All-In In Jersey: Biden, Clinton To Stump For Corzine

In yet another indication that the White House sees a potential victory in the tight New Jersey gubernatorial race, Vice President Joseph Biden is planning to make another campaign stop on behalf of Gov. Jon Corzine.

The Corzine campaign confirms that the VP will be stumping in the Garden State this coming Monday at Middlesex County College. Biden has already appeared once alongside Corzine. And the announcement that he will travel there again comes just one day after it was reported that President Barack Obama himself would be traveling to New Jersey hold a rally with the governor next week.

In addition, the Huffington Post has received word that the next biggest draw in the Democratic Party, former President Bill Clinton, will also be traveling to New Jersey next week to campaign on Corzine's behalf.

The intensifying engagement from the White House in the off-year election contest undoubtedly eases concerns within the party that the president was going to keep a relative distance from electoral politics. Obama carries with him the type of political excitement and headline-grabbing attention that Democratic candidates dream of. But the White House is also cognizant that a Democratic defeat in any off-year contest will be interpreted as a political setback for the administration.

For Corzine to get a visit from both the president and his V.P. in the closing weeks is not simply a boost to his campaign, it's a reflection of how confident the White House is in the gubernatorial election. There is, at this juncture, no indication if Obama or Biden will be campaigning on behalf of Creigh Deeds in Virginia -- a much tougher race for the party.

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Comments

[KPOM]

Goldman Sachs just reported record profits a year after getting bailed out. Guess who Corzine used to work for. He's a DINO. Christie can't possibly be worse. Any Democrat who resorts to insulting his opponent's physical disability should be shunned.

[vippy]

You know what - we should not show up for all this stomping. We need to reign the cost of elections.
It behooves the voter to inform him/herself and then vote for the best person. All this power behind a person does what? We have to change the way we do business with elections. The waste of money we could use more appropriately. Times have changed and we need to do the same.

[slowhand0728]

No doubt, Corzine needs all the help he can get. If that third party candidate drops out Corzine will get crushed in NJ. Got to keep that third party character in play and most likely just reward him with some type of post when all said and done.

[EscapeTireTube]

Biden will help, but it all depends on whose speech he plagiarizes.

[KarateKid]

Har har har, so funny. Can't think of anything more original than that??

[betty22]

Still would like to see e-mails from union boss girlfriend he gave 6 Million dollars in parting gifts
If Corzine wins we can rename Jersey...State of Fools.......must be someone out there.

[JakeMontero]

Instead of campaigning for Corzine maybe they should focus on the lack of jobs, or the Presidents war in Afghanistan, or the recession that he will own very soon. A better way to get Corzine reelected would be to stop the war mongering and get people back to work.

[yankee48104]

As a concerned NJ resident, this is good news. And Obama will be at Faileigh Dickinson University (where I proudly teach) next week, so he's coming too.

I know stumping for Corizine sounds ridiculous to many here. BUT, here in NJ we are in a tight race where the alternative Chris Christie, is NOT a governor who would work for change in the state. For many on the left and in the center, Corizine is the only choice (many are voting for the Independent Daggett, but his numbers are not as strong as the usual suspects)

NJ, believe or not, has not been hit as hard as other states in this Union--MI, SC, MISS, WV, etc. But were not doing great either.

Christie did not support the stimulus. If he were governor would be better off?

Christie is a Bush Republican, anti-choice and his comments on working women have many here concerned. "preschool is babysitting?"

So it may be easy for us to criticize who's coming to stump in NJ for Corizine, but as a Democrat, we need them here. Criticize all you want but the stakes here at home are too high. Corizine's not perfect, BY FAR but he is not Chris Christie, and that for a Dem in NJ is critical. We want to win here, and I guess that means we want Corizine to win as well. It's beyond the lesser of to evils.

[Peter007]

NJ Governor Corzine spent 69 million dollars of his own money to run for US Senate. During that time, the Democrats were in the minority so he became frustrated with having little power so he spent another $70 million to buy the State house in NJ and become governor. He now is forced to work in Trenton and if you have ever been there , its not DC or NYC. He hates it.
NJ has the highest property taxes in the country, we usually have the highest car insurance bills, and people are leaving the state in record numbers due to high taxes. When you mention corruption and NJ nobody blinks an eye. The Democrats run the political machine here just like the old days of Tammany hall in NYC with boss Tweed. Don't look for " change you can believe in" in NJ.

[KarateKid]

re: the highest property taxes in the country....link? Agree with the corruption comment. Car insurance is higher than Illinois, where I moved from, but I don't know that it's the highest. Link for that stat? And did NJ do that great with Kean or Whitman? Maybe it's not the governors.

[Zeus9000]

I was paying close to 9k a year for property taxes on a house that was assessed for 286k. I do not have a link, but I know from personal experience. and I lived in South Jersey, which is actually noted for being cheaper than North Jersey.

And did NJ do great with McGreevey?

[Peter007]

I just read that NJ has the highest property taxes. Each town is different and they set their own tax rates. I work in Real Estate and I'm in touch with people all over the US and NJ is much higher . Most of the property tax is for schools. I see modest 1800 sq ft homes , valued at $200,000. paying $9,000/ yr in taxes. I see 2 million dollar homes in Short Hills paying $50,000/ year in taxes.. New Jersey has the highest paid teachers in the country with an average income of about $80,000. property taxes pay for that.

