Obama with Corzine, image Trentonian
President Obama has hit the campaign trail to try and bolster Democrat incumbent governor John Corzine, who is just weeks away from from possible early retirement. An article in Politico, entitled “Corzine milks Obama appearance”, speaks to the fact that the polls have tightened in recent days between Corzine and Republican rival, Chris Christie, but fails to mention the fact that there is a third party candidate who has gained ground, with both Corzine and Christie losing ground with New Jersey Voters. The Rasmussen poll suggests that it is impossible to predict an outcome at this point, therefore, one would think that an Obama appearance would bolster Corzine’s chances, attracting a large crowd in order to “get out the vote”.
The event, held at a Hackensack University, drew an enthusiastic crowd of 3,500, most of who were there to see the President. One has to understand that events where a sitting or former president visits a specific state, especially a blue state, are well documented in the press, weeks beforehand, giving plenty of time to draw significant overflow crowds. Former President Bill Clinton’s visit to support John Kerry’s presidential bid in Massachusetts drew crowds of the City of Worcester with people “lining the streets for miles”.
Perhaps Democrats in Massachusetts are more enthusiastic than those in New Jersey – Obama will be attending a fundraiser for Deval Patrick on the 23rd of October in Boston – Massachusetts, known as “the Bluest State”, (see presidential voting patterns by State; Massachusetts has only voted twice for a Republican (Ronald Reagan), in the past 30 years.) should see crowds “lining the street” to honor Obama’s visit to the Bay State. Although the fundraiser will undoubtedly be closed to the public, it has received significant media attention in the state since the announcement in early October, giving those who would even stand a chance of a glimpse of the President time to get into line. It will be interesting to see how this Bay State visit compares to Obama’s draw in New Jersey, as both sitting Governors have dismal approval ratings.
Alternately, Rasmussen’s latest Presidential Tracking Poll shows that the President is enjoying an unhealthy 27 percent “strongly approve”, giving him an overall approval rating of 47% Rasmussen polling has seen the president’s approval “negative” for the past week. This poll, coupled with the poll numbers of the democrat incumbents in both New Jersey and Massachusetts, may act as a harbinger of political rallies for Democrat incumbents elsewhere in the nation. If that is a case, it is a question of a brand gone band, and this will become evident as 2010 election rally’s begin in earnest. The question then will be, is Obama to the Democrats in 2010 as George Bush was to the Republican’s in 2008?
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