Clifford Sobel

New Jerseyan Philip Murphy did not make a very good impression on his first day as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany, according to a Congressional Quarterly report.   Murphy, who was a top executive at Goldman Sachs and the Democratic National Committee Finance Chairman, apparently arrived in Berlin last month on a Gulfstream V jet just as the German press "was describing how top embassy posts in the Obama administration were going almost exclusively to wealthy campaign donors."

The "ostentatious top-of-the-line executive jet that left German Chancellor Angela Merkel grinding her teeth over President Obama's gift of ambassadorships to wealthy donors," the report said. 

From CQ:

Red Bank resident Philip Murphy, the Democratic National Committee Finance Chairman and a rival of Jon Corzine when they were in senior management at Goldman Sachs, is the "leading contender" to become the next U.S. Ambassador to Germany, according to a Washington Post report published today.  Murphy was a senior director and management committee member at Goldman and served as head of the firm's German division.  During a 1999 coup that led to Corzine's ouster as Chairman - and ultimately his decision to run for the U.S. Senate - Murphy was on the opposing side.  In 2005, Murphy tweaked Corzine a little when he became a policy advisor to then-Gov. Richard Codey, who was still mulling a bid for the 2005 Democratic nomination for Governor against Corzine.

What if Republicans picked millionaire Mark Gerson for Lt. Governor? Could he self-fund the general election?

If Christopher Christie is the Republican nominee for Governor, one option to remain competitive with Gov. Jon Corzine’s bank account would be to pick a running mate who can self-fund their general election campaign. 

Possible candidates for that role: bio tech millionaire John Crowley, who has flirted with statewide campaigns over the last two years; Mark Gerson, who runs a successful New York financial services consulting firm where his business partner is conservative activist and former New York gubernatorial candidate Lewis Lehrman; former New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority Commissioner Barbara Sobel, whose husband is now the U.S. Ambassador to Brazil; and Joel Schleicher, the Chairman and CEO of Presidio Networked Solution and former Nextel COO.

U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Cliff Sobel is a possible Senate candidateRepublican State Chairman Tom Wilson hasn’t reached out to any other potential candidates to fill in for Anne Evans Estabrook, but he doesn’t think having other people running would be a bad thing.

Wilson said that he’s heard several names pop up, including United States Ambassador to Brazil Clifford Sobel, who has been named as a desirable potential candidate by Republican sources.

“I don’t generally get into the business of getting people into things. Joe Pennacchio’s got some momentum and clearly is touching a chord with people. If others want to get into the race, they should do that,” said Wilson. “I’ve known Cliff (Sobel) for a number of years and would be happy to talk to him about it if it’s something he’s interested in. There are a lot of things about him that are very attractive and he certainly has a record of caring about public service.”

One potential U.S. Senate candidate is Clifford Sobel, now the United States Ambassador to Brazil.  The millionaire businessman and former GOP State Committee Finance Chairman considered a Senate bid in 2006, after completing his assignment as the Ambassador to the Netherlands, but instead accepted another diplomatic post.  Sobel is currently in the United States, and some Republican leaders are reaching out to him.

There are a few Republicans who claim that Clifford Sobel, the United States Ambassador to Brazil, is giving some thought to leaving his diplomatic post to run against Frank Lautenberg in the 2008 United States Senate race. Sobel, a millionaire businessman and former New Jersey Republican State Committee Finance Chairman, mulled a Senate bid against Bob Menendez in early 2006 after leaving his post as the U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands, but opted to take the Brazil appointment instead.