+1 Sam

And I say GO DAGGETT. Pull those votes from Christie !

Indomitus, I certainly can't nor won't criticize your sentiments on that.

I'm going to stick with Corzine because I am not as disgusted with him as some of the other folks on here are. Also I genuinely believe he's the guy we need during these unusually tough economic times. He has the tenacity to deal with tough issues and take the heat for them. I think he gets into the details of matters and has some foresight. Of course I don't mean to suggest I think he's perfect; but in comparison to both Daggett and Christie he secures my confidence more.

Daggett's participation in the election pretty much assures that Corzine get's re-elected (remember Bill Clinton's first election, anyone?) Corzine is one lucky guy!?

Quote:

I find I dislike the other choices...which is a not a great reason to vote for Dagget, but yet that is why we got stuck with the same mayor, because most people voted for the same old thing (no I didn't). I am tired of feeling like I need to take another shower after voting. So, I am going for someone outside the box.

I think you will find Daggett more liberal than many democrats on social issues....he's pro choice, pro Gay marriage plus he's endorsed by the Sierra Club. Back before the republican party was hijacked by right wing zealots the term Liberal Republican was not an oxy-moron. I'm finding it hard to be a democrat in a state that has recently produced Senator Torricelli, County Chairman Bobby J, Governor McGreevy and the dozens who were indicted in our city by the feds. We are a country for approx 300 million and a state of 8 million people must we only have two political parties? For more on Chris Daggett
www.daggettforgovernor.com

What do you find intriguing about Daggett?

I haven't found enough about him to have any opinion at all.

At this point I'm sticking with my party line and voting for Corzine.

I certainly won't vote for Christie because I find his positions overly conservative and don't think he has the skill sets for the job.

While I am not willing to deify Corzine the state of the economy has been rather unusual and severe. With that in mind I can't be so harsh on him in terms of the state budget or the pension.

In terms of Daggett, I just can't vote for someone simply because he's different. Additionally, he's surfaced pretty late in the game and probably too late to make a real impression on enough voters to actually win. Supporting an independent at this juncture, IMHO would only serve to serve the election up to the republicans.

I don't care if Daggett has the appeal of an old dish rag. I really don't like the other 2 candidates. I find the 3rd choice rather intriguing.

Jersey City reformers look to Daggett

By MATT FRIEDMAN, PolitickerNJ.com Reporter

Independent gubernatorial candidate Christopher Daggett will make a foray into what is supposed to be Governor Corzine?s base next month.

Daggett plans to meet with some reform-minded Jersey City residents ? mostly Democrats ? who are upset with Corzine because they think he?s treated Mayor Jerramiah Healy with kid gloves.

?We?re just very disappointed in the Hudson County Democratic Party and the State Democratic Party,? said the meeting?s organizer, Phil Rivo.

Rivo, a realtor and Democratic county committeeman who is a frequent antagonistic presence at council meetings, said ?in simple terms, I think Corzine needs to be fired.?

The meeting is planned for Tuesday, October 6 at The Embankment Restaurant in the downtown Hamilton Park neighborhood.

Rivo and a small band of like-minded reformers are upset that Corzine signed an executive order reviewing development projects in Ridgefield ? a town of 10,000 where the mayor has been arrested on corruption charges ? but ignored Jersey City, where City Council President Mariano Vega is charged with taking bribes and other officials have admitted funneling bribe money into Healy?s reelection campaign (Healy has not been charged with a crime).

?Although [Healy] hasn?t been charged with anything, crap floats to the top,? said Rivo.

Rivo said he could not bring himself to vote for Christie either because of his conservative positions.

?Let?s vote our conscience, and my conscience is that Corzine does not deserve to have the job. Christie is out of the question, and this year we have a choice,? he said.

Matt Friedman is a PolitickerNJ.com Reporter and can be reached via email at matt@politicsnj.com.

September 23rd, 2009 | Category: In The Press | Share Your Independence
The Star Ledger, like most of New Jersey, is no longer interested in hearing the personal travails of the major party candidates who continue to push stories about driving records and personal finances. In the September 23rd edition they highlight Daggett as the only candidate speaking to the issues and putting for the specific proposals. Reporting on Daggett?.

??he speaks the truth.?

Some facts: New Jersey faces an $8 billion budget gap next year. And that?s much more than the state government spends on all its employees, all their benefits, and all the buildings, heating, and lighting combined.

The real money in the state budget ? nearly 80 percent of it ? is handed over to towns, schools, hospitals, and homeowners who demand rebates.

So it?s obvious, Daggett says, that we can?t solve this problem unless we take aim at local spending ? on teachers, firefighters, and police officers, all protected by union contracts that Daggett says we simply cannot afford.

?I?d take on the idea of declaring a fiscal emergency,? he says. ?Whatever powers I?ve got, I will stretch to whatever limit I can.?

Beyond that, he gets a bit vague, saying he wants to reveal his plan in one piece, probably next week.

