Read PolitickerNJ.com's Year End Review

DRUMTHWACKET 2009
"The only times
Republicans can
win, in my opinion,
is when Democrats
screw it up." ―
Republican lobbyist
Roger Bodman, who
managed Tom Kean's
successful campaign for
Governor in 1981.
(1/2/09)
"The public is looking for strong
leadership in this volatile time,
but they are unsure of Jon
Corzine's hand on the tiller."
― Patrick Murray, director of the
Monmouth University Polling Institute.
(2/2/09)
"2009 seems to be a different
kind of political climate. The
person who doesn't get specific is
the person who's not being
serious. Corzine, I imagine, is
going to come out with a
campaign that says, 'I'm tough
and I've made tough decisions
and you'll be better off because
I've made tough decisions.'"
― Prof. Ben Dworkin, Director of the
David Rebovich Center for New Jersey
Politics at Rider University. (3/6/09)
"Sometimes timing is everything.
He's the only incumbent governor
in the country up for election this
year as the financial crisis hits."
– Prof. Peter Woolley, the director the
FDU poll which has Gov. Jon Corzine
trailing. (4/8/09)
"A boxing match is a good
analogy. In the first few rounds,
they're feeling each other out,
looking for any potential
weaknesses and any potential
gaps. Neither candidate was really
going to come out and shoot for a
knockout punch. This was a
coming-out party in a lot of ways."
― Seton Hall political science professor
Joseph Marbach, on the GOP gubernatorial
debate between Chris Christie and Steve
Lonegan. (5/14/09)
"New Jersey is set for a highly
competitive governor's race that
pits a former Marine who learned
how to wield a shovel as a farm
boy against a swashbuckling exprosecutor
with a Jersey-size chip
on his shoulder."
― Philadelphia Inquirer's Cynthia Burton.
(6/5/09)
"In case you haven’t heard this
before, I am a feisty Jewish
grandmother from Bergen County.
I will never be accused of being
part of any – of any —insider
political club."
—State Sen. Loretta Weinberg, the
Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor.
(7/27/09)
"The businessman
has trouble getting
to the point, and
the lawyer talks too
much. They each
achieved success
and prominence in
a slightly different
realm ― in the case
of Corzine, it's
business, and Christie, it's law ―
and those things don't necessarily
lend themselves to politics."
― Veteran strategist Roger Stone,
described by the Star-Ledger as a
"renowned master of political dirty tricks
who has worked on New Jersey
campaigns." (8/14/09)
"Christopher Christie is still ahead
in the Garden State, but when he
looks in the rear-view mirror, he
sees the bearded visage of Gov.
Jon Corzine getting closer."
― Maurice Carroll, director of the
Quinnipiac University Polling
Institute. (9/30/09)
"If Corzine drives you crazy,
Christie leaves you cringing and
Daggett disappoints you, don't
despair: You've got nine other
choices for governor on this
year's ballot."
― Gannett New Jersey's Michael Symons
(10/27/09)
“You’re going to need to get
Cousin Pookie off the couch and
say ‘Pookie, it’s time to go vote.'
You’ve all got a Cousin Pookie.
You know whom I’m talking
about.”
― President Obama, at a Corzine for
Governor rally at the Prudential Center in
Newark on the Sunday before Election
Day. (11/3/04)
"Hey, New Jersey - we did it."
― Gov.-elect Christopher Christie, on
election night.(11/3/09)
"You just don’t get the vote out at
election time and be successful. It
has to be a year-round
communication, a year- round
interaction. The governor turned
his back on the political
establishment that supported him
throughout his political career. He
was totally isolated by political
reality and surrounded himself by
people who were totally isolated
by political reality."
― State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, on why
Jon Corzine lost. (11/6/09)