Robert Torricelli

The inference in NJ 101.5's story on Christopher Christie's three tickets is that the then-U.S. Attorney had a "do you know who I am" moment when he was stopped for speeding in September 2005.  The Lambertville police director - coincidentally a former Democratic candidate for Hunterdon County Sheriff - told PolitickerNJ.com that Christie identified himself as a federal prosecutor.  This is the latest in a series of self-inflicted wounds that has dominated the 2009 gubernatorial campaign in recent weeks.

The incident occurred eight months before Zulima Farber, then the state Attorney General, became embroiled in a similar controversy.  On May 26, 2006, Hamlet Goore, Farber's live-in boyfriend, was stopped by a Fairview police officer for driving with a suspended license and an uninsured vehicle.  Farber went to the scene and a State Trooper who was driving her spoke to the police officer.

After a two-month review, a special prosecutor named by Gov. Jon Corzine said that although she broke no laws, Farber violated state ethics codes by showing up.  After initially resisting, she resigned. 

Christie is not the only statewide candidate to get a ticket over the last few years: in April 2007, Corzine suffered serious injuries when his state car was involved in an accident on the Garden State Parkway.  The trooper was reportedly driving at 94 mph and Corzine admitted to not wearing a seatbelt.  He paid a $46 fine.

GOP State Chairman Jay Webber wants Jamie Fox, now working as a senior advisor to Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election campaign, to quit his seat on the Local Finance Board, which enforces ethics laws at the local level.

"Here we go again.  While Governor Corzine attempted to score points by recycling his old, empty promises on ethics reform in this campaign, his actions once again fall far short of his rhetoric," said Webber (R-Morris Plains), a freshman Assemblyman.  "Beyond the irony in having Jim McGreevey's top advisor responsible for enforcing ethics laws, Fox's prominent role with Governor Corzine's reelection campaign raises a huge red flag for Fox's conflicting interests."

When did we become such an unforgiving people? Former U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli says he'll root for any team that plays the Eagles, now that Michael Vick is on their roster.

The decision of who to support in this year's NFL match ups just got easier. I'm for anybody who plays against the Eagles.

Michael Vick is joining the team. The same man who just left a federal jail on felony counts involving the torturing and death of animals is about to reenter center stage. That's quite a message about the state of our culture and the role that NFL wants to play in our lives.

Homicide detectives sometimes track animal abuse because it's often the first act of mass murders. The same sociopathic behavior that takes pleasure in the suffering of an animal will migrate to the pleasure gained by harming a person. It's the same complete indifference to life. The killing of a helpless animal is not only unlawful but an act of depravity and sickness.

Think about Michael Vick. He trained dogs to maul and maim each other until death. When he was disappointed in them, he hung them by the neck. Their teeth were forcefully removed without anesthesia. Their torture became a means of his entertainment.

The talking heads on television describes him as a victim of "political correctness" and we're "denying him his right to make a living".  What a sick society.

Let the Eagles make their choice. You should make yours. Watch every company that advertises during Eagles games and refuse to buy their products. Decent people should have no part in this charade. Sportsmanship used to involve more than athletic prowess. A sportsman was a person of character and a role model. It seems that the NFL has traded the notion of representing the best to allow the participation of the worst.

Gov. Jon Corzine, trailing his Republican opponent in a bid for re-election, has asked veteran Democratic strategist Jamie Fox to take a senior role in his campaign, Democratic sources say.  Democrats say that Fox would be an addition to the team and stressed that it is not a campaign shakeup.  Fox would not replace any of the existing campaign staff, and sources say that Corzine's longtime Chief of Staff, Tom Shea, and strategist Steve DeMicco will be staying on.

Fox, sources say, has not yet made a final decision to accept.

Over the next two weeks, the Corzine campaign is expected to bring several well-known operatives on to their staff in a full-time capacity.  The moves are expected to engage some key Democratic constituencies that have been less than enthusiastic over the governor's bid for a second term. 