?..But look for a plan with some teeth. Because Daggett has been breaking barriers that stop more cautious pols.?

Thanks for posting. I am very interested in hearing and meeting a 3rd option.

N.J. governor's race offers grim choice for residents
By Tom Moran
September 15, 2009, 8:00PM
For most voters, the New Jersey campaign for governor seems to present a grim choice.

We have Chris Christie, presented as an obese version of George Bush, challenging Jon Corzine, the clumsy incumbent who has supposedly spent the last four years wrecking the economy while his fellow Democrats looted every treasury in the land.

Star-Ledger file photosChris Christie and Gov. Jon Corzine will face off in the gubernatorial election on Nov. 3.
It's almost enough to make you vote for Chris Daggett, the independent candidate whose appeal is matched only by the hopelessness of his cause.

Ah, to be back. After my 18-month sojourn away from New Jersey politics, it seems that the game has changed little. The problems fester. And the boys bicker.

The irony is this: If Christie and Corzine would stop treating us like idiots, if they would use their TV time to tell us what they might do about big problems -- like property taxes -- we could be watching a classic campaign.

Because the choice here is stark -- it's between an unabashed liberal and a surprisingly hardcore conservative. The gap between these two on matters of substance is a Grand Canyon.

Corzine this week visited a Newark child-care center to trumpet his success in bringing health insurance to more low-income children. His signature achievement, he said, is to protect children. That includes health care, expansion of preschools, and reform of the child protection services, all areas where New Jersey has made undeniable progress in the face of shrinking budgets.

In Newark, he sat with low-income mothers, patted sleeping toddlers on the head, and revealed that his own son needed life-saving heart surgery at the age of 7. The stiffness and awkwardness that handicap him as a politician was somehow lifted.

Full Star-Ledger coverage of the New Jersey Governor's Race
"This is why I got into public life," he said afterward. "That little girl who sat next to me is going to need a kidney transplant. In another state, another place, she wouldn't have access to it. That's why I mentioned my son. He wouldn't have survived if he had not had open heart surgery. This should not be about who is wealthy, and who has access."

Christie, a day earlier, was at Veteran's Park in Hamilton Township, shaking hands as he walked among vendors hawking home-made pies and crafts.

As U.S. Attorney, he was a hero, the most effective corruption buster in a generation, and people thanked him for it, over and over.

But this will be tough. Christie is a conservative, and not just on guns and abortion. He would cut the income and business taxes. He would allow health insurers to escape mandates like those guaranteeing women a 48-hour hospital stay after giving birth. He would roll back preschool programs, even for some low-income children.

"We have a thriving private industry that does that," he says. "And candidly, we can't afford it."

He would return federal stimulus money earmarked to extend unemployment benefits, a position embraced by Sarah Palin and rejected by most other governors, even Republicans.

He supports the Bush tax cuts, and has said he'll do something similar in New Jersey.

"I'm certainly in concert with that," he said. "And I don't back away from fact that I was part of his administration."

With all this meaty contrast, why has this campaign focused on driving records, personal loans, and other pettiness?

Here's the sad answer: Both campaign have logical reasons to keep this campaign as superficial as possible, as party leaders on both sides admit in private.

Corzine's problem is that voters know him well by now, and most are unimpressed. That's not likely to change in seven weeks. So his best hope is to say yes when his consultants promise to turn Christie into a monster.

Christie's behavior is rational, too. He's crushing Corzine in most polls. So why run wonky TV ads on property taxes? Why tell us which programs he'd cut to make ends meet?

Yes, larger forces are at work here as well. Corzine complains that when he holds events on health care or jobs, the media doesn't pay attention.

"It's frustrating," he said. "I've had event after event after event. It's not because we're not trying."

Fair point, sort of. News staffs are thin these days. And the press is drawn to scandal like sharks to fresh blood. But follow Corzine's money, and the trail leads to attack ads, many of them cheap shots.

So here's a modest proposal: Let's stipulate that both men are flawed children of God, and move on to the people's business.

Let's agree, for example, that it was dumb for Christie to loan money to his assistant, Michele Brown, and fail to report it or pay taxes on it, and even dumber for Corzine to give millions to Carla Katz, the union leader. Let's agree no voter should get into a car with either one of them. And let's call off the dogs, who are sniffing even today for more mud.

Will this really happen? Probably not. Corzine said his new ads will focus more on issues, but he adds this cryptic out: "We'll have to see what unfolds in a pragmatic context."

Maybe we're doomed to see of flood of TV spots with horrifying camera angles and ominous background music. Maybe we'll never hear a plan on property taxes.

But we have seven weeks left. And even in New Jersey, we can dream.

This year there is a choice!!

Chris Daggett for Governor


This is an opportunity to hear Chris speak of the challenges facing New Jersey and how he plans to address them.


Where: The Embankment...234 10th Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302


What : Meet & Greet
When Tuesday , October 6th 7:00 PM


http://www.daggettforgovernor.com