for a change.

Garrett helps Corzine

Representative Scott Garrett and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (a Republican) are not the closest of friends, at least in the media. I had written about one dust up two years ago between Garrett and the unapologetic moderate. Recently, they revisited their "good will" toward each other. From The Hill:

LaHood got into a heated argument over the $787 economic stimulus package Friday with Rep. Scott Garrett (N.J.) while offering testimony to the House Budget Committee.

The debate was related to attempts by some Republican governors to refuse stimulus money, and ended up with LaHood offering praise to New Jersey’s Democratic governor, Jon Corzine, who faces an uphill reelection battle this year.

[snip]

"Sen. Kyl is not in charge of the money, congressman," LaHood told Garrett. "The governor is. I wanted to be sure that the governor was not in the same line of thinking."

When Garrett wondered whether his state would receive a similar letter, LaHood backed Corzine, the embattled New Jersey governor, noting that he had secured millions in stimulus funding from Congress. Corzine this year is facing a tough re-election race against Republican Chris Christie.

"Your governor has been a real leader in this, by the way," LaHood said during an exchange in which the two former GOP conference members talked over one another.

Garrett and his people were so pleased by the exchange, they made a video of it and put the testimony up on Garrett's YouTube Page:



By Garrett persisting as he did, and feeling it was worth posting, Governor Corzine was able to get this nice little web video made:



Nothing like a respected moderate Republican sitting and giving sworn testimony that a Democratic Governor has created jobs during an election year. Corzine should probably call and thank Garrett.

Full Text of Obama's Speech

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. It is good to see you. Hello, New Jersey! (Applause.) All right, everybody have a seat. Everybody have a seat. I want to begin by just making a few acknowledgements. First of all, I'm going to have a lot to say about this guy, but I just want everybody to know that one of my earliest supporters, somebody who had faith and confidence in me before I was a United States senator was the man standing next to me right here -- Jon Corzine. (Applause.) And so it is a special honor to be with him.

I've got a couple other friends I want to quickly acknowledge. Larry Cohen is around here somewhere. CWA -- right here. We appreciate you, Larry. (Applause.) President of the Communication Workers. We've got a couple of outstanding mayors -- the Pride of Newark, Cory Booker is here. (Applause.) There's Cory in the back. And we've also got the Pride of Jersey City, Jeremiah Healy. (Applause.)

I want to just say a little something at the top. As many of you may have heard, five officers were shot in the line of duty in Jersey City. Jeremiah -- I just saw him; we just discussed it. He may already be on his way back. Obviously we are watching this closely. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of all the officers who have been hurt. And we are confident they are going to end up coming back strong as ever. But it's a reminder for all of us of the incredible sacrifice that our law enforcement officials engage in, and their families are part of, each and every day. So I hope everybody keeps them in their thoughts and prayers in the days to come. (Applause.)

It is great to be back in New Jersey. I'm proud to stand with a man who wakes up every single day thinking about your future and the future of this state -- and that's your governor, Jon Corzine. (Applause.)

Like many of us in public life today, Jon is a leader who's been called to govern at some extraordinary times. He's been tested by the worst recession in half a century -- a recession that was caused by years of recklessness and irresponsibility, and obviously had a disproportionate impact here in New Jersey, given the closeness of the financial sector to the state.

Part of the crisis was caused by the same small thinking that's plagued our politics for decades -- the kind of thinking that says we can afford to tinker around with big problems, put off tough decisions, defer the big challenges, tell people only what they want to hear.

That's not the kind of leader Jon Corzine is. He didn't run for this office on the promise that change would be easy, and he certainly has not avoided what is hard. This isn't somebody who's here because of some special interest or political machine -- he's here because he cares about what happens to the people of New Jersey.