The 55-year-old Fox served as Chief of Staff to Gov. James E. McGreevey and to U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli.  He was the Executive Director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, state Commissioner of Transportation, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg's state director, and Deputy Chief of Staff to Gov. Jim Florio.  Prior to opening a lobbying firm, Fox was the Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

He took a leave from his firm last September to join Barack Obama's campaign, and was sent to Florida as a senior advisor.  John McCain had an 8-point lead in Florida before Fox arrived; Obama won the state by 2.5 points.

If Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez, arrested on federal corruption charges last week, resigns before September 14, there will be a special election to fill the remaining 26 months of his term.  That could force Nicholas Lonzisero, the Republican Council President, to choose between continuing his uphill race for the State Assembly in the 38th district and a winnable race for mayor.

If Suarez resigns, Lonzisero would become acting mayor until the Council appoints a replacement from three names submitted by the Ridgefield Democratic County Committee.  Since the Council is controlled by Republicans, 4-2, there is no guarantee that any of the Democratic recommendations would be accepted.

Did Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie really mean to pick up Doug Forrester's slogan in his 2002 U.S. Senate race against Robert Torricelli?

Campaigning in Plainfield yesterday, Christie sought to assuage luncheonette owner Gregory Antonio's concerns about the economy.

"Help is on the way," Christie told him.

Pollsters got it wrong the last two times a Democratic Governor ran for re-election:  an August 1993 Eagleton-Rutgers poll had Gov. James Florio leading Republican Christine Todd Whitman by nine points, 49%-40%; and Republican Raymond Bateman led Gov. Brendan Byrne by seven points, 46%-39%, in an August 1977 Eagleton-Rutgers poll.

In 1993, Florio had a favorable/unfavorable rating of 49%-40%.  31% rated his job as excellent or good, 36% said he was a fair governor, and 23% rated him as poor.

In 1977, 28% of New Jerseyans viewed Byrne as an excellent or good governor, 39% considered him fair, and 29% said he was doing a poor job.

Whitman beat Florio 49%-48%, and Byrne was re-elected by a 56%-42% margin over Bateman.

Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine trails Republican Christopher Christie by 12 points, 53%-41%, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.  Christie is the first Republican to be over 50% in a summer poll since Thomas Kean ran for re-election 24 years ago.

Corzine has upside-down favorables/unfavorables of 34%-58%, and an upside-down job approval rating of 33%-60%. 

In his bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate, Democrat Robert Torricelli had upside-down favorable/unfavorable rating of 15%-36% and an upside-down job approval rating of 28%-49% in an August 2002 Quinnipiac poll. In an August 2008 Quinnipiac poll, President George W. Bush had an upside-down job approval rating of 26%-70%.

Former U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli is hosting a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) today in Englewood, The Record’s Herb Jackson reports.  

Of note is the event’s honored guest, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Hoboken), who currently chairs the DSCC and has a history of feuding with Torricelli.  

Menendez told Jackson that Torricelli “stepped forth and said he was willing to help Senate Democrats, and we accepted his help.”

The money will not make its way into any New Jersey campaigns, as the state’s next U.S. Senate race will take place when Menendez is up for reelection in 2012. 

Christopher Christie, leading Gov. Jon Corzine 50%-40% in today's Quinnipiac University poll, is the first Republican in twelve years to lead in a statewide race in June, and is likely the first Republican since Thomas Kean, Sr. in 1985 to be at 50% just after the primary election.

Past Quinnipiac University polls:

More than thirty years before New Jersey's Robert Torricelli floated the idea of Hillary Rodham Clinton running for the United States Senate from New York, the Ocean County Democratic organization voted to endorse Jacqueline Kennedy for the U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent Clifford Case in 1966.

Gov. Richard Hughes, a Democrat, was forced to apologize after Cape May County Democratic Chairman Joseph Tennenbaum said he would not back the former First lady for the Senate.  Tennenbaum, according to the New York Times, said, "Perhaps Jackie is a little too far out for us.  She belongs to the jet set.  Besides I think we have had enough of the Kennedys for a while."  Hughes called Tennebbaum's comments "embarrassing, outrageous and deplorable."