The Corzine campaign is out with a new web ad this evening hitting Chris Christie over comments he made to the New York Times saying that he's breaking his campaign promises before he even gets elected to office. First, from the NY Times article:
Regarding property tax rebates, Mr. Christie now says he cannot fully restore them - though his commercials omit this qualifier - and that he will send back the money only "on a sliding scale depending on what the economic conditions were." He explained the turnabout by saying he was "prioritizing out of a set of bad choices."
Referring to looming deficits, he added, "It's not like I can click my heels and say, 'Make the bad stuff go away.' "
The change is one of several recent reversals. Mr. Christie now also disavows a promise, made in a primary-season debate, to roll back a sales tax increase. He has backed away from a pledge to avoid using "one-shot" revenues to close the budget deficit. And he is now deferring until later in his term plans to eliminate a business tax surcharge, cut income taxes across the board, identify a permanent financing source for open-space preservation and restore higher-education financing to 2002 levels.
His biggest surviving pledge is to roll back Mr. Corzine's tax increase on people making more than $400,000 a year.
One of the main reasons environmental groups went with Christie was because he supported a permanent financing source for Open Space. So now he not only opposes the bond question, but won't come up with a permanent solution as promised. And what happens if a Christie economy doesn't get better? Do those choices get deffered to the next Governor? Here's the ad:The Democrats have been all over Christie's comments to the NY Times today. Assemblyman Greenwald had this to say:
"It's amazing that Chris Christie has waited until only four days before the polls open to admit that his entire economic plan was built on a foundation of sand," said Greenwald (D-Camden). "The more Christie tosses his grandiose promises of the spring under the wheels of his campaign bus, the more it becomes obvious that his proposals were meant only to make good sound bites, not sound fiscal policy. New Jersey couldn't afford Christienomics in the 1990's, and we can't afford it now."
And Assemblywoman Quigley didn't miss the chance to hit Christie for his latest broken promises:
"It only took 268 days since he threw his hat into the ring, but with four to go until the election Chris Christie has finally come to terms with the devastating fact that his fiscal platform is a non-starter," said Quigley, a member of the Assembly Budget Committee. "But now he faces an even more painful reality: telling prospective voters that his entire plan was a mirage."
He may have only formally declared 268 days ago, but he's been running for much longer than that. It's amazing that of the few specifics he does give, they always seem to get him in trouble. He lost his shared values in the course of a "website re-design", he tried to delete the words mandate-free from his website altogether and since he can't hide the fact that his fiscal don't hold up when exposed to the real world, he's backing away before he can even implement them.
Chris Daggett brought back his Christie and Corzine actors in this latest ad, "Don't spend money you don't have:"He closes taking on the notion that a vote for him is either a vote for Corzine or a wasted vote by once again repeating that it's never wrong to vote for the right person. He closed the radio debate last week with that line and that's really the additional hurdle that goes along with getting people to know who he is, convincing the ones who want to support him that he can win.
One more ad the Corzine put out yesterday is "Reflect":
The ad explains how Governor Corzine is fighting for the issues that matter most to New Jersey families. Governor Corzine has cut the budget and invested in education for the families of New Jersey. Over the last four years, he has secured health care coverage for over 100,000 kids across the state.
Christie would turn down stimulus funds leading to a $2 billion dollar tax increase. Christie opposes a woman's right to choose and would support a constitutional amendment to ban abortion.
The Corzine campaign put out this web ad highlighting some of the President's remarks about the Governor from their rally this past week:I really like this web ad and think the new media team has really done some great work throughout the campaign with these. The President will be back to help close the deal next weekend.
The Corzine campaign put out this bilingual television ad today featuring the President. Here's what the campaign has to say about this ad:
President Obama asks New Jersey Latino voters to support Governor Corzine in his upcoming bout for re-election. The half-Spanish, half-English (with Spanish subtitles) ad features President Obama telling voters that the future of New Jersey is "in your hands," or "en tus manos." This is the first direct to camera political ad that President Obama has recorded since taking office.
