Since his independent campaign went from being a curiosity to a legitimate factor in race for governor, Christopher Daggett has been dogged by the rumor that he is a stalking horse for Gov. Corzine – a willing accomplice to help an unpopular governor win reelection by sapping the anti-incumbent vote from Republican Chris Christie.
Former Republican Gov. Christie Whitman even seemed to lend the theory credence when she told Fox Business News that the Corzine camp was “urging people, quietly, to support Chris Daggett because, by doing that, they figure they'll split the independent vote.”
Daggett suspects the conspiracy theory is peddled by the Christie campaign and the Republican establishment, which have spent the last several weeks criticizing Daggett in advertisements and campaign rhetoric.
“[Christie] sends all these Republicans like Christie Whitman to make people believe there’s some kind of conspiracy theory. It’s shameful,” said Daggett in a phone interview.
The conspiracy talk has found a home on 101.5FM, where morning drive time host Jim Gearhart today upped the pitch by asking Daggett to take a pledge not to accept a job in the Corzine administration if Corzine wins. Daggett refused, but also would not pledge not to take a job in the Christie administration. Gannett Trenton Bureau chief Bob Ingle, writing up a summary of the interview for his blog, said that Daggett’s answer “didn’t do anything to dissuade those who think Daggett is in the race to help Corzine by draining votes from Christie and will be rewarded for it.”
But Daggett said that his refusal to take the pledge was based on his principle that anyone asked to serve in any presidential or gubernatorial administration should “consider that regardless of party.”
The Corzine camp, for its part, denies doing anything to help Daggett.
“It’s not true. We’re not trying to support him or prop him up or anything like that,” said Corzine spokesman Sean Darcy.
And in a statement, Christie spokeswoman Maria Comella indicated that she was not suspicious of any untoward campaign coordination between Christie’s two rivals, and that “the only connection between Jon Corzine and Chris Daggett in this race is that they are both more than willing to raise taxes and tolls on already overtaxed New Jerseyans.”
Daggett today also challenged the widely held belief that his candidacy is hurting Christie more than Corzine, and said he’s tired of taking the blame for the disappearance of Christie’s mid-summer lead.
“The only person he has to blame is the one he sees in the mirror. Rather than blame me and a conspiracy theory, Republicans have to look in a mirror and say, wow, we’ve run a horrible campaign,” he said.
Daggett has done as well as 20% in recent polls, but results have been mixed. A Suffolk University poll released today, which included all 12 gubernatorial candidates, showed Daggett at only 7% (Daggett said that the poll’s methodology was off, since listening to 12 names being read over the phone was not similar to looking at them on a ballot).
A Fairleigh Dickinson University poll from earlier this month showed him at 17% when his name was mentioned, but only 4% of respondents volunteered his name as a response when it wasn’t (independent Gary Steele, a much more obscure gubernatorial candidate, garnered 12% when his name was mentioned in the FDU poll).
But Daggett – whose $1.1 million campaign has not commissioned a single poll of its own – said that, even though he’s touted surveys that showed him in the high double digits, he doesn’t believe that the polls are accurately reflecting the state of the race.
“I’ve said from the beginning that I don’t’ believe in polls,” he said. “I don’t use them. I don’t think they’re accurate. I don’t think they reflect the independent sentiment.”
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Daggett
Chris Daggett----ego maniac...and Nov 3rd loser who wasted tax payer money to get less than 10%. So funny that Mr. Indie could've cared less about ballot position before his run. If Mr Do Good cared he would have fought it before. Maybe he and his ridiculous tax plan just didn't want to go through the scrutiny of a primary.
Based on how thin his Country Club skin appears to be---he wouldn't have lasted a week in a primary.
Christie made his bed, "iced out" Lonegan
More than 140,000 Lonegan primary voters have had it with Chris Christie and the Republican establishment. They will either not vote or vote for Daggett.
Christie has treated them and Lonegan like political lepers.
He has taken them for granted. He has ignored their issues.
Lonegan voters are smart.They know that Chrisitie will not support their agenda.
Christie will not even be seen in public with Steve Lonegan.
If 140,000 lonegan primary voters move to Daggett ,or just sit out,then Christie loses and the Republican Party will have to rethink its agenda and Lonegan will have to be listened to then.
No Lonegan supporter would vote for Daggett
Daggett supported Obama.
Does Lonegan support Obama? NOPE. That's why Lonegan and his 140,000+ voters will vote for Christie.
Lonegan and the like
Well it depends, If they don't vote, then who will it hurt? what will it show anyone? that Christie still can't run a good campaign to appease the Republican, or would it be better to have the Independent beat out the party that did them wrong and gain more votes then the Republican party could? I won't go any farther with that...
Gorednj: "his country club skin" ? lol, he pays the least property taces out of the 3 candidates, and probably is more humble about things then you. He has a good plan, which other states are implementing, and it is geared towards the wealthier individuals, if you haven't noticed, or even bothered to look at his plan. But I guess you don't want to pay taxes on your maid service.
It was great for him to come out swinging on this issue. He needed to put the conspiracy theorists a rest, considering how much slime Christie's campaign has been filling this state with. How does this even make people want to vote for Christie?
