Max Pizarro's blog

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken)

A robocall from U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Hoboken) went out over the weekend targeting pockets of New Jersey's 500,000 registered voters who count themselves among the Latino population: Newark's North Ward, Elizabeth, Union City.

A second call will go out tonight, one in English and one in Spanish, broadening Menendez's reach into a combination of Latino and registered Democratic voters.

A third will go out tomorrow on Election Day.

"The senator has been very much engaged in the day-to-day operations of the Corzine campaign," said spokesman Mike Soliman. "He has been on the phone with the governor constantly and has attended events on behalf of the governor, both with him and as a surrogate, and he is looking forward to a victory with Jon Corzine tomorrow."

Menendez never headlined the kind of big tent Jersey City rally for Corzine in the closing days of the campaign that some party members say the governor needed to shore up a beleaguered - and gun-shy, following the arrests this past summer of numerous political operatives - lower Hudson County.

Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic), left, and Passaic Mayor Alex Blanco

Fighting for re-election in the 36th District, Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) said an email blast today by a constiuent urging Orthodoz Jews to vote against Gov. Jon Corzine is not representative of the community's view of the incumbent Democratic Party governor.

"(Republican) Allen Shwartz's endorsement of Chris Christie is kind of like Richard Nixon endorsing the Republican candidate," said Schaer. "Our community is not in lockstep on the governor's race. Some rabbis are backing Christie, others are supporting Corzine. As a member of the Orthodoz Jewish community I've certainly made my overtures on behalf of the governor."

Shwartz in his email panned Corzine, in part using the governor's linkage to President Barack Obama as an argument against supporting the incumbent.

"Jon Corzine’s most visible proponent for the past month has been none other than President Barack Obama," Schwartz wrote on Passaic Today. "One doesn’t have to travel for long through Passaic, Lakewood, or Teaneck to see the signs of President Obama and Governor Corzine campaigning together, arm-in-arm.

Ward 6 Councilman Andre Sayegh, left, with Council President Jeffrey Jones.

PATERSON - Barack Obama first sprang the "cousin Pookie" line in New Jersey back in 2006, when he was campaigning for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Hoboken) in Paterson.

"He said to me, 'Vera, we know about cousin Pookie, don't we?' and I told him, 'We sure do," recalled the 4th Ward councilwoman, who's served on the governing body for 24 years in this Passaic County anchor city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans, 25,882 to 2802. 

Now incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine is hoping the campaign efforts of President Barack Obama will amp up his numbers in urban areas like Paterson.

"In a strictly Democratic community like this, many folks will be voting the Democratic line, and they know they have to get out and vote," said Ames. "There is a connection between Corzine and (Mayor Jose "Joey") Torres with the $30 million we get every year from this administration to keep the taxes down. There's a lot of work going on for Corzine. There's very good coordination between the Corzine people and local elected officials. We've been working with them for months. I can't speak for the rest of New Jersey, but I know he's going to take Paterson."

Independent Chris Daggett, left, and his running mate, Frank Esposito

MONTCLAIR - Campaigning today in Montclair, independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett appealed to movement conservatives to vote for him despite Steve Lonegan's amplified endorsement of GOP nominee Chrs Christie.

"I think the people who backed Steve Lonegan in the past aren't at all interested in supporting Chris Christie,' Daggett told PolitickerNJ.com. "I've seen it on the campaign trail. They know Chris Christie does not represent what they feel is in the best interest of this state in the sense of taking on the tax system and being able to reduce taxes as I've proposed to do.

"I've seen they're more interested in seeing somebody who's interested in stepping up to address the issues and give some commonsensical answers, not some big promise that he's going to cut taxes across the board and then give you no plan whatsoever to do it," Daggett added.

Sagging poll numbers, and the drumbeat on 101.5 FM, however, suggests that Republicans have penetrated with the message that a vote for Daggett is a vote for incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine.

WEST ORANGE - Senate President Richard Codey (D-Roseland) did a robocall over the weekend for Gov. Jon Corzine, targeting suburban Essex County voters and reminding them about the governor's cap on property taxes, Codey told PolitickerNJ.com.

