Nervous W.H. intervened in N.J. race; top Obama adviser now in charge

By BEN SMITH | 10/29/09 5:09 AM EDT

One of President Barack Obama’s key political advisers has become the central strategist in New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine’s bruising campaign for re-election, a race the White House desperately wants to win to avert the consequences for its own agenda of a Republican winning in a traditionally Democratic state.

The White House was so concerned about Corzine's chances during the summer that Corzine's aides feared the first-term governor was being pressured to step aside for a stronger candidate.

Those fears turned out to be groundless, but were part of the reason Corzine hired Joel Benenson, who has helped impose discipline on a struggling campaign and crystallize Corzine’s aggressive attacks on the character of his Republican opponent, former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie.

The race is seen as extremely close, complicated by the presence of a third candidate, Chris Daggett. For the White House, it’s a crucial symbolic prize. With Democrat Creigh Deeds running far behind his Republican rival in Virginia, the New Jersey race – once believed to be hopeless for Corzine – is now seen as the White House’s best bet to make the 2009 election cycle a political wash and to calm the nerves of congressional Democrats approaching the crucial 2010 midterm elections.

Both Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden have campaigned for Corzine in the state, and Obama has cut television and radio ads for the governor. This Sunday, on the final weekend of the campaign, the president is returning to New Jersey for two events to try to pull Corzine over the finish line.

Benenson, the chief pollster in Obama’s 2008 campaign, along with David Plouffe, his former campaign manager, and a handful of others, make up a political inner circle that still meets regularly with White House senior advisor David Axelrod.

Just as Bill Clinton once dispatched his political team to take over troubled campaigns from New York to Israel, Benenson’s arrival in New Jersey has stirred perceptions of a White House takeover – something he flatly denied.

“I’m known as a pretty strong New Jersey pollster and all [his hiring] says is that the campaign thought that I could add some value at a time when they felt they needed to make a move,â€