Oct 31, 2009 10:24 am US/Eastern
Corzine Refuses To 'Man Up' Over Weight Attack
Incumbent Instead Accuses Christie Of Abusing Power; Race Too Close To Call, May Take Days To Declare Winner
Giuliani Goes To Bat For Former U.S. Attorney, Touts War On Corruption
BAYONNE, N.J. (CBS) ―
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Republican gubernatorial hopeful Chris Christie called Gov. Jon Corzine's attack ads about his weight distasteful politics.
CBS
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HEADSHOT New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, May 5, 2007.
AP
The New Jersey gubernatorial race has turned into a real "heavyweight" affair. Yes, heavyweight, with Jon Corzine taking it on the chin for poking fun of Chris Christie's full figure.
CBS 2 HD was there for the latest "round."
Republican Christie wants to be the governor of the Garden State, not the "governor-at-large" and on Friday he again lambasted Corzine for raising his girth as an issue. And he said Corzine is a coward for the backhanded way he's raised the issue.
"My big complaint with the governor is that I wish he would just be a man, man up, and tell me hey, I think you're fat," Christie said. "If that's what he thinks then he should tell me that and let's have a conversation about it."
But Corzine on Friday refused to "man up."
"I don't give a hoot about his weight. What I do care about is abuse of power," Corzine said.
Corzine's commercials do "give a hoot" about Christie's weight -- and they're not very subtle.
"Christie threw his weight around as U.S. Attorney and got off easy," goes one add.
Christie was disappointed in Corzine's response.
"He instead continues to hide and to lie and that's not what a leader is supposed to do. It's beneath the job that he holds and that's why on Nov. 3 we're going to let him get another job," Christie said.
Corzine continued to claim Christie is throwing his weight around, but he never actually said the word "weight."
"How many of your listeners drive down a one-way street, hit somebody on a motorcycle? That guy goes to the hospital for four or five days and the person going the wrong way down a one-way street doesn't get a ticket," Corzine said.
The governor on Friday broke ground for a shopping mall in Bayonne. Christie went on a bus tour and campaigned with former mayor Rudy Giuliani, who praised the former U.S. Attorney for his political corruption probes.
"He is somebody who got the bad guys over and over again, Republicans and Democrats," Giuliani said.
Right now this race is too close to call. A new poll has Corzine at 44 percent and Christie at 43, but when independent Chris Daggett is factored in it's Christie 41 and Corzine 39.
Translation: It could take days to declare a winner, because if it's this close all 170,000 absentee ballots would need to be counted.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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