Citing the similarities between his fight on a national level and Governor Corzine's fight here in New Jersey, President Obama praises Corzine as "the leader New Jersey needs in these tough times," for his focus on improving health insurance, getting the economy back on track and ensuring everyone gets a quality education.
The Corzine campaign put out this television ad today, "Intensity." It's a straight positive ad with the Governor looking into the camera, talking about his life story and what he's has fought for:They say that the ad will air on cable and broadcast television across the New Jersey/New York and Philadelphia markets. This is their third positive direct to camera TV ad featuring the Governor. Their only 60 second ad was a positive direct to camera. The other positive ads were "children," which ran in May and the 60 second spot called "More to do," which hit the air at the end of September.
The Corzine campaign is busy today putting out new television ads. This one is titled "Sides" and highlights that the Governor fights for what matters most to New Jersey families while contrasting those values with Christie. Here's what the campaign says about this ad:
He's gotten health coverage for almost 100,000 kids and has worked to protect property tax rebates for middle class families and seniors.
Chris Christie, on the other hand, just doesn't share New Jersey's values. Christie sides with big corporations in opposing the paid family leave legislation that lets people care for newborns or sick relatives while still getting paid. He stands with big insurance companies in allowing them free rein to not offer critical procedures like mammograms and autism screenings. Christie's tax breaks for the very wealthiest would lead to higher property taxes for all New Jerseyans. Christie is wrong on property taxes, and wrong when it matters most.
And here's the ad:There are more coming as the campaign is busy putting tv ads out today.
El cuidado médico de calidad debe ser un derecho, no un privilegio ... Así piensa nuestro Gobernador Jon Corzine.
La campaña de Jon Corzine tiene un anuncio de televisión en español que se aproxime al tipo de comunicación de la campaña que me gustaría verlos hacer más. Sólo una mujer, un votante, hablando directamente, acerca de por qué está votando por Corzine - por el programa Family Care que proteja a los niños - cerca de 600.000 niños de Nueva Jersey ahora - y lo que significa para ella. Por favor, envíe esto a sus amigos que hablan Español-, y me interesaría saber qué piensa del anuncio.
For all the complaining about how Governor Corzine is outspending everyone with the amount of money they are spending for ads on TV, the numbers tell a different story:
In accepting matching funds, Christie faces a spending cap.
That's where the Republican Governors Association comes in. RCP asked Nielsen to pull the RGA's ad buys during the same period. The data shows that when combined with Christie's spending, the Republicans have actually been on the air with more ads than Corzine.
While Christie and the RGA have run more ads, the Corzine campaign has spent more time on the air:
An important distinction: all of the ads that the RGA has launched were 15-second spots, while Corzine's have been 30-seconds and 60-seconds long. So while they may match up in numbers, Corzine has still purchased more time on the airwaves.
But the Corzine campaign says the ad buys show that the Christie complaints don't hold water:
Still, the Corzine campaign points to the data to counter the Christie camp's assertion that the governor has bought his way back into the race.
"The Christie campaign's contention that this race is tight because of advertising overlooks the fact that the RGA has been funneling millions of dollars into New Jersey since before the primary to distort the Governor's record," said Corzine campaign spokesperson Lis Smith. "The more New Jersey voters learn about Chris Christie, the more they see that he is extremely wrong when it comes to what matters for the state."
Whatever the cause, we have a close race now. And as more polls come out, Christie's unfavorables have been the consistent factor, continuing to rise with each poll. We still have many more ads to see between now and election day from all sides
The NJEA released an ad yesterday called worry, highlighting some of the concerns they say Chris Christie presents:The ad features a librarian talking about Christie's opposition of the family leave law, Christie's proposal for mandate free policies, his position on pre-k as babysitting and funding for public schools. Christie decided to not participate in the NJEA candidate screening process for a potential endorsement opting to do his talking if elected. I guess they have something to say to him before that happens.