This is a man who has provided more property tax relief than any other governor in New Jersey's history. (Applause.) This is the first governor in 60 years who has reduced the size of government. At the same time, this is also a leader who has stood up against those who wanted to cut what matters, like education. Jon Corzine has not only protected funding for New Jersey's schools, he's reformed them with higher standards, and now students in this state rank at the top of the country in reading and math. That's a testimony to Jon Corzine's leadership. (Applause.)

Since Jon Corzine became governor, the Children's Health Insurance Program has been expanded to reach 80,000 more children -- 80,000 who got health insurance who did not have it before. New Jersey has become a leader in clean energy. And Jon Corzine wasn't just the first governor to pass an economic recovery plan for his state; he was an ally in helping the federal government, my administration, develop the national recovery plan.

And because of these recovery plans, jobs have been saved and created throughout the state of New Jersey -- jobs of cops and teachers; jobs in small businesses and clean energy companies. Unemployment insurance and health insurance has been extended to those who have felt the brunt of this recession, who lost their jobs. Tax relief has been delivered to families and small businesses. Ninety-five percent of working families have already received tax relief as a consequence of our recovery plan. And I can promise you that more help is on the way in the weeks and months to come.

Now, I realize this is little comfort to those who have lost a job in this recession. Some of you know people who've lost jobs, or maybe you're -- worried about losing their home or can't afford their health insurance anymore. I realize that some of the progress that's been made doesn't help some folks who need to pay their bills and have fallen deeply behind. And I'll be honest with you -- even though jobs have always been one of the last things that come back in a recession, some of the jobs that have been lost may not come back.

The fact is, even before this crisis hit, we had an economy that was creating a good deal of wealth for the folks at the very top, but not a lot of good-paying jobs for the rest of America. It's an economy that wasn't built to compete in the 21st century. It was one where we spend more on health care than any other nation but aren't any healthier; where we've been slow to invest in clean energy technologies that have created new jobs and new industries in other countries because we've been slow to take up the call of clean energy. We had an economy where we've watched our graduation rates lag behind too much of the world. We used to be at the very top, number one, in college graduation rates. We aren't anymore; we're in the middle of the pack.

But that was the America of yesterday. That doesn't have to be the America of tomorrow. That must not be the America our children inherit. (Applause.) You see, what we're facing right now is more than a passing crisis. It's a transformative moment that's led this nation to an unmistakable crossroads. We've got some choices and decisions we've got to make -- right here in Washington -- in Washington and right here in Trenton.

Now, there are some in New Jersey, some in Washington, some all across the country, who want us to go down the path we've already traveled for most of the last decade -- the path where we just throw up our hands and say, "We can't do anything about health care. It's too tough. We can't do anything about energy -- too hard" -- where we do nothing but hand out more tax breaks to the wealthiest few that make the rich richer and the deficit even larger, and leave ordinary people in the lurch. That's one path. It's a path where our health care costs keep rising and our oil dependency keeps on growing, where our financial markets remain an unregulated crapshoot, and our workers lose out on the jobs of tomorrow.

But that's not the future I accept for the United States of America. That's not the future that Jon Corzine accepts for the United States of America. That's not the future you accept for the United States of America. (Applause.) We are going to set a new course for this nation, and it's going to start right here in New Jersey. (Applause.)

We did not come as far as a country as we have because we've spent all our time looking backwards, or because we stood still in the face of great challenges and said "No, we can't." We didn't get here by lowering our sights or diminishing our dreams. We are a forward-looking people -- a people who have always faced the future not with fear, but with determination; not with doubt, but with hope. We've always taken great chances, and reached for new horizons, and remade the world around us.

And that's what we must do again. I am absolutely confident that we will weather this economic storm. But once we clear away the wreckage, the real question is: What are we going to build in its place?

Even as we rescue this economy from this crisis, I believe we have to rebuild an even better economy than we had before. We're going to have to lay a new foundation that will allow this country to thrive and compete in the global economy. And that means investing in the clean energy jobs of the future. That means educating and training our workers for those jobs. That means finally controlling the health care costs that are driving this nation into debt. (Applause.)

