AP Photo/Mel Evans
The New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club made a surprise endorsement in the governor's race yesterday, putting its support behind independent candidate Chris Daggett. The endorsement is seen as a blow to the campaign of incumbent Governor Jon Corzine, who secured the influential environmental group's endorsement in his election campaign four years ago.
Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter, said that the endorsement was not meant as a slight to any candidate, but as an acknowledgment of Daggett's record and work for environmental causes. "Chris Daggett is out there talking about what we need to do to move this state forward," Tittel said. But in a slap at the increasingly rancorous debate between the two major party candidates, Tittle added, "[Daggett's] an alternative to all the mudslinging."
Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie could not resist pointing out Corzine's failure to win the endorsement of the environmental group, calling it an example of the failure of Corzine's environmental record. "I think the Sierra Club made a judgment based upon an examination of the governor's four-year record, and they gave him a failing grade," Christie said. "It tells you a lot about what the governor's record on the environment has been."
Corzine, meanwhile, lamented the lost endorsement, issuing a warning to his supporters and perhaps to the 70,000 Sierra Club members in New Jersey to consider the impact the endorsement could have on the governor's race. "If it ends up drawing the race to [Christie], I think they're going to be very unhappy with what the outcome is," Corzine said.
Corzine's flagging re-election campaign has had trouble generating enthusiasm among core Democratic Party constituencies, one reason for his poor showing in the polls. The loss of Sierra Club support is another example of the campaign's inability to sustain any momentum among what should be a reliable base of voters for a Democratic governor. Corzine's recent attacks and smears against Christie's record as U.S. Attorney for Newark are in part an attempt to rally the base to come out in opposition to Christie, if not in support Corzine. As the campaign approaches Labor Day, Corzine finds himself struggling to make a positive case for his re-election.
Comments
Its about time a mainstream organization decided to pull their heads out of the clouds and endorse Chris Daggett!!
We need to fight this mentality:
<b>If you can't choose an candidate choose the one who will do least harm</b>
<b>How ridiculous</b> ... I have a much better Idea
<h1>Let's say no to the lesser of two evil politics</a> that got us into this mess in the first place and vote for Daggett!!</h1>
Corzine has a track record that speaks for itself. And we are all disgusted by the corruption that has plagued our state under his watch. <b>But what's the only thing NJ voter's despise more than corruption? Corruption and Hypocrisy and that's what we find with Chris Christie.</b>
Those of you who still believe in Christie as a crusader against corruption, don't be surprised as more of his skeletons come out of the closet. You need only do a little due diligence.
Its inevitable that the voter's will one day discover that only they have the power to change our gove
I want to support Daggett but I just don't see him as substantial. Case in point, the Candidates site waited until late August to present his opinion on societal issues to the voters by way of his website, and even then it was in two sentence clipped statements. All told the Candidate maybe devotes 500 words on his entire site to those issues and those more directly effecting New Jersey. Are our problems so simple to fix that they only require 500 words?
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