Back Channels: The case for Christie

Republican Chris Christie has at least one thing going for him in the ever-tightening race for New Jersey governor:

A solid majority of voters do not want to reelect Democrat Jon Corzine.

Alas, with independent Chris Daggett in the race, that dissatisfaction doesn't translate into a winning majority for Christie. He and Corzine are roughly tied at 40 percent, with Daggett picking up about 14 percent in recent polls.

Some of this is Christie's doing. When he had a double-digit lead, it seemed smart not to draw too much attention to himself.

Christie had a sterling reputation as a corruption-fighting U.S. attorney, having put away 130 politicians, Republicans and Democrats, during his seven-year term. He certainly had positions on issues - lower taxes, leaner government, less spending - but mostly he just had to not be the increasingly unpopular Corzine. However, with two Not Corzines in the race, the anti-incumbent vote is split.

Given his expensive primary campaign and facing limits on what he could spend in the fall, Christie wasn't in a rush to forcefully define himself. Enter multimillionaire Corzine, a huge fan of campaign-finance limits - for others.

And so, the governor and his $30 million negative ad blitz would like you to believe Christie is somehow unfit for office because of some or all of the following half-truths:

Christie is a bad driver.

A good one from Corzine, who allowed his driver to fly at 91 m.p.h. on the Garden State Parkway, causing an accident that nearly killed the governor and endangered others.

Christie the bad driver would loan $46,000 to a colleague in need - and fail to report it on his income taxes.

This from Gov. I Paid Off My Union Leader Girlfriend's Mortgage and Lavished Her With Millions in Gifts, and no, that never ever presented a conflict for management - the state - and labor.

Christie the bad driver might not have a "Save the Ta-ta's" bumper sticker on his car.

In other words, if you're not with Corzine, you want women to die of breast cancer. Come on. This idiotic notion misses the very grown-up point Christie is making: To help lower insurance costs, policies should be affordable. That means more choice for consumers. Men and women should be allowed an affordable policy that fits their needs, not a one-size-fits-all, mandate-heavy plan they can't afford.

Christie might have some unsavory characters in that car he's driving badly - like his brother, who was investigated, and cleared of wrongdoing, by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

OK, let's talk unsavory characters, starting with Joe Ferriero, the Bergen County Democratic boss convicted of fraud and conspiracy charges just last week. Corzine has pumped more than $400,000 into Ferriero's operation over the years. Just as he's bought support from other crooked Democratic leaders and organizations. Here are just a few: former State Sen. Wayne Bryant, sentenced in July to four years for bribery and pension fraud; former State Sen. Joseph Coniglio convicted of extortion and mail fraud; former Newark Mayor Sharpe James, sentenced to 27 months for corruption. There are so many problem Democrats that the feds had to start busting them 40 at a time this summer.

Is the governor the boss of this statewide political crime syndicate? The Newark Star-Ledger got it right in a recent editorial when it said, "Corzine is the chaplain on a pirate ship, not really its captain."

But that's no reason to give the scalawags another four years of free sailing. In fact, it's a good case for electing a former U.S. attorney who's spent the last seven years bringing the pirates to justice.

Despite the silliness of Corzine's campaign, it's had an impact. His support has grown from roughly 39 percent to 40. Christie's has dropped significantly, from a comfortable lead to a dead heat.

Can Christie eke out a win? I say yes, by continuing to be straight with the people of New Jersey.

He'll cut taxes when he can, but he won't make crowd-pleasing promises - unlike Corzine's unfulfilled vow of '05 to cut property taxes 40 percent. Christie knows he'll face a fiscal mess that will take a while to clean up. But he's at least promising no tax increases, unlike his two opponents.

Christie is not dedicated to increasing spending. Corzine - whose campaign slogan should be, "I'm willing to spend all my money so I can keep spending yours" - certainly is.

Christie is willing to forcefully push for more options for children trapped in dysfunctional public schools.

And Christie is not part of the corrupt Democratic Party machine.

The ad campaign Christie has begun that features former Gov. Tom Kean is a good start. Political honesty and New Jersey should be perfect together.

For the state with too much corruption, too much debt, and too much spending and taxes, let's hope the message is not too little, too late.