Christie is calling for across-the-board tax cuts and deeper spending cuts to breathe new life into the state's economy -- winning the support of conservative supply-side tax-cutter Steve Forbes.

Still, you can't count Corzine out, not with his vast fortune and the hope that the economy may rebound somewhat over the next five months.

But property-tax anger runs deep, and Corzine's support among independents is especially weak. Christie leads him by 50 percent to 31 percent among that group of voters.

"Corzine came in as the wizard of Wall Street, yet he has incredibly mismanaged the finances of this state," Christie campaign strategist Mike DuHaime told me. "I think he's going to be judged on his record, and no amount of money that he puts into this race will hide that failed record."

The GOP's chances will depend to a large extent on the political climate this fall and whether Obama's trickle-down public-works projects will show some improvement in the economy -- or fall victim to only anemic growth and stubbornly high unemployment rates.

But this time the Republicans have two strong, fiscally conservative candidates who clearly can appeal across party lines. If both of them can score this fall, it will go a long way toward slowing their party's precipitous decline and show there is life in the GOP yet.

That will give Republicans a leg up in the 2010 midterm elections when the party out of power usually gains seats in Congress. But it also stands to pick up more governorships among seven open contests to come. Four of them are in the Republican red states of Oklahoma, Wyoming, Kansas and Tennessee.

This is why Rothenberg said the "Republicans' best hope for regaining some territory may well be in gubernatorial races."