When it comes to these issues, the naysayers seem to think that we can somehow just keep on doing what we've been doing and expect a different outcome. We can't. And everywhere we go, I meet Americans who know that we can't. They know change isn't easy. They know there will be setbacks and false starts. And I love some of our opponents who stand up and say, "Look, it's been six months and you haven't solved the economy yet." (Laughter.) The American people know better than that.

Here is what they also know: We're at a rare moment where we've been given the opportunity to remake our world; a chance to seize our future. And as difficult as it sometimes is, what is inherent about the American spirit is the fact that we don't cling to the past in this country. We always move forward. And that movement doesn't begin in Washington -- it begins with you. It happens because the American people decide it's time to move forward; because you decide it's time for change; because you're willing to face the future without fear. And if you do that now, then we will not only reelect Jon Corzine so he can keep on fighting for families here in New Jersey, but we will do what earlier generations have done and build something better to leave to our children and secure our future in the 21st century.

We are counting on you. And I'm absolutely confident that the American people are going to meet the test.

Thank you, everybody. God bless you.

Thoughts on Corzine vs. Christie

So the field is set for yet another very expensive, very nasty campaign here in New Jersey. Governor Jon Corzine against former US Attorney Chris Christie. The gloves definitely came off during Corzine's rally.

Corzine is down in the polls, and it's going to be a heck of a fight. Bad economy, an inherited mess worsened by the Mess, and some high profile issues and missteps (selling the Turnpike?) are working against the Governor.

Christie's biggest problem, aside from the multi-million dollar no-bid contracts, is the Republican brand itself. Biden and Corzine hit on it in a couple ways, but Corzine became impassioned to the point I thought he was going to levitate off the stage when delivering this part of his speech:

Our opponents disagree. They say that government should be small ... Small enough to slip under your bedroom door. Small enough to root for a new president to fail ... Narrow enough to divide us by gender and ethnicity over a Supreme Court nominee ... Self-righteous enough to dictate their own religious beliefs to the rest of us ...on stem cell research ... family planning ... and even science curricula. We must be bigger than that.

Distilled into a few moments, Corzine's delivery of this characterization that Republicans have earned over the last few years was impressive. As part of his effort to pump up the troops, Corzine's personal passion on this point was palpable.

It will be interesting to see how Christie's campaign deals with this earned image of Republicans, and if voters can accept it or not.

Oh , this is going to be fun.

Pictures of the rally in the next couple of days.

Corzine Kick-off

Well,after two hours in the car, I finally made it to West Orange for Jon Corzine's campaign kick-off.

Melissa Harris-Lacewell started the festivities off. She sounded what is likely to be one of the themes of the campaign: Republicans want to implement in Trenton the exact kind of policies and politics voters rejected last November.

7:55 - Not that it's a reason to vote for the guy, but the music is pretty good. Although, for an ice rink it is really hot in here.

8:01 - Bio video has begun. Very cool.

Both coming out now

Biden speaking now. Very strong.

Biden is going over Gov. Corzine's accomplishments. "This is America's Governor".
Corzine has started. He"s thanking everyone for their help. "With great leaders like Joe Biden in our corner we will prevail."

The Party of No argument is being made.

"The only things Republicans have delivered is the worst economic crisis in 80 years."

Wow, he just exploded about the Republican Party.

"I've been a fighter all my life"


More updates coming...

Better Ideas?

There's a lot of chatter around the web about Governor Corzine's toll hike plan to put the state on firm financial footing. The challenge to the rest of us is that if we don't like it to come up with another option.

I'd rather have all the tolls going toward debt relief than padding the profits of some foreign company leasing the highways. However, kind of like tobacco taxes, if people actually stop driving and start riding NJ Transit because of the hikes how is this plan sustainable?

I guess I need to read more about it.

Corzine Seatbelt PSA