Many readers, with memories of the 2002 Senate race, speculate that we will see a “Torricelli maneuver” in the New Jersey governor’s race, with Jon Corzine suddenly withdrawing his bid for reelection and some other Democrat jumping in at the last second, making much of Republican Chris Christie’s argument moot. The New York Observer is now writing about the recent history of “switcheroos” and declaring, “the motivation to pull one off now is particularly compelling.”

Of course, I wonder if this works against Corzine in the interim. Right now, there are a decent number of non-Corzine Democratic forces putting a lot of resources and effort into persuading New Jerseyans that their governor isn’t such a bad guy. What’s the point of bringing in Barack Obama or Joe Biden again, or another round of Democratic Governors Association ads, or more donations or mailers or volunteers if Corzine’s going to get the hook any day now?

When Obama visited a few days ago, he declared, “[Jon Corzine] didn’t run for this office on the promise that change would be easy, and he certainly has not avoided what is hard. This isn’t somebody who’s here because of some special interest or political machine — he’s here because he cares about what happens to the people of New Jersey.”

If Corzine is dumped, is Obama supposed to appear with the new candidate and say, “Forget what I said about that other guy, this figure is the one who cares about what happens to the people of New Jersey!”

UPDATE: Patrick Ruffini informs me that Corzine has printed Obama/Corzine placards. Obama won’t be on the ballot for three years.

I wonder what Vice President Biden thinks about Obama/Corzine signs all over New Jersey.

ANOTHER UPDATE: CQ has changed its rating of the governor’s race from Tossup to Leans Republican.