Corzine's Struggle to
Fill
His Own Senate Shoes
By DAVID W. CHEN,
NYTimes on the Web, November 30, 2005
TRENTON, Nov. 29 -- Whenever
Senator Jon S. Corzine was asked during his campaign for governor whom he would
select to replace him in Washington, he offered the same answer: I haven't
thought about it.
Few people believed him then. But they may now, since Mr. Corzine still
has not made up his mind, three weeks after a rousing victory on Election Day,
and is not expected to announce a decision until next week.
Mr. Corzine's aides say that he is being deliberative because he wants to make
the most prudent choice to fill out the one year left in his Senate term.
Ideally, Mr. Corzine would pick someone who will not only do a good job filling
in, but also win a full term next November against the expected Republican
candidate, State Senator Thomas H. Kean Jr., the son of a popular former
governor.
But by taking what seems like a political eternity to make up his mind, Mr.
Corzine also runs the risk of fanning tensions among those who desperately want
the job.
Is he going to pick Representative Robert Menendez of Hudson County, who has
long been considered the front-runner and has attracted the support of national
Hispanic groups? Or is Mr. Corzine unsure about Mr. Menendez's reputation
as a tough political operator? Will there be an unconventional choice,
such as State Senator Nia H. Gill or Cory Booker, a former Newark city
councilman, or a total surprise altogether?
"He's obviously struggling with it, like he's trying to find the perfect
choice," said Rick Thigpen, a former executive director of the State Democratic
Party.
For Mr. Corzine, the decision will mark a defining moment, because it represents
his first major executive decision, and therefore offers a clue into his
decision-making process and political skills.
For Democrats in Washington, the decision is vital, because the party hopes to
wrest several seats away from Republicans next year in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Rhode
Island, Tennessee and elsewhere. But to try to win back the Senate, the
party cannot afford to lose what has traditionally been a safe seat in New
Jersey.
"It's a tough choice for Corzine, and one that is filled with far more peril for
him than it is benefit," said Norman J. Ornstein, a resident scholar at the
American Enterprise Institute, a research group in Washington. "If you
don't have a strong candidate out there who, after all, is only going to be an
incumbent for a brief period of time, and won't start with huge name
recognition, you could have a seat that's in play, despite New Jersey's strong
Democratic proclivities."
All of this second-guessing and fretting among Democrats might have disappeared
had Mr. Corzine chosen the man favored overwhelmingly by voters in recent polls:
Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey.
But last Wednesday, Mr. Codey took himself out of the running. While he
cited family reasons, some Democrats have speculated that Mr. Corzine did not
woo Mr. Codey sufficiently enough, or even at all.
When asked on Tuesday in Newark about Mr. Codey's decision, Mr. Corzine said
that for Mr. Codey, the Senate seat was always "a hypothetical since he
generally expressed lack of interest" in the position.
Mr. Codey was said to be the favorite of Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York,
the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. But Mr.
Schumer said on Tuesday that he had confidence in Mr. Corzine, his predecessor
on the campaign committee. "It's a seat we can't afford to lose, and,
thankfully, Jon Corzine is making the decision because he recognizes how
important it is to Democrats in the Senate," Mr. Schumer said.
Those most pleased with the way events have unfolded are Republicans, who seem
eager to pump resources into the race. Senator Elizabeth Dole of North
Carolina, who is Mr. Schumer's counterpart on the Republican campaign committee,
is scheduled to attend a fund-raiser for Mr. Kean on Dec. 6.
If Mr. Kean wins, he would energize a state party that has not won any statewide
office since 1997, and could become a rising national star out of the party's
moderate wing.
"We want to do everything we can to be helpful," said Dan Ronayne, press
secretary for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "We have an
outstanding candidate in Tom Kean Jr., and the Democrats appear to be struggling
to identify who from their second tier will be their candidate."
So far, most of the political handicapping has swirled around several members of
New Jersey's Congressional delegation. Mr. Menendez and Representatives
Robert E. Andrews of Camden County and Frank Pallone Jr. of Monmouth County have
been the most aggressive in promoting their candidacies. They have also
raised the most money for a possible race, with Mr. Menendez raking in more than
$4 million, and the other two with $2 million apiece.
Representative Rush Holt of Mercer County has been less vocal, but is said to be
no less interested.
Republicans have tried to capitalize on the jockeying. Last week, Tom
Wilson, the state party chairman, issued a news release reporting that Democrats
had apparently conducted recent polls to test the contenders' perceived
vulnerabilities. According to the release, pollsters asked voters if they
would be less likely to vote for Mr. Menendez if they "knew he was 'corrupt,
part of the Hudson County machine' " or for Mr. Andrews if they "knew he 'voted
to go to war in Iraq.' "
"Instead of engaging pollsters and political bosses, Jon Corzine should stop
treating this seat like a piece of Democrat political patronage," Mr. Wilson
said in a statement.
Factoring into Mr. Corzine's decision is the specter of a Democratic primary.
Mr. Menendez and Mr. Andrews have both hinted that they will run for the seat,
no matter what, though Mr. Ornstein and others said that Democratic leaders
would try hard to convince all spurned contenders that party unity is more
important than personal glory.
Some Democrats say Mr. Corzine is struggling so mightily that he may do what he
has said he was not inclined to do: pick an interim senator as a
caretaker, and encourage a competitive primary.
On Tuesday, Mr. Corzine said, "I still think it is a low probability that I
would appoint a caretaker."
The political parlor game has become so surreal that jokes have emerged about
the possibilities: James Gandolfini from "The Sopranos," suggested Mr.
Ornstein.
Or, as U.S. News & World Report piped in recently, Mr. Corzine could choose a
New Jersey boss of another type: Senator Springsteen, anyone?
Ronald Smothers contributed reporting from Newark for this
article.
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