The editors of the New York Times assess Corzine’s first term:
Like almost every other state in the union, New Jersey is in bad shape. Revenues are down. Unemployment is up. A state deficit is looming. Taxes are high, and more borrowing is taboo. Unfortunately for Gov. Jon Corzine, it is also election time. Mr. Corzine, a Democrat, has struggled through his first term, partly because of a legislature that will not make the tough decisions. He still has lessons to learn about communication and leadership . . .
Most New Jersey voters find him astonishingly inarticulate, and his credentials as a former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs do not seem as impressive as they did before the financial meltdown in 2008. He has poured lots of his personal wealth into this race, far too much of it for biting — and sometimes juvenile — attacks on Mr. Christie.
It continues: He “inherited corruption” (whatever that means). He is too close to the state’s unions. Thus, the New York Times editors conclude, he . . . should be reelected.
These endorsements of Jon Corzine must be setting some record for faint praise. They might as well come out and say, “Despite the fact that the state has gotten worse on his watch, he is, in the end, a Democrat, and that is what matters most to us.”