Christie's NJ Lead Shrinks After Corzine's Weight Ads

Corzine spot says Christie 'threw his weight around'

(NEWSER) - Jon Corzine, the New Jersey governor locked in an ugly race for reelection, is calling his opponent a big fat liar—with the emphasis on "fat." A new attack ad shows hefty Republican challenger Chris Christie in super-slow motion, his flesh jiggling in multiple directions, while an announcer says he "threw his weight around" to avoid traffic tickets. "I think it’s silly and stupid," Christie tells the New York Times, while Corzine demurs, "Seems to be some sensitivity going on here." More»

Polling guru gives a post-mortem on last night's elections

(NEWSER) - The numbers are in, now it's time to make sense of them. Nate Silver breaks down last night's election results:

• Don’t blame Obama; Creigh Deeds and Jon Corzine were probably just weak candidates. In New Jersey, 57% of voters approved of Obama, but 27% of those supporters voted Republican anyway. In Virginia 20% of those who approved of Obama voted GOP.
• Democrats had turnout problems in Virginia; the voters who came out last night supported McCain 51-43 in 2008, a mirror image of that year's margin.

Turnout is pivotal in race between Corzine, Christie

(NEWSER) - It remains a tight race for governor in New Jersey between Democrat Jon Corzine and Republican Chris Christie. Jonathan Martin of Politico offers five things to watch:

• Turnout: If it's below 48% or so, that means trouble for Corzine. It's a sign he hasn't mobilized the Democratic base, particularly minorities, to vote.
• Corzine's key areas: He needs a combined margin of victory of 100,000 votes in the Camden, Newark, and Jersey City regions.

Troupe threatens to sue Republican over pirated video footage

(NEWSER) - Republican Chris Christie holds a razor-thin lead over incumbent Jon Corzine in the New Jersey governor's race, and now he has five more potential opponents—the members of Monty Python, who are considering suing the former US Attorney for violating their copyright. An online ad the campaign swiftly yanked from its websites after the Huffington Post blew the whistle uses footage of Michael Palin without credit. More»

GOP candidate predicts he'll be a 'big fat winner'

(NEWSER) - Chris Christie slammed Jon Corzine’s for hinting at his weight in campaign ads and comments, saying the incumbent governor should “man up” and call him fat directly. Corzine has run ads showing Christie’s belly in slow-mo, and, when asked whether he thought his opponent was fat earlier this month, responded: “Am I bald?” “If you’re going to do it,” Christie said of that incident. “At least man up and say I’m fat.” More»