Two new polls emerged at the end of the week from the New Jersey Governor's race, and there is cause for both a bit of trepidation and a bit of joy in the Corzine camp.
The bad news: both polls show consistent leads for Chris Christie, when compared to polls released at the dawn of his flood of bad news days. The good news: Governor Corzine's numbers have rebounded somewhat, and both pollsters seem to think that Christie might not be able to close the deal.
The new poll from Rasmussen has GOP nominee Chris Christie leading 46-38 (with Independent Chris Daggett at 6%). Rasmussen noted, however, that Christie's lead was just four points before leaners were pushed. Notably, Corzine's approval numbers ticked up since the last Ras poll, whereas Christie's favorabilities have taken a dive. Rasmussen, for their part, seems a little bearish on Christie: "The GOP campaign may be like a baseball team heading into the late innings with a lead but lacking a reliable closer. They’re happy to be ahead but can’t wait for the game to end so they can breathe again."
Similar trends were apparent in a new survey by Democracy Corps, which has Christie staked to just a three-point edge (41-38-10). In that survey, Christie's favorabilities are as mediocre as you can get (33-33).
In other news out of the Garden State, Christie's running mate, Sheriff Kim Guadagno stepped in it recently, when she told a crowd that because she worked as a faculty member at a Rutgers installation in Newark, she knew what it was like to be afraid to cross the street. Leaving aside the fact that, according to Blue Jersey's Jeff Gardner, that faculty at Rutgers Newark get secured parking, someone from the Christie message discipline team should probably be dispatched to their LG nominee before she makes a comment about being afraid to cross streets.
After all, if we've learned nothing else this last month, it is that Chris Christie's driving skills leave a bit to be desired. And, given that Guadagno pitched up such a slow curve right in the wheelhouse, Gardner at Blue Jersey can be forgiven for taking a big swing at it (emphasis is Gardner's):
I'm sure urban fear-mongering goes over well at Christie campaign functions, so maybe "tough" sheriff Guadagno thought she could get away with some gratuitous Newark-bashing.
But seriously, the only thing Guadagno has to fear about walking across the street in Newark is the off chance that Chris Christie is driving on that same street.
Be careful sheriff - and make sure to look both ways before you cross (even if it's a one-way)!
Team Christie is probably hoping that this coming week can be a gaffe-free week.
It has been a good long while since the nominee has had the pleasure of such a week.