"Democrats will vote in the suburbs for Jon Corzine," said Codey. "The critical question will be whether he holds independent women, who flocked to him after the campaign hit the mammogram issue. One thing I find interesting is that (independent candidate Chris) Daggett has dropped out of the sky."

Lonegan ally Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Washington Twp.) on the stump for Christie at a Flemington rally also attended by Lonegan.

Putting the punctuation mark on his weekend of stumping for GOP candidate Chris Christie, movement conservative leader Steve Lonegan issued an email blast to his supporters this morning citing a quote from President Barack Obama's rallies for incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine.

"He said that Corzine was 'one of the best partners I have in the White House...we work together.  We know our work is far from over.'

"That's right," Lonegan added. "The radical national agenda of Barack Obama is hoping to get a boost from the election for Governor of New Jersey. You know what that means. Last week, the most left-wing Speaker in the history of Congress unpacked her plan to take over health care - and with it 18% of the American economy. Coupled with the Obama 'cap & tax' scheme, both these bills will destroy American competitiveness, drive-up costs, and amount to the largest collective tax increase ever."

West Ward Councilman Ronald C. Rice

NEWARK - The crowd spilled out onto the pavement following the rally with President Barack Obama and just in case there was any doubt about why he was in town, a TV truck broadcasting flatscreen images of Gov. Jon Corzine in action started circling the arena blasting out the message, "Corzine, Corzine, Corzine."

The crowd, of course, was still talking about Obama.

"Awesome," said Assemblywoman L. Grace Spencer (D-Newark), who was positioned on the floor in front of the stage where the president spoke at the Prudential Center said in response to a PolitickerNJ.com question. "There is a humility to him - unmistakable. It's easy to see that he worked his way up the hard way."

"I'm writing a book called 'Obama Chicks,'" said Pam Jasper, a certified pilot, wearing a hat with "Obama Chicks" printed on it in pink letters.

But with less than 40 hours to go before Election Day, the president is delivering more than inspirational presence to Newark. 

Getty Images Photo

President Barack Obama campaigns at the Prudential Center in Newark with Gov. Jon Corzine, Lt. Gov. candidate Loretta Weinberg, and Mayor Cory Booker.

NEWARK - Wading through the "I love you's" as he stands at the microphone on a raised platform in the middle of the Rock, President Barack Obama derides the opposition as an outfit selling a failed economic model.

"That didn't start under Jon's watch's or under my watch," Obama says of the national recession. "I wasn't sworn in yet. There's a little selective memory going on; a little amnesia about how we got into this mess.

"We're in this because of the same trickle-dwn economics the other guy's party has been peddling for years," he adds, praising incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine as a "leader who's put ordinary folks ahead of politics.".

In the 2008 presidential contest in New Jersey, 900,000 more voters than the usual 1.2 million that catapult a statewide candidate to victory turned out for Obama. 

"We will not lose this election if all of you are as committed as you were last year," Obama tells the roaring crowd.

At the end of the speech, state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) and Newark Mayor Cory Booker join Obama and Corzine onstage.

NEWARK - If there were any doubts about turnout at the Prudential Center this afternoon, they ended about a half hour ago.

This is not Joe Biden at Middlesex County College.

The place is packed for President Barack Obama.

"Give us the energy we see here today, and we'll get it done, I promise you," state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) tells the crowd.

From left: U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-Newark), Bill Payne, and Corzine Deputy Campaign Manager James Gee.

Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo just introduced U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-Newark), who stands at the podium in the Prudential Center now.

"Joe DiVincenzo's done a great job in Essex County, putting Essex County first," Payne tells the crowd. "I'm fired up and ready to go."

Moments earlier, Payne wouldn't commit to DiVincenzo's re-election when asked by PolitickerNJ.com. 

"It's a little early for that, isn't it," he said.

At issue is DiVincenzo's participation in shoving Senate President Richard Codey (D-Roseland) out the door earlier this fall, offering thee argument that Codey didn't have the votes to withstand Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford).