Is Corzine Making Fun Of Christie's Weight?

The NJ's governor's race is being fiercely fought, with incumbent NJ Governor Jon Corzine (D) trying to hold onto the seat while challenger Chris Christie (R), a former U.S. Attorney, attempts to capitalize on the poor economy and possible Obama-discontent. Christie has been leading in polls, though Corzine has been catching up, so it's no wonder that the campaign ads are getting very nasty. So nasty that Corzine's campaign might be drawing excessive attention to Christie's physical appearance.

You've probably seen Corzine's ad, If (below), but the NY Times makes sure that readers who don't want to play the video get it: "It is about as subtle as a playground taunt: a television ad for Gov. Jon S. Corzine shows his challenger, Christopher J. Christie, stepping out of an S.U.V. in extreme slow motion, his extra girth moving, just as slowly, in several different directions at once. In case viewers missed the point, a narrator snidely intones that Mr. Christie 'threw his weight around' to avoid getting traffic tickets." Oh, and Corzine's ads show "unattractive images of Mr. Christie, sometimes shot from the side or backside, highlighting his heft, jowls and double chin."

Monmouth University's pollster Patrick Murray says that respondents frequently cite "fat" as one of the first things that comes to mind about Christie and subliminally "fat" might translate to "reckless," "As much as they might dislike the incumbent, they have to feel that the challenger is somewhat of a safe choice." Corzine is, the Times says, a "fitness buff," if bald.

Christie, who says he's lost 25 pounds recently, tells the Times, "It’s one of the more difficult things I’ve had to deal with in my life. But I don’t see how it’s relevant to my being governor.... It’s not like I didn’t think it would come up in the campaign in some context. But I think the governor has decided to overdo it. I think it’s silly, it’s stupid, and I don’t think anybody really cares about it."

Corzine is also trying to tie Christie to former President George W. Bush.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on October 8, 2009 9:55 AM

Comments [rss]

Rocknrope

Woohoo lookit that blubber fly!

And I agree with RevWaldo, I can't post because FB is blocked. FIX IT!

RevWaldo

Well this article is timely -

http://www.slate.com/id/2231508/

(AND I've been trying to post ALL day! Frigging blankety-blank Movable Type!)

RevWaldo

AHA! It's the Facebook javascript! If Facebook is blocked at work ya can't post! FIX THAT!!

Spirit of 76

Assuming the allegations in the ad are true, isn't this just misdirection by the Christie campaign? Instead of addressing those issues, they're just saying, "Hey, they called him fat!" I don't know enough about Christie to judge whether those are true, but they seem very serious if they are.

kade3000

Dear Gothamist...correction. Chris Christie was never a US Attorney General. He was a US Federal Prosecutor. Just a side note.

sj

Christie was indeed never the U.S. Attorney General. The Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice for the entire country and is based in D.C. at Justice headquarters (i.e. Eric Holder, Michael Mukasey, Alberto Gonzales, etc.).

Christie was the U.S. Attorney for the Federal District of New Jersey. The U.S. Attorney is the head of the federal prosecutors' office in his/her district. The U.S. Attorney doesn't really do any prosecution as it's more of a managerial position. The prosecutors who work in the office under the U.S. Attorney are all Assistant United States Attorneys and those are the guys who work cases.

felixthecat2

http://christiefornjstore.com/91-1300.htm

Note: none of his shirts for sale come in small sizes. LOL the only sizes available Medium to XXL. LMFAO

felixthecat2

Christie was named U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey in 2002.

http://www.christiefornj.com/about/about-chris.html

freddynyc

Yes, no one respects a fat boy...

JacqueMehoff

personally I don't think they're drawing attention to it enough. because he's really huge, get a doctor to say he may be morbidly obese or something.

There's fat and there's FAT, his is FAT.

he could barely fit into an SUV, An SUV!

JMH

This is completely extraneous to Christie's ability to be governor - he may as well run ads making fun of Corzine for being bald, for all the relevance either one has.

Now, the fact that he's a Bush crony - that is what makes him a terrible candidate for governor.

whitecastlerock

Subliminally "fat" might translate to "reckless"?? Fitness fanatic Corzine was nearly killed when his speeding vehicle crashed. He was not wearing a seat belt. That is pretty reckless. He has taxed the state to death-isn't that reckless too? However they focus on the portly Christie's physique. Our leaders in Albany are physically fit and are doing a pretty shitty job—vote those assholes out too!