What do you guys think of Corzine?

[soleft]

A guy in my office is trashing him, I'll spare you his critique, but what do DU New Jersians think?

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I think...

he's basically clean, possibly the smartest Senator in the place, did a pretty good job for being a Senate newbie, and will probably be a decent Governor. The Republicans are gearing up for a nasty primary, and will most likely eat their own again, like they did last time.

I am pissed at his being able to buy his way into the job, though, and have no doubt he's looking at a Presidential run. That may not be a bad thing-- he has generally liberal tendencies and takes to politics like Clinton does, but without the baggage.

The other day a Newark Star-Ledger columnist ran through the Republican talking points aganist him, and pretty much blew them away.

Cow-orker can piss and moan all he wants, but it looks like Corzine will be around for a while.

[aden_nak]

2. His biggest offense was HOW he got elected.

During his campaign, I don't think I went 30 solid seconds without hearing his name. . . and I don't watch TV. He bought the seat, literally paid enough money to make sure that NJ residents couldn't formulate an entire thought without "Corzine" being in the middle of it.

But once in office, he's been a decent Senator. He's no Boxer, but hey. . . all things considered, we've had far worse in recent memory. Maybe that whole "buying the seat" thing is actually just a comentary on what someone has to do in order to get elected in our current political system if they are not already part of the machine.

[Reverend_Smitty]

3. I'd rather him put up his own money to win the seat...

than take millions from special interests that he would have to whore for. His constituents are his best interest and I can't complain about that

[FogerRox]

4. Corzine will run & win--Pallone may run to fill the vacant Senate seat

I think the above is a fair rep on Corzine.

[name not needed]

5. I thought Menendez was going for Corzine's seat?

[NNadir]

6. I think he's OK, although I must admit to liking Codey, once I found out

who he was.

My favorite political New Jerseyan is my congressman Rush Holt, and man I wish someone were talking about him in the Senate.

I like Pallone though as well.

We have plenty of fine Democrats in this state, and it makes me wonder how we ended up with McGreevey. I voted for McGreevey on the grounds I'm never passive about the possibility of Repukes, but man, I hated doing it.

I also hated voted for Torrecelli.

[Osamasux]

7. Corzine is okay and will do well.

He likes getting his arms around big problems. He knows finance inside out and sideways, which will help continue the cleanup of the budget mess Christie Whitman left. His moral compass points in the right direction. He was born to a modest, Midwest farm family and made a ton of money for himself and his partners. Yes, he's very rich now, let's all get over it. He is comfortable in huge projects and deals. I would have loved to have seen him working on Social Security. He had more of a chance in solving it than anyone else in the Senate, but face it, the Repukes don't want any help these days. I think he can figure out a couple of our major issues. There is a big pool for him to pick from, like unwinding the Turnpike/GSP Authority, financing the big mass transit projects needed to reduce road congestion, finding a creative solution to really make progress on the brown fields, or helping get Atlantic City over the hump to becoming a multi-night-stay destination.

He is more of an executive and a leader than a talker, so he will make a better governor than Senator. I am very curious to see who he will put in his administration. Because of his help financing other peoples campaigns, he is owed more favors than he owes out.

[Hippo_Tron]

8. Pro universal healthcare, voted NAY on IWR, against the death penalty...

He has one of the best voting records in the Senate, that's basically my bottom line. Yea he's loaded but he didn't come from money, he earned every penny of it. And frankly he used his money to get into politics and once there he has been a great advocate of programs that help the less fortunate. I'm not a New Jersey resident but I'd trade him for Vitter or Landrieu without a second thought.