Obama makes a quick campaign trip to rescue Corzine in N.J.
After a meeting with his cabinet to test government responses for dealing with a catastrophic earthquake, President Obama heads to New Jersey to try to head off a political disaster for his party.
The President is making a five hour trip to the Garden State to appear at a rally at Fairleigh Dickinson University鈥檚 campus in Hackensack on behalf of incumbent Governor Jon Corzine.聽Recent polls show that Corzine has pulled virtually even with his Republican challenger, former US Attorney Chris Christie.聽According to Real Clear Politics鈥� average of major poll data, Christie is favored by 39.7 percent of the voters to Corzine鈥檚 39.3 percent.
Looking for political messages
The New Jersey race is one of two this November which political observers will be watching for a sense of how voters feel about Obama鈥檚 first 10 months in office.聽The races will also offer a window into the ability of Obama's grass roots political machine to turn out voters in an off year election.
The other gubernatorial race that will be decided this November is in Virginia where Democrat Creigh Deeds is trailing badly against Republican Bob McDonnell.聽Real Clear Politics鈥� average of major polls has voters preferring McDonnell 50.7 percent to 39.8 percent for Deeds.聽Despite those unpromising numbers, the president will travel to Norfolk next Tuesday to stump for Deeds.
Ducking the question
When asked what was at stake for the president in New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections during a Wednesday morning meeting with reporters in his office, press secretary Robert Gibbs quipped, 鈥渁sk me the day after.鈥�
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Bill Clinton and Joe Biden are stumping for Corzine too. More here.