[24hourrifle]

i get why the admin. has to do this,even though corzine is a lousy candidate.but whats gonna be a realproblem is when they all start stumping for arlen specter.not only is specter a disaster,but joe sestak is a fantastic one.
i live in pa,and i want sestak as my senator.
they better hope corzine wins or else we'll be subjected to endless commentary about how its a referendum on obama.
of course if corzine and deets in va both win,dont count on THAT being any sort of "win" for pres obama.

[NORBIT]

GOOD TO SEE THE 'GOVERNMENT SACHS' CROWD (Corzine is a former CEO of Goldman) OUT AND ABOUT AGAIN!!

Will they now ask Corzine to join the other Goldman ex-execs in "advising" the Administration on regulatory reform?


Change you can believe in?!?!
LOL - LOL - LOL

[njgal4obama]

Jon Corzine accepts a token salary of $1.00 per year to govern the ninth most populous state in the country.

He gets that when regular people are struggling, it's not right for the people at the top to keep on raking it in.

The current Goldman Sachs CEO could take a lesson from him.

[Samalabear]

So he's a benevolent despot like Bloomberg, who also takes that famous $1 token salary.

[Peter007]

His $1.00 salary is worth 1 million dollars in publicity. He spent 69 million to become governor. So he gave up $150,000 for some great publicity. He makes $150,000 in a week from his personal investments.

[KarateKid]

Why do you _retards keep quoting Obama? Was he the governor of NJ?

[Tunghoy]

The race has tightened a lot in the last few weeks and a couple of polls are now showing Corzine with a slim lead. Jersey has a reputation for being a solid blue state, but the number of voters not registered with a political party is greater than the number of Democrats and Republicans combined. So there is always a wild-card factor. Still, most of those unaffiliated voters tend to swing Democratic. Corzine is unpopular, but I think people are starting to realize that Christie = Bush. And it's hard to be less popular here than Bush.

Biden has been here a few times already, and I think Obama was here once. Clinton has done a few low-key fundraisers, but I don't think he's done any big, public events.

Four years ago, when Corzine was running for his first term, he had a big rally at Middlesex Community College. The headliner of the event was Obama, who had been in office for just a short time, and got way more attention than Corzine. I was fortunate enough to shake his hand on the rope line, and everyone was asking when he was going to run for President.

[spbm]

I believe the number of voters registered independent is greater than the other two combined. And it is interesting how that is not even addressed in your comment.

[Peter007]

I don't understand your comment. he did address the independent voter. he said they tend to vote democrat. ???

[jsarets]

NJ has a choice between awful, atrocious, and the independent.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Christie is a 1, and Corzine is a 3. I suppose that makes him the lesser of two evils, but do we really want the Democratic heavy hitters stumping for yet another Goldman acolyte?

The optics are terrible, at a time when persuadable voters have legitimate concerns about the extent to which the Democrats are in bed with Wall Street. Corzine doesn't represent hope and change.

What I want to see is a vicious negative campaign that tears down both Cristie and Corzine and allows the independent Daggett to rise above the fray.

[Peter007]

Vote for the independent candidate. That way you will send a message that your normal voter will not send.

[justanotherday]

But what if that message causes Christie to win??? We need a strong independent, not just a name on the vote sheet. I'm no fan of Corzine either, but I still think he's better than Christie.

[IsyFleur]

Indeed! Here in AZ we are as red as can be - including Governor Brewer (who is kind of the ante-Palin, as it were: the older grumpy non-sexual kind of Republican woman) - and we are as deep in the recession as California, South Carolina, Louisiana and every other red state. However, in blue states, the Repugs have tried to convince independents to blame their Democratic governor for the recession. Go figure!

[dangerouslysane]

I'm really psyched that Biden, Clinton & the President are campaigning for Governor Corzine. Four years ago, then-Senator Obama campaigned for Corzine, and he was wonderful. I was lucky enough to be there that time, and the crowd was so energized!

I'm thrilled that these heavy hitters are coming in to campaign. Chris Christie would screw NJ the same way Christine Todd Whitman did. As far as Daggett is concerned--I'm not too impressed. He was an environmental commissioner? I recall seeing syringes washing up on the shore at Sandy Hook during that time, and I didn't want my kid even walking on the sand because of it, much less going into the water (which I forbade), because of the crap being carried in on the tide!

[rockymountainhigh62]

Corzine needs all the help he can muster...he is a sinking ship!!

[FHTB]

Corzine has not been a good governor, that is for certain, but Christie would be far worse.

[justanotherday]

Well said.

[KPOM]

Why? Just because he has an "R" after his name instead of a "D"? If the party labels were reversed but the individuals exactly the same, you'd be crucifying Corzine because of his Goldman Sachs' connections and his insulting of his opponent's physical disability in a commercial ("throwing his weight around").

[justanotherday]

Just because you say it, doesn't make it true.

http://www.politickernj.com/wallye/33946/corzine-gaining-among-voters-who-obama