State News: S.S

The Incumbent Democrat and Four GOP Candidates in a Head-to-Head Battle

The four republicans and the incumbent governor are running for the post of governor of New Jersey. They are giving fiery speeches to boost their chances to run for the post of the Governor. In this week, they have attended two different forums. One forum was on the trains that led them from Newark to Washington D.C. The second forum was at a golf club, where the candidates sat together for the first time.

My first article, http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1233293197132600.xml&coll=1, is about the train ride from Newark to Washington DC. Interestingly, only one candidate came on this ride; Governor Corzine. Christopher Christie, Steve Lonegan and Rick Merkt thought that the ride was “a symbol of the state's broken insider-heavy political culture”. The other candidate, Brian Levine couldn’t come because of other obligations. Therefore, Governor Corzine ended up to be the only person from the race to attend the “Walk to Washington”. Taking this as an advantage, Corzine started speaking about the different deeds he would like to do for NJ. There was only one thing that was talked the most on the train; the absence of the four republican candidates. Many people argued that it doesn’t matter if the other candidates did not attend this. Other people, such as the Chamber of Commerce said that it was a disgrace to them. Governor Corzine said a quote that had counteracted everyone’s argument. “I think it would be a mistake for the governor of the state not to be here. It's where people come together. I don't think anybody would claim that they were ever able to influence public policy because I rode this train the last three years."

My opinion on this article is that it was very detailed and informative. This article showed every aspect of the train ride that happened, from who he sat with to what he was eating! I also thought that this article gave me a better understanding of how forums work. This article was very helpful in providing me the correct information. My question about this article is that what is the significance of the train ride?

My second article, http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/gop_candidates_for_governor_cr.html, was about the forum that occurred on the last day of January. This is the first time all the candidates from Republican party sat together to discuss their thoughts. All the candidates gave fiery speeches and back-stabbed each other. The various policies implemented by Governor Corzine in NJ were criticized by four republican candidates. They felt that Corzine’s policies were hurting the small towns and communities of New Jersey. These four candidates fired their harsh comments at the governor. They criticized him for being selfish and harmful, but Corzine’s spokesman shattered their thoughts with a fiery quote. This quote was, “Governor Corzine is focused on New Jersey's economy in the middle of a national financial crisis, not partisan politics.”

My opinion on this article was that it was detailed and informative. This article was also general and straight-to–the-point. This article gave the main points or details of what happened at the golf club in Branchburg. Plus, this article demonstrated to me competition between politicians! My question about this article is that who do you think is the best candidate among these four?