"Federal regulators have discovered that hundreds of millions of dollars in customer money has gone missing from MF Global in recent days, prompting an investigation into the brokerage firm....The recognition that money was missing scuttled at the 11th hour an agreement to sell a major part of MF Global to a rival brokerage firm. MF Global had staked its survival on completing the deal. Instead, the New York-based firm filed for bankruptcy on Monday.... The discovery that money could not be located might simply reflect sloppy internal controls at MF Global. It is still unclear where the money went. At first, as much as $950 million was believed to be missing, but as the firm sorted through its bankruptcy, that figure fell to less than $700 million by late Monday." READ MORE

At some point this summer the White House asked New Jersey Senate President Dick Codey, the state's most popular politician, if he would consider running for governor in place of Jon Corzine, who was down fourteen points in the polls and being pressured considering dropping out of the race. Corzine ultimately decided to stick it out and Codey backed him up. Now Corzine will sit around waiting for a vacant ambassadorship while Codey is about to be deposed from his leadership role by Senator Steve Sweeney. New Jersey Democrats: now 50% less ruthlessly efficient than previous!

I'm not sure what to say about the New Jersey race, where Chris Christie defeated incumbent Governor Jon Corzine by about 49-44, with independent candidate Chris Daggett pulling down a disappointing 5% of the vote. The Star-Ledger's Paul Mulshine has an interesting column that argues Christie, because of his unwillingness to offer specifics during the campaign, will take office without any real mandate and face a hostile legislature, but as for the campaign itself, I guess the real lesson here is that if the electorate already hates your guts and wants you gone it doesn't matter how many times you remind it that your opponent is a gigantic steel drum of adipose tissue. Put that one in the books with the incumbent rule.

A new poll gives New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine a nine point lead over Republican challenger Chris Christie, which seems kind of insane given that every other poll shows the race dead even or with Corzine having a slight edge. "If these numbers are real I'll eat my hat," Christie did not say, but it would be pretty funny if he did.

With two weeks remaining until New Jersey's gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie's lead-which was at one point in the double digits-has completely evaporated; the latest poll finds him completely even with Governor Jon Corzine. Whether or not Christie can pull it out-and none of the trends are in his favor-there's a valuable lesson here that future challengers running against incumbents, no matter how unpopular, need to learn: It is not enough to simply be "the other guy." You also have to stick to the salad. You fat fuck. present a detailed and credible plan that explains how your policies will be more effective than your opponent's. It's that simple.

"Am I bald?"
-New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, responding to an editorial board's question asking if he thought opponent Chris Christie was "fat." [Via]

The Times takes a look at the effect that New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine's ad about rival Chris Christie's massive blimposity is having on the electorate. With polls showing the beleaguered incumbent finally tied with his challenger, it is pretty clearly working. READ MORE

The happiest words among New Jersey Democrats today are "margin of error," because that what incumbent Governor Jon Corzine is well within, according to the latest poll. Considering that everyone in New Jersey still hates him, how has Corzine managed to pull even with Republican Chris Christie, who just a month ago had a double-digit lead? Well, a couple of things are working against the former U.S. Attorney: His refusal to give specifics on how he'd fix the budget shortfall during the first debate made him look dishonest. Independent candidate Chris Daggett offers a good alternative for those who can't stand Corzine but aren't inclined to pull the lever for a Republican. Corzine's barrage of ads against his opponent seem to have done the job of dragging his approval rating down. Also hurting Christie: excessive tubbiness. Looks like Corzine may get that presidential visit after all.

"Christopher Christie is still ahead in the Garden State, but when he looks in the rear-view mirror, he sees the bearded visage of Gov. Jon Corzine getting closer," says Quinnipiac's Maurice Carroll of a recent poll showing the incumbent governor down by a mere four points among likely voters. Given both of these guys' driving records I don't know that that's the metaphor I would have gone with, but still: Excitement! It's a real race now. But then it was always going to be: The numbers generally tighten up in the Democrats' favor as New Jersey elections draw to a close. Still, can the beleaguered Corzine really actually beat his tubby opponent? Maybe the governor should run a positive ad this time, lauding Christie for his staunch fandom of the Garden State's favorite musical son: It could just be a shot of Christie looking fat, with the slogan "Christ Christie: New Jersey's BIGGEST Springsteen fan."