Barack Obama

The Democratic State Committee now admits paying for a robocall to Somerset County voters that slams Republican Chris Christie and promotes independent gubernatorial candidate Christopher Daggett.

A Democratic spokeswoman says the party’s chairman, Joe Cryan, was not aware of the robocalls when he denied that the state committee had anything to do with them yesterday afternoon.

Cryan, who told PolitickerNJ.com yesterday afternoon that the Democratic State Committee had “absolutely” nothing to do with the call, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The call angered Republicans and further fueled conspiracy theories that Daggett is in cahoots with the Corzine camp.  A disclaimer at the end says it was paid for by Victory ’09, “a project of the NJDSC” (Democratic State Committee), and gave the committee’s Trenton address.  

Daggett, for his part, disavowed the call.

“Voters hate robocalls. This is just another instance of the dishonest ways Democrats and Republicans use to win campaigns and to fool voters,” he said in a statement this afternoon. “It is little wonder more and more voters are rejecting these kind of desperate dirty tricks and turning to my campaign for a positive message about how to make New Jersey more affordable and competitive.’’

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. 

President Barack Obama's two New Jersey appearances in support of Gov. Jon Corzine today will remind voters that the two share a partisan affiliation in a state where there are 700,000 more Democrats than Republicans.  In a race that is too close to call - and with Republican Christopher Christie holding a commanding lead among the state's 2.4 million unaffiliated voters, Corzine must win his base vote big to win a second term.  That's why Obama has been here twice in recent weeks, along with Bill Clinton and Joseph Biden.

As expected, Obama drew big crowds in North and South Jersey.  The event at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden may have been ill-timed: the Walt Whitman Bridge and several major roadways were shut down around the same time New Jerseyans were traveling to Philadelphia for the Giants/Eagles game. 

A presidential visit caps a great month for the Prudential Center, which appears to have a deal to bring the Nets to Newark and a peace accord with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.  Obama's route from Newark Liberty Airport to downtown did not appear to inconvenience other parts of the state, and Penn Station was packed on a Sunday - a good sign for Mayor Cory Booker.

PRESIDENT OBAMA CALLS ON NEW JERSEYANS
TO GET BEHIND CORZINE, WEINBERG & DEMOCRATS

President Returns to New Jersey to Headline Rallies
in Camden and Newark

 
(NEWARK) – As New Jersey voters get ready to head to the polls in just two days, President Barack Obama headlined two rallies today where he made impassioned pleas for voters to support Governor Jon S. Corzine, Lieutenant Governor candidate Senator Loretta Weinberg and Democrats across the state.

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.

NEWARK - As inspirational as President Barack Obama remains in Newark, politics in this city still hinges on local mechanics - and there are undeniably several factors contributing to a lack of good structural pre-conditions for this governor's race.

Take the Central Ward.

Last year at this time the city was blanketed with foot soldiers selling the local candidacies of Eddie Osborne and Charles Bell.

Each campaign had octopus arms around the presidential candidacy of Obama who, by the way, was on the ballot - for real.

Other Central Ward contenders were in the race, each one anxious to prove why he or she actually best encapsulated change in the mold of the presidential candidate, and each one embodying a key voter demographic.

That battle at the grassroots and ward level created the perfect atmospherics for top-down, bottom-up fusion and symbiosis.

WKYW-FM in Philadelphia is reporting major road closures in South Jersey as a result of President Barack Obama's campaign swing in support of Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election.   The Walt Whitman Bridge, and local parts of I-95, I-295, and Route 42 have all been closed as the presidential motorcade makes its way from the Philadelphia airport to the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, the station says.  That means New Jerseyans attending today's Giants vs. Eagles game in Philadelphia who did not arrive early are now likely to be very late.  The same bridge and roads will close again an hour later as Obama returns to  the airport for his flight to Newark.

Air Force One lands in Philadelphia at 12:55 PM, and President Barack Obama is scheduled to arrive at a rally for Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election campaign at the Susquehanna Center in Camden at 1:20 PM.  That means some road and bridge closures between New Jersey and Pennsylvania could affect Garden State residents heading to the Giants vs. Eagles game, which begins on the other side at 1 PM.  So far, there are no reported traffic jams.

The Gloucester County Times endorsed Gov. Jon Corzine for re-election, while the Burlington County Times went for Christopher Christie, giving Christie a 9-7 edge among daily newspaper endorsements.  Two newspapers endorsed an independent, Christopher Daggett.

President Barack Obama will be in New Jersey today, appearing at Corzine campaign rallies in Camden and Newark.  This is Obama's third political trip to New Jersey since July.