Garden State Patriot

Ever since the Dems unlawfully supplanted Bob ‘The Torch’ Torricelli with Frank Lousenberg (thanks to a renegade NJ Supreme Court), speculation has been out there that Jon Corzine may well meet a similar fate depending on his poll numbers.

Yesterday, Mark Impomeni of Human Events, added some fuel to this speculation. Mr Impomeni writes:

It could be déjà vu all over again in New Jersey, as rumors percolate that Democrats may force incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine off the November ballot if his poll numbers do not improve quickly. Corzine, a former United States Senator and first-term governor, trails Republican challenger Christopher Christie by nearly double-digits in aggregate polling in the governor’s race and has not enjoyed a lead over Christie in any poll since early January.

The Corzine campaign denies that the governor would consider dropping out, calling talk of a replacement “gossip.”  But New Jersey Democrats have replaced a poorly performing incumbent in the middle of an election once before.  

Now, published reports indicate that Democrats may be planning to resurrect that successful strategy in the governor’s race.  National Review Online first reported anecdotal evidence that Democrats were polling a potential replacement for Corzine.  The New York Times later reported that top New Jersey party officials were considering Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a rising star in the state Democratic Party, as a stand-in.  The poll reportedly asked registered Democrats how they would vote if Booker were on the ballot instead of the governor.

Booker has expressed interest in running for governor in the future, but has publicly committed to Corzine’s re-election.

But not all Democrats may be so willing to wait.  According to the same Times report, Rep. Frank Pallone “has made it known” that he would step in for Corzine if the governor bowed out of the race. Pallone was also considered as a replacement for Torricelli when he dropped out of his Senate race in 2002.

Another Democrat considered as a replacement for Torricelli was Sen. Robert Menendez, then a member of the House. Corzine appointed Menendez to fill the vacancy left when he was elected governor.  Menendez has expressed his displeasure with Corzine’s campaign team, and has urged the governor to shake up his staff.  But his designs on the governor’s mansion remain unknown.

Neither Menendez nor Pallone are talking about their future plans.  Their offices did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Personally, I doubt Corzine will be dumped unless he himself decides to go. However, the fact that Corzine has pushed to move back the debates to later in October makes me wonder if this is to allow wiggle room for another candidate to jump in.

What do you think? Is Corzine in this for the long haul or do the Democrats push him out?

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!