Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer: Christie Camp Withheld Sandy Aid Over Rockefeller Land Development Deal

If you missed this morning's episode of Up w/ Steve Kornacki earlier today you missed a startling, detailed account of alleged corruption within the Christie administration.

Democratic Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer (a Christiecrat), alleged that Chris Christie and his administration withheld much needed Hurricane Sandy relief aid from the city because she refused to support "a lucrative redevelopment plan favored by the governor".

Zimmer stated that Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Richard Constable, Christie’s community affairs commissioner, delivered messages on the governor's behalf saying that if she did not support a land redevelopment deal between the Rockefeller Group and the City of Hoboken then Sandy relief aid would not be forthcoming.

You have to watch it all to fully appreciate what Kornacki was reporting this morning and understand why now this may be much bigger news and more damaging to Chris Christie and his political future than anything that may be unearth in the still unfolding Bridgegate scandal.

The Monmouth University Polling Institute invites you to…

“A Conversation with…”
prominent national political commentators


The series kicks off with two well-known cable television personalities
who will discuss what’s at stake in this year’s national election.


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Monday, October 1, 7:00 pm – Wilson Hall

A Conversation with … MONICA CROWLEY

Monica Crowley is a host and political and foreign affairs analyst for the Fox News Channel, and the host of the nationally syndicated radio program, The Monica Crowley Show. She has also been a regular panelist on The McLaughlin Group and an anchor on MSNBC. She is the author of The New York Times bestseller, What The (Bleep) Just Happened? The Happy Warrior’s Guide to the Great American Comeback. She served as Foreign Policy Assistant to former President Richard Nixon from 1990 until his death in 1994, and wrote two bestsellers about her experiences, Nixon Off the Record and Nixon in Winter. She has also written for the New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and Newsweek. She holds two Master's degrees and a doctorate from Columbia University.

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Thursday, October 18, 7:00 pm – Wilson Hall

A Conversation with … STEVE KORNACKI

Steve Kornacki is a co-host of MSNBC’s ensemble show The Cycle, which airs weekday afternoons. He is also Salon.com’s senior political writer. Before that, he wrote for the New York Observer and covered Congress for Roll Call. He also spent three years in New Jersey, chronicling the state’s political world for PolitickerNJ.com and co-hosting Power & Politics, a television weekly show on News12 New Jersey. His work has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, Boston Globe, Daily Beast and Capital New York. He is a native of Groton, Massachusetts and graduated from Boston University.

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Monmouth University Polling Institute’s “A Conversation with…” series gives students, faculty, and the larger community the opportunity to interact with high-profile political figures from the national stage. The discussions are led by Polling Institute director Patrick Murray, with a period for audience Q & A.

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Obama Takes Reagan's Path

"Against the backdrop of something approaching national panic," Barack Obama's inauguration next week is drawing many comparisons "to Franklin Roosevelt's at the height of the Depression" writes Steve Kornacki.

"But from a political standpoint, a more meaningful parallel can be drawn between the president-elect and Ronald Reagan as he prepared to assume the presidency 28 years ago. Although they are ideological opposites, there are meaningful similarities between the appeal both men demonstrated as candidates and the circumstances under which they won election."

Another parallel from Mike Allen: "One of President Reagan's first moves when he came to town: dinner with George F. Will."

-Political Wire

Wall Street Disaster Is an Opportunity for Obama

The New York Observer's Steve Kornacki writes today that "The chaos on Wall Street that exploded over the weekend – and caused to Dow to drop by more than 500 points on Monday alone – is, obviously, bad news for just about everyone. But strictly in terms of the looming election, now fewer than 50 days away, the timing may be something of a gift to Barack Obama and the Democrats, who have watched in bafflement since late August as their once-dominant political position has eroded.

Long before this week, the economy had already emerged as the top issue – by far – on the minds of voters. Now, Americans will be inundated with stories about the potentially devastating fallout from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the sale of Merrill Lynch and the perilous footing of A.I.G. – thereby focusing their attention even more on the economy and their own financial security."