I rather vote for the right man, who isn't in with the status quo. new Video just came out. Christie didn't earn his position as US attorney, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/18/794753/-NJ-Gov:-The-Video-Chris...
and he's not a respectable man in any way. He has never really been respectable, considering that he started out negative, and never stopped, still has no plan, only criticizes others, and has yet to answer simple questions as to when are the taxes going to be cut, like he's promised...
ABC, anyone but Corzine, Daggett is the only viable option... and he's not too shabby.
Republican Establishment Now Admits Needing Lonegan
Chrisite and the GOP establishment have now recognized that they cannot win unless they "bring home" the 140,000 Lonegan voters that they have taken for granted.
But in public they will still not acknowledge Steve lonegan or even stand with him at a campaign event.
The ego and arrogance of Christie will be his downfall.
Next Wednesday Steve Lonegan and his supporters will be given the task of putting the republican Party back together again.
Chrisite is so arrogant that he will throw awy 140,000 votes rather then admit he was wrong in not listening to Steve Lonegan.
A vote for Daggett is a vote for Corzine
No Lonegan supporter would back Corzine unless they're a shill for Corzine.
A vote for Daggett is a vote for Daggett
Don't by the fear mongering...
If you're afraid that a vote for Daggett is a Vote for Corzine, don't be because the polls show Daggett is hurting Corzine and putting Christie ahead.
See this Daggett Hurts Corzine and Helps Christie
You can be sure that you don't waste your vote by making the I'll vote for Dagget pledge.
The Daggett pledge is based on a simple premise, if enough people pledge their vote then you will vote for Daggett
Pledge your vote for Daggett at DaggettPledge.com
buy not by
Fancy graphics there Alex but not enough for Daggett to win. Either way Daggett loses. He'll be known as the man that helped reelect Corzine, ever to be remembered as the one who stabbed NJ taxpayers in the heart. I still haven't seen any proposal to curtail the runaway spending. NJ has a spending problem not a revenue problem.Switching sources of tax revenue does not constitute tax relief but you can believe whatever you want.
Christie & Lonegan Supporters
As a Lonegan supporter in the primary, I don't think Christie's refusal to share a stage with Lonegan is a big deal. Few state candidates share the stage with their primary opponents in the general election campaign.
My problem is best summed-up in a blurb in this week's National Review. They comment on the fact that Corzine has resorted to making fun of Christie's girth: "We have no problem with Christie's weight; his policy proposals could use more of it."
That's this campaign in a nutshell; Christie has to give people a reason to vote for him. Every year the GOP puts up a guy who runs as a moderate and offers little substance, whether it's Forrester, Zimmer or Christie. What's worse, GOP leadership backs these guys in the primary even though there are people out there who seem to want to win more than their candidate. Last year is a prime example; Pennaccio wanted it bad, but the GOP did everything they could to embarass themselves finding someone else to run, from Anne Estabrook (who couldn't speak in public) to Andy Unanue (an all-around disaster) to Dick Zimmer (who practically had to be begged to run), and got trounced last November. Same this year with Lonegan, who had a plan and stated exactly what he would do as governor; but that wasn't good enough for some people who would rather be big fish in a small pond than have to step down a peg or two if Lonegan were to win the primary.
Sure, the Christie people will tell you that all the meat's on his website, but really, how many regular, average undeclared voters are going to read pages of policy on a campaign website? I saw Giuliani speak about leadership once and he said it best when he said, "If I had come up here saying, (he signs loudly), 'Things are bad. Things are bad and they're going to get worse. Follow me.' (laughs) You wouldn't follow me at all, right? Why would you? Leaders have to give people a reason to gain their trust and their support."
This is a lesson the GOP needs to learn. I am tired of getting trounced in elections by the same tax-and-spend liberals who have made a mess out of this state. The bottom line is this, Corzine is very unpopular in this state and everyone knows it. Obama did not come to NJ to sway undecideds or to turn Christie supporters; he came to energize the base, to make sure that they vote. Corzine will be lucky to 45%, so really, this is Christie's election to win.
And to lose.
Daggett shouldn't even be a factor; if Christie loses, it's all his own damned fault and we will all be paying a price for it.
"We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work!"
- FDR's Treasure Secretary, Henry Morgenthau, in 1939, on 8 years of New Deal spending as an attempt to end the Great Depression.
Lonegan supporters not convinced
As well put as the previous writer stated, the bottom line is still a "no" vote for the inept Chris Chrisite by a Lonegan supporter.
Christie did not ,over the past 5 months,try to bring onto his campaign Lonegan or Lonegans ideas.
Those 140,000 primary Lonegan votes will not be found in the Christie column next week.
Losers and bigger losers
If Christie is a loser, and Lonegan lost to Christie, what does that make Lonegan?
Chris Christie is a political hack who got the US Attorneys job, despite his lack of qualifications, because he and his brother donated 100s of 1000s to the GOP.
A first year law student could put Sharpe James, and most of the other notches in Christie's rather expansive belt, in jail.