The Christie campaign put out their latest television ad yesterday, "Exactly." It's the campaigns attempt to respond to criticisms that they have no specifics, but this ad still, like the story of Christie's campaign, offers no specifics:To be honest, I'm surprised they weren't talking about property taxes like this sooner. From the ad, we get this for Christie's "plans":
"Here's exactly what I'll do as governor," Christie says boldly. "I'll cut spending and end the special interest giveaways. I'll cut taxes and restore your property tax rebates. I'll bring good jobs back to New Jersey not chase them to other states. And I'll make sure all our children get the education they deserve."
And after he finishes that, he'll give everyone a pony because he has absolutely no workable specifics for how he will do all that. The Governor's campaign didn't miss the opportunity to lay the smack down:
"When middle class families are struggling to get through this economic crisis, why is Chris Christie always fighting against them? Christie would reject President Obama's stimulus funds, even though it would increase our property taxes by $2 billion. He recently said he still backs Bush's tax giveaways for giant corporations and the very wealthiest, and he wants to bring those polices to New Jersey, even though they are the same policies that got us into this mess. The Star Ledger says Christie's plan would 'lead to even higher property taxes' for the middle class. Christie continues to be wrong on property taxes and wrong when it matters most."
As the Democratic Governors Association said, Christie may need a dictionary too because his new ad explains exactly nothing about his plans for how he'll do everything he says.
Governor Jon Corzine has shown us why Christie would be a terrible governor, now he's going to promote his achievements and show New Jersey his positive vision of the future. This is a 60-second spot called "More to Come:"
New Jersey is a great place to live and work, and however necessary it is, and however well negative ads work, it's a shame we spend millions every year in the New York and Philadelphia media markets to bash ourselves. Tell the world what you think about this ad in comments.
What do you think? Personally, I thought the sound was distractingly bad. Anyway, I doubt web ads are very important, but I suppose they are trying out the new line of attack JRB discussed yesterday.
Starting today, the Corzine campaign has a new 30-second ad going up on broadcast tv. Called If, the ad spotlights the questionable ethical behavior which has contributed to Chris Christie's rising unfavorables, as more information about him reaches more voters. The ad focuses on his eyebrow-raising history of committing serious driving offenses and getting off without a ticket or penalty, failing to disclose a sizeable loan or even pay taxes on the interest. The kind of thing you or I would get nailed on in a New Jersey minute.
There's been some grumbling that attention to Christie's driving record is a distraction. But I think it's key. I lived through Richard Nixon. I'm not down for politicians in an executive capacity deciding they're above the law. So on substance, I like this ad. I also appreciate that it's sourced and referenced - which I hope you'll take a look at - it's all after the jump.
Real Clear Politics picked up on the only quibble I have with the ad: playing the weight card on Christie. I think the coy reference in the script - "throwing his weight around" - cheapens the impact and brings it down to a more schoolyard, too-personal, ridicule of the style Ann Coulter made famous and I can do without. We get it. He's a fat, fat man. Move on to why the fat man would make a lousy governor. There's plenty to work with.
Documentation and sourcing for this ad - well worth reading - is after the jump.
Also, Quinnipiac has promised us a new poll tomorrow morning, so we'll get more data on where the campaign stands going into the traditional Labor Day start.
Of course, the ad tells you to call Christie, not vote against him, because it is an "issue" ad by an independent group, not an ad by Corzine. PolitickerNJ has a good account of the group and its major ad buy:
The Mid-Atlantic Leadership Fund, a Washington-based organization with ties to Democrats, has purchased about $900,000 worth of New York and Philadelphia TV ads attacking GOP gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie. According to filings with the Internal Revenue Service, the political organization, which will not need to disclose their donors until July, is run by Sean Sinclair, a Democratic strategist who ran Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's 2004 re-election campaign.
This kind of ad is very familiar in New Jersey politics. What do you think of it?
