Will Corruption Charges Pick The Democrat Lock On New Jersey?

I live in Connecticut but I listen to WABC out of New York, which features advertising for the tri-State area (NY, NJ, CT). And lately I've been hearing political ads for the NJ Governor's race. Now the Dems have a pretty firm hold in this Blue State but, as Eric Fettmann points out in the NY Post, that party has been mired in scandal over the last week due to released tape recordings of Democrat power broker George Norcross.

On the tapes, Norcross is overheard boasting of his control of Democrat officeholders in the State:

This is what Norcross had to say about Corzine, who faces only token opposition in the June 7 primary: "Yesterday morning I'm up in Summit in Jon Corzine's home having breakfast and I talk to the guy once a week."

Referring also to the state's then-governor, Norcross added: "In the end, the McGreeveys, the Corzines — they're all gonna be with me because they have no choice." That's a sound bite you'll certainly be hearing on GOP campaign commercials from now until November.

And in fact, it has already begun. GOP front-runner Doug Forrester has been running the tapes as part of the ads that I've been hearing. And the do sound pretty damning. Corzine looks bad in particular because records show donations to Norcross's Political Action Committee.

Now, Forrester realizes that the good people of NJ are not going to vote for a Republican for Governor - particularly a Conservative like him - based on his stand on the issues. For Forrester or another candidate to succeed, the NJ Democrat machine must become politically radioactive. And that may very well be the effect that this scandal has on any Democrat due to guilt by association.

A race that once seemed like a slam-dunk for Corzine only a few weeks ago has all of a sudden become a potential upset in the making. It will be fascinating to watch events unfold from now to November.

Posted by: Gary at 12:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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