Steve Lonegan is a washed-up political reptile who still thinks he can make a comeback. He's the "Baby Jane" Hudson of New Jersey politics.
After he loses Chris Christie will live happily ever after making millions of dollars in private practice, while Steve Lonegan relives the final scene in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" when he prances around the Jersey shore licking an ice cream cone while he tells everybody global warming is a communist hoax.
http://christiegonewild.blogspot.com/
losergan
Lets face it, if it is true that little steve and his band of idiot losers want to back Dagget, let em. Losergan is a loser, a child, a whiner and a bitter stupid little hack that could not take the fact he was once again was R E J E C T E D~!
More of us will do what we have to do hurt Lonegan in his future endeavors than what he can do to Christie.
Sad little man, sad little lemmings
Lonegan Lost!!!
Lonegan lost the primary, now his supporters need to quit whinning and pick the candidate that best reflects their ideals, whoever that is.
Voting for Daggett just to stick it to Christie and his supporters doesn't help NJ.
It’s just ridiculous that a party in the minority with a clear path to victory can be divided by people not being able to let go of their first choice.
We've all been there.
Voting for Daggett is sticking it to the man
PolitickerNJ Predicts Chris Daggett will surge in the polls win election because voters are fed up
Corzine and Christie are not the real problem.
Corzine and Christie are not the real problem.
It is the broken corrupt two-party system. It needs to go.
A vote for Corzine or Christie is a Vote for Corruption
A vote for Corzine or Christie is a Vote the corrupt two party system that got us in the is mess.
A vote for Corzine or Christie is condoning the corruption and scandal over the last 20 years that has made NJ the worst business and tax climate in the country.
Voting for Daggett is sticking it to the man
Don't buy the fear mongering. Only voters have the power to change the state. Its time to put an end to the corrupt broken two-party system that has drove our state to the edge of fiscal meltdown
Both parties are at fault. If you vote for either Christie or Corzine then you are condoning the system
Christie Whitman? How desperate are they?
Did everyone miss the part that Matt wrote, "Former Republican Gov. Christie Whitman even seemed to lend the theory credence when she told Fox Business News that the Corzine camp was “urging people, quietly, to support Chris Daggett because, by doing that, they figure they'll split the independent vote.”
Now when a campaign is using Christie Whitman to establish credibility with NJ voters, it speaks volumnes of how desperate the Christie campaign really is.
Can any NJ voter support any candidate that is use Christie Whitman for credibiliy?
I can see the book now: "Christie on Christie". Wow, can it get any worse.
The blimp is leaking air and is about to crash and burn. Just hope that when it does, it doesn't take any innocent bystanders with it.
Ah, justinf and firstamend07
An astroturfer who should stick to lawn signs and a guy who needs Norcross's permission to take a piss. Perfect together.
Corzine
Everyone seems to forget in this rambling ,
DO YOU WANT CORZINE IN AGAIN for 4 years???
Christie is the only guy who can beat him and thats the choice, so complain all you want but their it is.
Nobody complaine about the job this guy did for 7 years as the FED Prosecutor.
Al of a sudden we let millions of Corzine ads cloud our memory?
Christie is a capable leader who get NJ turned around and it's urgent now, we are truly facing a disaster if Corzine is re elected.
No turning back, NJ is on the brink of being finished, and Lonegan voters know that.
Alex...
You realize that campaigning on this site is pointless, right?
If you want to push for Dagget go out in the streets and talk to the public. The people in here have made up their minds long ago...
NJ Gov 101 - Norcross
It may very well be that Corzine had and has nothing to do with Daggett.
But Daggett is still a shill. And this well organized effort is most likely a Norcross plan.
Corzine wouldn't have thought it up. But Norcross, knowing that Corzine is a loser with very deep pockets, would have set this strategy in motion.
And didn't Norcross have those connections with Cherokee - and Daggett? Look to environmental clean-up for the real dirt in this campaign.
Daggett Campaign Office in Montclair is strange, by Neil Lori
In early October I was volunteering for the Daggett campaign. I was told by their volunteer coordinator and lawyer Leslie Duval to install campaign signs on public property. A few hours later I received a ticket from Montclair Police that says I violated Montclair Town Ordinance 178-2 aka 178:2 Of course I pleaded not guilty so it is going to trial. Now the strange part about the Daggett Montclair Office at 478 Bloomfield Ave. Montclair. They have tons of volunteer lawyers, but refused to help me with the court. They are still telling people to place or install campaign signs on public property. Think I am jiving? Then call me 973-332-0415 or email me at maverick17761784@yahoo.com Note: I have volunteered for campaigns since 1984 and never have witnessed a campaign throwing a volunteer under the bus like this. Note 2: if you know any pro bono lawyers or law students call me. Neil Lori Montclair, NJ
Daggett owes Corzine
What has Mr. Daggett done? How can we measure his deeds? Here is a link worth seeing: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/permittf/members.html.
Corzine does not want to have his record examined and measured. It does not withstand scrutiny. He does not want to defend his deeds.
Christie will fight corruption. The service and fair representation expected from our elected representatives will return when he is our Governor. Choose the entire Republican ticket on Nov. 3.