Chris Christie Robo-calls: Following Karl Rove Again, to the Wrong Side in NY-26

by: Rosi Efthim

Mon May 23, 2011 at 11:39:58 AM EDT

Right now, it's Bill Clinton vs. Chris Christie for practically anybody with a telephone in upstate western New York State, where the NY-26 special election race between GOP's Jane Corwin and Democrat Kathy Hochul is boiling hot and may be a signal to Republicans, like all of NJ's GOP delegation, that they've gone too far. I wonder just what time this weekend Karl Rove placed a panic call to Chris Christie to help bail out his candidate.

Once again, Christie is following Rove's lead. American Crossroads, the beefy GOP money group Karl Rove started has been pouring cash into Jane Corwin's flagging campaign, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups. Few weeks ago, Corwin looked like a lock. But that was before widespread voter backlash to the GOP plan to end Medicare and replace it with a privatized voucher system proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan, a plan even Newt Gingrich called right-wing social engineering.

All of New Jersey's Republicans - LoBiondo, Garrett, Runyan, Smith, Frelinghuysen, Lance - voted to end Medicare. But the earliest any of them might have to pay for that vote is 2012. The NY-26 special election is tomorrow, and there are a lot of nervous Republicans in America right now.

Christie, and NJ's Republicans like my own congressman Lance, had better worry. New polling shows Kathy Hochul, longshot a few days ago, surging ahead of Corwin by 6 points.

Text of Christie's robo-call to NY, after the jump.

Rosi Efthim :: Chris Christie Robo-calls: Following Karl Rove Again, to the Wrong Side in NY-26

Text of Gov. Chris Christie robo-call to 80,000 residents of NY-26:

Hi, this is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Now, I'm sure you've received many phone calls about this election already. But please just give me a few seconds of your time as the election draws near. I'm calling to ask you for your support for Jane Corwin for Congress as you go to the polls Tuesday, May 24th. I ran for governor of New Jersey because like you, I wanted to see REAL change. Jane Corwin is a fighter who knows how to get things done. We're in critical times for our country, and Washington needs standup leaders who will fight to control spending and change business as usual. Please go out and vote for Jane Corwin this Tuesday. I truly appreciate your time. I wouldn't be calling if this wasn't very important for our country's future. Thanks, and make sure you get out to vote on Tuesday.