Ah, Newark! Obama resists hurling no-love guv down the stairs (ap)
The President of America did his duty to the party Sunday and made a final pass through New Jersey for Gov. Jon Corzine with a pair of rallies in Newark and Camden. Of Republican challenger Chris Christie, the NYT notes:
While Mr. Obama urged New Jersey voters to look past the bombardment of negative TV ads on both sides, Mr. Christie was just as harsh on the stump, even mocking Mr. Corzine’s reliance on help from the White House. He suggested that the governor would accept an ambassadorship rather than serve out a full second term and proposed that Mr. Corzine hitch a ride from Mr. Obama before he gets driven out of New Jersey by voters.
“He should go back to DC on Air Force One,” Mr. Christie told a raucous, chanting crowd in North Middletown at one of several stops he made Sunday on a weekend-long, 21-county bus tour.
Beltway Confidential would happily accept an ambassadorship in lieu of serving as governor of New Jersey, so that’s probably not Christie’s strongest talking point. But we’re not here to quibble. What else went down today?
Obama tries to console the unhappy populace: Sorry about Corzine! (reuters)
“I am just glad to be back in Camden,” Obama said. “When I was campaigning last year, I said I’d come back once I was president. I couldn’t stay away. I like — I just like hanging out in New Jersey.”
He added, “I appreciate all of you who aren’t at the Giants/Eagles game. I didn’t mean to stir all that up, I’m sorry.”
Corzine gets fed up, plunges into the crowd to deliver Jersey justice. (reuters)
Reflecting on his own campaign success, Obama noted with some regret that governance just isn’t as sexy.
“Here’s the thing. Here’s the tough part. Here’s the time when it’s not as sexy, it’s not as flashy,” Obama said. “You know, this is when governing comes in, and we’ve got to make tough choices. And progress isn’t always as quick as we want it. And we still got to negotiate with an intransigent opposition.”
It’s pretty funny when he mixes slangy bad grammar with a phrase like “intransigent opposition.” Who else could pull that off?
Corzine is subdued; the two hug it out. (ap)
ABC News was in the house:
By the many signs that read: “Obama, Corzine, Weinberg”, you might think the President himself was on the ticket. Nope—this is Corzine’s way of co-opting some of the President’s popularity in the Garden State, where Obama enjoys a 52-percent approval rating, according to a recent Farleigh Dickinson poll. According to the same poll, Corzine’s job approval is 37-percent, with 52-percent disapproving.
Armpits! The lieutenant governor is all, “Whatever.” (reuters)
RealClearPolitics (woot! Mike Memoli!) dryly notes that Obama made fun of Corzine’s scruffy persona, but seems to have missed the appalling mid-section of the campaign where Corzine was calling Christie fat:
“[Jon] is not somebody who, you know, always look well-groomed. I mean, Jon’s hair kind of goes frizzy sometimes and, you know, his beard gets a little, you know, straggly sometimes.” But perhaps he was unaware of Christie’s image, and the Corzine camp’s subtle efforts to mock it. Obama spoke of a “slick” rival, a term most would not attribute to Christie.
Obama back at the White House: Talk to the hand. (reuters)
If Creigh Deeds calls, I’m not home.
