Prescience. (Updated)
Just shy of a week ago, I found myself asking, “Would Codey be Doing Better?â€
In that post, I questioned whether voting democrats regret their party’s leaders and bosses having nominated Jon Corzine as opposed to Dick Codey (the Acting Governor) for governor. I wondered whether Mr. Codey’s image of a real person would attract more independents and even Republicans than would Jon Corzine.
My then-rhetorical questions were the product of a morning walk, a time when there is no accounting for what may pop into my cruller. It can be anything from a raging river of thoughts to a sweat-soaked silence, punctuated only by the inner voice of my muse who taunts me from time to time about working conditions.
It turns out that, according to the New York Times, I was exactly right. The New York Times stated:
Numerous surveys indicate that Mr. Codey, a Democrat, is the most popular politician in the state. A New York Times Poll, conducted from Oct. 14 to Oct. 19, found that 61 percent of likely voters said they approved of Mr. Codey’s performance, and only 12 percent said that their opinion was “not favorable.” Among Republicans, 48 percent approved of the job he is doing.
The Times poll showed Mr. Corzine leading Mr. Forrester by 9 points, with some signs of the gap closing on the horizon. The poll had Mr. Codey leading Mr. Forrester by 19 points in a fantasy matchup that many voters said they wish were not a fantasy.
I suggested that New Jersey voters might consider Dick Codey to be a “real person.†The Times put it this way:
[Codey is] a man widely viewed as an antipolitician of sorts, a bona fide Jersey guy, complete with rumpled suits, comb-over and a spaghetti-and-meatballs belly.
Quoting a politico from Hudson County (where hardball politics is an art form), the Times noted:
â€Codey has more knowledge, more vision and more charisma than either candidate,” said a former public official in Hudson County, who said he was worried about repercussions from Mr. Corzine if his name was used. “Would he have been a better governor than Corzine? Yes. Would he have made a stronger candidate? Yes.”
So, what does all this mean?
1. Corzine’s money talks when it comes to who gets the nod.
2. A few months ago, Codey was seen as a caretaker governor with no political oomph, while Corzine seemed like a sure shot. In politics, a few months can be a lifetime.
3. If, on election eve, it looks like it might be a toss-up, maybe the democrats will have Corzine bail and parachute in Codey. After all, they’ve done it before. Indeed they did it to Doug Forrester. UPDATE: Uh-oh!
4. You can’t make this shit up.
That’s kinda scary when you are in agreement with the NYT.
Comment by Craig — October 24, 2005 @ 9:25 pm
I think it means that the NYT knows that Jim is a farookin’ genius and they read his blog to find out what’s happening in the Parkway state. *grin*
Comment by Teresa — October 24, 2005 @ 9:41 pm
This is too funny. I talked to my brother-in-law earlier tonight about the upcoming election and we both wish Codey was on the ballot. I know he (B-i-L) hadn’t read any news today, but he said “Codey is just such a JERSEY guy, you know? Hard roll with butter in one hand and coffee in the other.”
Comment by Shamrock — October 24, 2005 @ 10:00 pm
Codey is our own little Pork Roll – who wouldn’t like a guy who abandons polical correctness to threaten a DJ for dissing his wife?
I can’t imagine Diamond John doing that for anyone. The thing that bothers mem most about the Katz connection is this: most people are speculating about the notion that he got his lady-love to swing the union backing his way. I think it was the other way around. My impression is that he courted Katz to make her his ladylove in order to get the union backing. In my opinion, that’s worse.
But … uh oh is right.
Comment by Suzette — October 25, 2005 @ 8:46 am
I finally put my hand on why Corzine is so creepy. If you watch him closely when he talks, he constantly has these little, shaking motions of his head, making him remind me of a bobblehead doll. This knucklehead can’t even keep his head still when talking since he knows that he’s lying.
Pays for Mogambo from the Union boss lady, and as they say in my buisness, “he couldn’t get laid in Clinton Woman’s Prison with a handfull of pardons!”. Why anyone would vote for this cardboard, shake-and-bake moron is beyond me. His TV commercials bringing out a crippled wrestler hit a new low for politics. If he doesn’t get the check to Sharpe James in the next two weeks, the dead voters in Newark will stay home on election day.
Comment by cousin gary — October 25, 2005 @ 11:28 am
jimbo….this cousin guy said it all… he’s got my farukin vote.
Comment by chef of da future — October 25, 2005 @ 7:55 pm