Independent gubernatorial candidate Christopher Daggett is back with another advertisement that ruthlessly mocks Governor Corzine and Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie with impersonators.

The nine-minute internet spot features a mock debate. In it, Daggett – who is played by himself – comes off as the only candidate with specific government solutions, while an aloof Corzine looks at his hands and reads New York magazine, and an excitable Christie shifts between obsessing on jail, sleeping, bashing Corzine and even throwing his shoe.

Daggett, who laid out his tax plan at a press conference yesterday, tells viewers that “throughout this campaign, I’ve been the one candidate willing to tell you the truth and provide specifics as to what I would do as your Governor.”

Corzine’s impersonator sits back and lets his money do the talking.

“Sure I haven’t done most of the things I said I’d do four years ago, but Is pent a lo tof money wooing you then, and I’m showing you how much I care by spending a lot of money now,” he says. “And you’re always on my mind, except when I’m out of state or over the river in New York.”

Christie’s impersonator mentions that, although his wife and brother work in the finance industry, the similarity to Jon Corzine “ends there.”

“Many have criticized my campaign for lacking specifics, but I promise you I will get around to that sometime after the election,” he says.

We’ve all seen the polls from the upcoming New Jersey gubernatorial election. Democrat Jon Corzine and Republican Chris Christie are duking it out for the lead, but we have also started seeing the name “Chris Daggett” in third place – far behind but breaking into the double digits. So, naturally, we are starting to wonder who this guy is and what effects his renegade candidacy will have on the race.

On one hand, Daggett is a veteran of New Jersey politics and tied closely to former Gov. Tom Kean. He entered public service as Kean’s deputy chief of staff in 1982, then he became a Regional Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1984. He returned to the Kean administration in 1988 as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, then left public service in 1989. So, he should appeal primarily to moderate Republicans and drain votes from Christie, right? Well, yes, but it’s not that simple.

Daggett also has serious environmental creds, and has snatched the endorsement of the New Jersey Sierra Club away from Corzine. He’s also a big school-choice advocate. So – his campaign is centrist, but he’s running to Christie’s right on education and Corzine’s left on the environment.

In other words, he’s exactly the sort of oddball ideological crazy-quilt who can effectively campaign as a true independent – and he has the added benefit of being totally unconnected to the political scene for the the last twenty years. Not a bad start if you want to run a populist independent campaign. Personally, I think we need to stop treating this guy as a spoiler and start looking at him as a contender.

I wouldn’t have said that a month ago. Even though he polls in double digits despite having very low name recognition, I didn’t really see him gaining the recognition to compete. I mean, he has message that resonates and both of the major party candidates have issues – but let’s face it, Chris Daggett is a pretty boring, wonkish-type guy (not good if you want to play the renegade). So – why am I suddenly so bullish?

Three words: North Woods Adverstising.

North Woods is well known for irreverent political ad campaigns for unconventional candidates. Past clients include Jesse Ventura, Paul Wellstone, Ned Lamont, and the infamous (if unsuccessful) Kinky Friedman for Governor campaign. These people know a thing or two about taking candidates who have no business even competing and turning them into Senators and Governors. Now, they’ve taken on the task of turning milktoasty Chris Daggett and making him New Jersey’s newest superhero.

It’s a bit of a tall order – he doesn’t have Kinky’s panache and he can’t grind your bones to dust like Ventura – but it’s also not like he’s running against top-shelf opponents. Ventura had to beat Norm Coleman and Hubert Humphrey III. Daggett has to beat John Corzine, a governor who is hated by his constituents; and Chris Christie, who is losing ground to said hated governor.

Let’s not kid ourselves – Daggett is way back in the polls and he has bad name recognition. That said, he’s hitting the airwaves with a kick-butt TV ad, and it’s probably not his last. His numbers seem to be going up (one poll has him at 13%), and he already polls insanely high compared to his name recognition numbers. If he can get his name on TV enough to get more recognition, his poll numbers will go up – it’s that simple.

I wouldn’t vote for Chris Daggett, and I’m not saying that he will win. I am, however, saying that he can win if he does it right.

Independent candidate Chris Daggett, looking to boost his visibility in the New Jersey gubernatorial race, has launched a new must-watch TV ad using look-alikes to mock the two major party candidates.

The scene: an escalator breaks down, probably at one of the Garden State’s wonderful shopping malls. One passenger, Gov. Jon Corzine (D), is portrayed as an aloof, Wall Street Journal reading figure hoping someone will bail him out. Another, former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie (R), is shown as a rotund angry man shouting for help. “If someone doesn’t fix this right now, people going to jail. Jail I said, jail!” he bellows.

“When Democrats and Republican fail New Jersey, it’s up to us to take New Jersey back,” a narrator says. “Follow me,” Daggett himself says, leading people past the fake candidates, and directing fire men to help the other guys who “still need rescuing.”

The ad launched Sunday in the New York market, and will air on broadcast and cable during news programming and Yankees games, spokesperson Tom Johnson told RCP this morning. The ad is the brainchild of Bill Hillsman, who has a reputation for doing these type of “quirky” ads, for candidates like Jesse Ventura.

“We’re trying to raise our name recognition here, and we’ll be saying a lot more as the campaign goes on,” Johnson said.

Daggett is polling in the mid-single digits at this point, with many believing his role in the race will ultimately be that of spoiler. Unclear, though, is whether he draws more votes from Christie or Corzine.

“We don’t care who we hurt,” Johnson said. “People in New Jersey are understandably very upset with the state of affairs. … And neither party is willing or able to fix the fiscal situation.” Daggett is “in it to win it,” he adds.

The body doubles were cast by Hillsman through an open casting call. And they might appear again before the campaign ends.