Palmer not in LG mix

Mentioned early by Gov. Jon Corzine as a potential candidate for lieutenant governor, Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer today said he never received a questionnaire or any invitation from the governor's reps to participate in a vetting process for the job.

The veteran mayor said he would have been interested if LG came with a specific description, such as overseeing the agenda of New Jersey's metro economies.  

But "it was never a job that was explained to me in a way that would be something i was interested in," said Palmer. "It was too ambiguous as presented, and it's even more abiguous now, and I let the powers that be know that.  It was never spelled out, and so it's not something I'm interested in. I would have been intrigued by a job of substance, but it doesn't make sense for me to leave my job as CEO of a city for ambiguity."

Even though he won't be on the ticket, the 57-year old Palmer said he intends to work hard to re-elect Corzine.

"I will work as hard as if i were lieutenant governor," said the mayor, who believes if the job is laid out substantively that Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) would be a strong LG candidate who could energize the party's African American base.

Some party insiders suggested that the prospective 2013 gubernatorial candidacy of Newark Mayor Cory Booker demolished any LG vibe for Palmer, who as a statewide presence could use the office as a launchpad for his own gubernatorial ambitions in four years and impede Booker from being the sole African-American male in the race.

Others disagree.

"Cory Booker is so charismatic, it wouldn't matter who you put in that field for governor," said a South Jersey insider.