 "Photo: Andrew Howard / Photography Editor")
 "Photo: Andrew Howard / Photography Editor")
 "Photo: Dan Bracaglia / Associate Photography Editor")
 "Photo: Dan Bracaglia/ Associate Photography Editor")
HOLMDEL — President Barack Obama joined Gov. Jon S. Corzine and more than 17,000 people today at a re-election rally in the PNC Bank Arts Center.
Trailing Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie in a recent Quinnipiac University poll by 12 points, Corzine elicited the support of the popular president to help energize his campaign.
“It’s good to be back in New Jersey,” Obama said to open his speech, while the crowd roared to decibel levels.
Obama spent much of his time at the podium praising Corzine for his accomplishments as governor, including his reduction in state property taxes, reforming education and planning economic recovery.
“Behind me stands a man who wakes up everyday and thinks about your future and the future of New Jersey, and that man is Jon Corzine,” Obama said.
After commending the governor for his leadership while in office, Obama expressed his optimism for recovering from the state of the economy and the need for more clean energy and higher-paying jobs.
“I am absolutely confident we will weather this economic storm,” the president said.
He noted the need to restructure the economy once it rebounds.
“We have to lay a new foundation that will allow the United States of America to thrive and compete in the global economy,” Obama said.
The president addressed his plans for health care reform and stressed the need for immediate change.
“The fact is that health care affects the financial well-being and security of every single American — even those who have health insurance,” Obama said.
Obama denounced the critics of his plan and the many who cringe at its price tag.
“We have reached a point where inaction is not an option,” Obama said.
Corzine spoke before the president, lauding Obama for his leadership and his pursuit of the common goal of “quality, affordable health care reform for all.”
“With a partner in the White House, there is no limit on what we can accomplish,” Corzine said.
The governor followed suit with jabs at his critics and — though unmentioned — his rival Christie.
“The same people who failed miserably in the White House now want you to hand over the keys to the Statehouse,” Corzine said, as the crowd booed loudly.
Representatives from Christie’s campaign did not respond to e-mail and phone interview requests before press time. But Christie posted a video on his Web site extending a “warm New Jersey welcome” to the president.
“Last year when you ran for president, your campaign gave people great hope that change could come to America,” Christie said in the video. “But your election didn’t end the people’s hunger for change here in New Jersey. They know that to get the change we need in New Jersey, we have need to start by changing governors.”
Christie said he would invite the president back to the state once he was sworn as New Jersey’s chief in January.
Christie has proved a tough opponent for the incumbent Corzine, with all polls showing the governor down anywhere from 7-13 percent, said Associate Director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics John Weingart.
There is a hope in the Corzine campaign that some of Obama’s popularity rubs off on the governor, Weingart said.
“The president’s visit will get a lot of attention and I think the chances are good that Corzine will pick up a couple of points in the polls,” Weingart said. “Whether that is lasting or not, nobody can know.”
Weingart said Corzine hopes to gain campaign workers and enthusiasm among supporters and potential supporters through this rally.
But will he win in the fall?
“Could go either way; it could be close, and it could be that one candidate gets momentum and charges ahead by a sizeable margin,” Weingart said, noting it is still very early in the election.
The original location for the rally, set for Voorhees Mall on the College Avenue campus, was moved because of space and security issues, said President of the Rutgers University Democrats Alex Holodak.
Holodak, who was involved in the planning of the event at the University, said the Secret Service was not comfortable with the security situation at the Voorhees Mall.
Space too quickly became scarce at the Voorhees Mall site, as 52,000 ticket requests were placed within two days, Holodak said.
Rutgers Stadium posed a security issue for Secret Service with expansion construction going on in the end zone, Holodak said.
“They really had no choice but to find a venue that was available and had a very good layout for security and getting in and out and that would accommodate more people,” Holodak said. “It was a heartbreak; we just really wanted it to be at Rutgers, but it is understandable why and we just decided we will take Rutgers to the PNC Bank Arts Center.”
The move 20 miles south didn’t deter University students and affiliates from attending the event and the chance to see the president.
“Obama is the big thing that sold me on this and made me come,” said Jersey City resident Adrian Caballero, an incoming School of Arts and Sciences first-year student.
South Brunswick resident Lauren Mayer relished the opportunity to see the governor, but agreed Obama was the main draw for her.
“I wanted to see Obama so I can tell my grandkids that I saw the president of the United States,” she said.
