BOB MENENDEZ

Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, Mark Sanford, Rick Perry... Chris Christie?

That’s the association that U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Hoboken) and U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) tried to make today on a conference call with the press, during which they panned Christie, the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee, for saying he would not accept some money from the federal stimulus package during the primary campaign.  

“It is beyond my comprehension that Chris Christie… has aligned himself with these folks,” said Menendez.  

Now that the primary is over, Democrats are jumping on the conservative principles Christie espoused while fighting Republican rival Steve Lonegan in the primary.  Today, the focus was on comments he made during media appearances in March. 

Governors Palin, Jindal, Sanford and Perry – leading lights of the conservative movement -- have all famously attempted to reject some of the stimulus funds that were offered to their states.

On WNYC's "The Brian Lehrer" show, he  said he would “be reluctant to accept” portions of stimulus funds that had “strings attached from Washington, DC.”  In later appearances and campaign events, according to a Democratic State Committee press release sent out after the call, he said that he would reject portions of the money and that the conservative governors' positions "make sense." 

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan does a one-on-one with NJN’s Michael Aron this week on “On the Record,” airing Sunday at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., and Monday at 6:30 a.m.

On NJN’s “Reporters Roundtable with Michael Aron” (actually hosted this week by reporter Zachary Fink), statehouse reporters will discuss the public employee unions’ lawsuit over furloughs, the budget and the race for governor.  The show features Gannett’s Michael Symons, The AP’s Angela Delli Santi, The Record’s John Reitmeyer and The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Tamari, and airs tonight at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m.

Steve Adubato, Jr. hosts three shows airing this weekend.    

On Thirteen/WNET at 12:30 p.m., “Caucus: New Jersey with Steve Adubato” features FDU PublicMind Executive Director/pollster Peter Woolley and Star-Ledger reporter Brian Donahue, who hosts the Ledger Live internet broadcast.  Adubato also hosts part two of “Healthcare for Ethnic Families” on “Caucus’  ““Families in Focus” series on the same channel Sunday at 8 a.m, and will have U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez on “Inside Trenton,” co-hosted by Pi Roman, to talk about President Obama’s budget, the economic stimulus and the federal bailouts.  “Inside Trenton” airs Saturday at 8:30 a.m. on Thirteen and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. on NJN.

Assemblyman Joe Vas (D-Perth Amboy)

In any political weather, the name “Vas” on a campaign sign would inspire a particular dynamism, as in “you go” in the Spanish familiar form - and so the name went for 18 years as the formidable Joe Vas, Perth Amboy’s first Puerto Rican mayor, ran the waterfront town.

And yet now, nearly a year after he lost reelection locally, the danger for Assemblyman Joe Vas – same man, different title at stake - may be the inclination among a majority of committee people in this scrunch of blue collar and maritime Middlesex towns called the 19th District, to simply say “scram.”

Battered, Vas nevertheless doesn’t think it’s going to happen, and even appeared indomitable today, moments before heading into a caucus meeting of the Assembly Democrats, where he serves as deputy majority leader.

“Ask any committee member about me – not someone on the outside looking in and trying to rattle the cage – ask them about me and my district office,” he said.

Convinced the committee will see it his way at a party convention on March 25th at the Forge, Vas intends to stare down a cross-river challenge from South Amboy Mayor John T. O’Leary. Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) will also screen for one of two seats, but by all accounts, the powerful chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee should have little problem securing party support.

The same can’t be said of Vas – who’s had his fights, Barry Adler two years ago and Arlene Friscia before that, not to mention his first run for mayor when he came in as the underdog – who may yet be in his toughest.

U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez

It's good news for New Jersey's two United States Senators: both have positive job approval ratings, according to today's Quinnipiac University poll.  Frank Lautenberg is at 45%-38%, and Bob Menendez is at 42%-30% -- his highest mark since taking office in January 2006.  Menendez is up for re-election in 2012 and Lautenberg in 2014.

Will U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Hoboken) be called as a witness when the Justice Department prosecutes Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich?

Bob Menendez could be a witness in the federal criminal prosecution of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, according to Blagojevich's comments on MSNBC's The  Rachel Maddow Show tonight. "There are political negotiations and leveraging which is all very much part of the process," Blagojevich said.  "If those tapes were all heard you'd hear discussions that I had with people from five senior senators -- Senator Dick Durbin about facilitating Senator Menendez."

Read the transcript:

The new U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Kenneth Salazar, will visit New Jersey on Friday to join U.S. Senator Robert Menendez for a tour of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Menendez asked Salazar for a commitment to make the trip and examine the possibility of re-opening Liberty's crown and the closed portion of Ellis Island.

Mayor Cory Booker, center, with Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, left, and jazz pianist Eric Lewis

NEWARK – On the city’s 21st anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, 72 hours before Obama’s presidential inaugural, Newarkers at Grace Episcopal Church rejoiced in a ceremony of blended Obama-MILK symbolism that apparently left no room or reason for last minute retaliatory elbows thrown at the outgoing Bush administration. 

In short, the most joyfully considered and relevant transition of power here was from King to Obama. 

“I’m a child of the 1960s. There are still a few of us around, right, Mildred?” said Gov. Jon Corzine, finding Council President Mildred Crump’s smiling face in the crowd. “King defined our aspirations, and what we could seek to find. When he was killed in Memphis he was talking about a living wage. We have a long way to go, but at this moment, when Barack Obama is sworn in, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream will become a reality. 

“God bless the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the presidency of Barack Obama,” added Corzine, and moments later, Crump cried, “That’s my governor,” as people in the crowd lurched to their feet.

U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez today introduced New Jerseyan  Lisa Jackson, the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator nominee, at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. 

“She will not only be the first African-American Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, I believe she will be the best Environmental Protection Agency Administrator we have seen in this history of that department,” said Menendez.

State Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May) is not on the ballot this year, giving Republicans hope that they can pickup two Assembly seats in the 1st district.

The best shot for the Republicans to pick up a State Assembly seat is in the first district, where incumbents Nelson Albano and Matthew Milam will need to defend their seats without the benefit of State Sen. Jeff Van Drew at the top of the ticket.  They won in 2007 as the popular Van Drew was ousting GOP incumbent Nicholas Asselta by twelve points.  Albano, swept into office as Van Drew's running mate in 2005, won comfortably; Milam beat Republican Michael Donohue by 2,020 votes.  This is the first time in history that Cape May County is represented by all Democratic legislators.

Milam won't be helped by his admission that he parked in a handicapped spot last October.  The freshman Assemblyman initially sought a trial, alleging that the spot was not clearly marked.  This is not the most egregious offense for a New Jersey legislator in recent years, but it could make a decent mailer and cable TV ad.  Donohue is reportedly interested in running again.

District 1 may be among the most politically competitive in the state, although it has clearly trended Democratic over the last three years.  George W. Bush carried the district over John Kerry by 4,792 votes, and Barack Obama beat John McCain by 5,095.  Jon Corzine beat Doug Forrester by 2,984 in the 2005 gubernatorial race, and Tom Kean, Jr. defeated Robert Menendez for U.S. Senate in 2006 by 3,439.  All three of those races were about 53%-47%.