Corzine to Christie: Hey, Sorry About That Fat Ad

He's so remorseful it only took six weeks to figure out it may have been a bit insensitive.

Gov. Jon Corzine said tonight that it may have been a "good idea" to use different wording in a campaign commercial that spawned accusations he was calling Chris Christie overweight.

Corzine, speaking on CNN's "The Situation Room," defended the advertisement that said Christie "threw his weight around" to get out of traffic tickets while U.S. attorney. The ad, which showed unflattering images of Christie's girth, sparked a backlash against Corzine after it was written up in the New York Times.

Corzine said the word choice diverted attention from the real issue at hand, "the abuse of power in that office."

"How many people can abuse their power, abuse their office by flashing their credentials, throw their weight around, however you want to say it?" Corzine said.

Christie had criticized Corzine during an appearance on the same program last week, saying the governor was exploiting a decades-long battle with his weight.

"There's a lot of people out in New Jersey who have the same kind of struggles, and I think that kind of stuff is just beneath the office that the governor holds," Christie said.

Now that it appears sufficient damage has been done, Corzine can pretend he's sorry. What a sport. I'm dubious about that poll showing a nine-point lead after Corzine has been trailing for months and it may well be designed to depress turnout, but whatever the case, it may well be New Jersey voters prefer the corrupt Democrat machine. Consider six days ago a poll had it tied and last Thursday Christie was up a couple of points.

Meanwhile, some whispers about the surging independent candidate.