A 5-year-old boy helmed the state of New Jersey on Wednesday, thanks to a viral video and a kind-hearted governor.
Most politicos adopt a stiff upper lip in the face of defeat, but scribble-in candidate and toddler Jesse Koczon sobbed when naysayers dashed his political dreams in 2009.
What's making you so sad? his mother, Dawn Koczon, asks him in a now-famous video, shot in the family car on the way home from the local polling place, where 3-year-old Jesse was denied both the vote and the top seat in Trenton.
'Cause everyone tells me that I'm too small to be the governor of New Jersey, cries Jesse. The candidate, who hails from Old Bridge, voiced his sob-laden concession speech from his car seat.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve2nTIK8H5A&feature=player_embedded[/media]
America's Funniest Home Videos awarded the family a $10,000 prize in December. In the video, which went viral last week after Jesse's uncle posted it on YouTube, Koczon tries to comfort her son. She suggests Jesse run for office after college. He declares he's already in college.
He also says, in response to a query from Dawn, that he'll raise property taxes.
Koczon and her husband, Jon, had no options but to console their son.
Gov. Chris Christie, real governor of New Jersey and father of four, wields the power not only to line-item veto the state budget, but also, on occasion, to grant wishes. When he saw the video, he was compelled to act.
I've been in that scene when you have your kids just going wild in the back of the car, he said in a video released by his staff. I related to it as a dad. I actually went home and I showed Mary Pat the video on YouTube. ... She said, 'You're inviting them in, right?' I said, 'Absolutely.'
Christie's first response to Jesse came via Twitter on March 31.
Don't worry Jesse, people gave plenty of reasons why I couldn't be governor, though being too small wasn't one of them, Christie wrote.
Christie took his support a step further Wednesday, inviting the Koczon family to the State House in Trenton and naming Jesse, now 5, governor for a day. Jesse's twin, Brandon, served as his brother's lieutenant governor.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLWqVVJeRWA&feature=player_embedded[/media]
The boys checked out the governor's desk and held their first and last press conference, posted on YouTube by the governor's staff.
Lt. Gov. Brandon focused on technology during the press conference, noising off into the microphone to the extent that Christie joked, Someone control the lieutenant governor!
Two years after emotionally declaring his desire to run for office, an older, wiser Jesse reversed his earlier position on property taxes and conceded he was probably too young for the job.
I'm just tiny. When I'm like 30 or 48 years old I can be the governor.
Link: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/07/five-year-old-youtube-sensation-jesse-koczon-named-governor-of-n/
Most politicos adopt a stiff upper lip in the face of defeat, but scribble-in candidate and toddler Jesse Koczon sobbed when naysayers dashed his political dreams in 2009.
What's making you so sad? his mother, Dawn Koczon, asks him in a now-famous video, shot in the family car on the way home from the local polling place, where 3-year-old Jesse was denied both the vote and the top seat in Trenton.
'Cause everyone tells me that I'm too small to be the governor of New Jersey, cries Jesse. The candidate, who hails from Old Bridge, voiced his sob-laden concession speech from his car seat.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve2nTIK8H5A&feature=player_embedded[/media]
America's Funniest Home Videos awarded the family a $10,000 prize in December. In the video, which went viral last week after Jesse's uncle posted it on YouTube, Koczon tries to comfort her son. She suggests Jesse run for office after college. He declares he's already in college.
He also says, in response to a query from Dawn, that he'll raise property taxes.
Koczon and her husband, Jon, had no options but to console their son.
Gov. Chris Christie, real governor of New Jersey and father of four, wields the power not only to line-item veto the state budget, but also, on occasion, to grant wishes. When he saw the video, he was compelled to act.
I've been in that scene when you have your kids just going wild in the back of the car, he said in a video released by his staff. I related to it as a dad. I actually went home and I showed Mary Pat the video on YouTube. ... She said, 'You're inviting them in, right?' I said, 'Absolutely.'
Christie's first response to Jesse came via Twitter on March 31.
Don't worry Jesse, people gave plenty of reasons why I couldn't be governor, though being too small wasn't one of them, Christie wrote.
Christie took his support a step further Wednesday, inviting the Koczon family to the State House in Trenton and naming Jesse, now 5, governor for a day. Jesse's twin, Brandon, served as his brother's lieutenant governor.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLWqVVJeRWA&feature=player_embedded[/media]
The boys checked out the governor's desk and held their first and last press conference, posted on YouTube by the governor's staff.
Lt. Gov. Brandon focused on technology during the press conference, noising off into the microphone to the extent that Christie joked, Someone control the lieutenant governor!
Two years after emotionally declaring his desire to run for office, an older, wiser Jesse reversed his earlier position on property taxes and conceded he was probably too young for the job.
I'm just tiny. When I'm like 30 or 48 years old I can be the governor.
Link: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/07/five-year-old-youtube-sensation-jesse-koczon-named-governor-of-n/
