Debates were the cornerstone of Rob Andrews' Senate campaign, but he's not running for the Senate now
Those who followed the Democratic U.S. Senate primary heard it again and again: U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews complaining that incumbent Sen. Frank Lautenberg wouldn’t engage him in enough debates.

He got two – both shortly before election day. 

Now, Republican Senate candidate Dick Zimmer is sounding a similar theme, complaining that Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) won’t live up to the standard he set in 1982, when he wanted to debate Republican rival Millicent Fenwick in all 21 counties.

But don’t expect Andrews (D-Haddon Heights) to back up Zimmer on this one. 

“The Congressman supports Senator Lautenberg and has no further comment on the campaign,” said Andrews Chief of Staff Bill Caruso.

Democratic committees from the three counties that comprise the 1st Congressional District will meet tonight to put U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews back (D-Haddon Heights) on the ballot.

Pretty much everyone acknowledges that's a foregone conclusion.  Everyone, that is, except Andrews.

Andrews said that he doesn't take his candidacy for granted, and has reached out to over 500 county committee men and women from Camden, Gloucester and Burlington counties.

"All I know is I've made an effort to reach out to as many county committee people as I can," he said.  "I just think people want to be asked, and these are the people that have been most instrumental in my political success.  The committee people are really the heart and soul of the party, and I wanted to make it known that I respect their judgment."

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- With U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews set to make a decision about his political future this week, Camden County Republican Chairman Rick DeMichele said that 1st District Republican candidate Dale Glading is “prepared and ready to respond.”

“Dale has been running a great campaign, because he’s been running it without an opponent. It’s helped the voters see that he’s focused on them and not a phantom opponent,” said DeMichele. 

Andrews left his ballot spot for reelection to the House to his wife Camille when he decided to mount a primary challenge against incumbent Sen. Frank Lautenberg.  Although just a placeholder candidate, Camille Andrews easily won that primary.  but Speculation persisted, however, that Rob Andrews to return to the seat, if he lost his primary against Lautenberg. 

It’s tough to get anything on the record about Rep. Rob Andrews’s replacement from Camden County Democrats. 

Sitting in the New Jersey delegation’s front row at the Pepsi Center tonight, Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts (D-Camden) cautioned that the news that Andrews is interviewing with Goldman Sachs still doesn’t mean he’s definitely not running again, despite his own repeated refusal to do so.

“I’m not aware that Congressman Andrews has made a decision.”

The word among South Jersey Democrats is that Donald Norcross, the brother of one of the state’s most powerful political insiders, will replace Rob Andrews in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Sources say that the decision to send Norcross, the South Jersey AFL-CIO President and the Camden County Democratic Co-Chairman, to Congress appears nearly final – but that party leaders have little incentive to call a vote to ratify that choice anytime soon.

Media Advisory:
1st Congressional District Town Hall Meeting

BARRINGTON – Dale Glading, candidate for U.S. Congress in New Jersey’s 1st District, will be appearing at a town hall meeting in Pine Hill on Thursday, July 31. Glading and his opponent, Camille Andrews, have been invited by Hope Chapel to answer questions from attendees about topics concerning them in this year’s election.

Who: Dale Glading (confirmed), Camille Andrews (invited, status unknown)
Time: 7:30 – 9:00 PM
Date: Thursday, July 31, 2008
Location: Hope Chapel, 28 E. Branch Ave., Pine Hill, NJ

Camille Andrews’ Scandalous Spending

Inactive, non-responsive campaign spends
almost $43,000 with no public appearances

BARRINGTON – Dale Glading, candidate for U.S. Congress in New Jersey’s 1st District, criticized the placeholder campaign of Camille Andrews and her party boss, George Norcross III, for their big-spending ways.

“Camille Andrews has been invited on numerous occasions to appear with me in a public debate,” Glading said. “She has not had the courtesy to even respond to these invitations, much less appear, and now we find that she is raising nearly twice what the median household in our district earns in a year. This is the very model of what is wrong with politics today.”

Andrews reported raising just over $72,000 in her most recent FEC report, filed for July 15. She spent almost $43,000 of it on consultants and miscellaneous expenditures.

“To our knowledge, Andrews has made no public appearances, and we have not seen a single yard sign or piece of campaign literature bearing her name,” said Tim Saler, Glading’s campaign manager. “She has refused to appear before the voters, and yet somehow she has managed to spend almost as much on consultants – in three months – as the median household in our district earns in an entire year.”

“It’s just another example of how out of touch the machine politicians are,” Saler added. “Camille Andrews and Boss Norcross have spent more in three months on a fake candidate’s fake campaign than most people in the district make in a year. The people of our district are struggling to make ends meet; they can’t afford to write $2,300 checks to win Boss Norcross’ favor.”

“Being a part of the Norcross money machine is nice work, if you can get it,” Saler concluded. “But the rest of us need a Congressman too. That’s why Dale Glading is running, and that’s why he’s going to win.”

Boss Norcross Celebrates 100 Days
of Disenfranchising Democrats

Rob Andrews declared for Senate 100 days ago;
Boss Norcross’s machine yet to coronate candidate

BARRINGTON – Dale Glading, candidate for U.S. Congress in New Jersey’s 1st District, issued a statement today criticizing George Norcross and his political machine for 100 days of delay, obstruction, and undemocratic conduct.

“It's been 100 days since Rob Andrews declared his intentions to run against Frank Lautenberg for the U.S. Senate,” Glading began. “That’s more than enough time to select a replacement candidate, which is exactly what Democrats were supposed to have done in the primary on June 3.”

“However, Camille Andrews says she takes her marching orders from Boss Norcross and not from the people she supposedly wants to represent,” Glading continued. “That means Democrats have been disenfranchised, and the entire election process has been defrauded.”

“It’s about time that someone reminded the career politicians and their pay-to-play party bosses that the 1st Congressional District doesn't belong to them, it belongs to the people,” Glading added. “I am running to serve the people of the district. My opponent du jour puts her political party above the people and their best interests.”

“Enough is enough,” Glading concluded. “The people of our district deserve to be treated better instead of being taken for granted by arrogant bureaucrats and lifelong politicians.”

Again and Again, Rep. Rob Andrews (D-Haddon Heights) has said that he will not run for re-election to his House seat after challenging Sen. Frank Lautenberg in last month's primary.

But no matter how many times he says it, speculation - and in some cases hopefulness -- persists that Rob's name will be on the ballot instead of his wife, Camille, who is currently the Democratic placeholder.

Asked whether his promise not to run again was unequivocal, Andrews, who's held the seat since 1990, said, "Yes... as I've said since April."

In an effort to put an end to the speculation, PolitickerNJ.com asked Andrews if he would write and sign a letter to the Clerk of the House stating that, effective January 3, he would resign his seat no matter what. Such a letter would be reversible, but it could further dispel rumors of Andrews's impending return.

Andrews declined.

"It's not necessary or appropriate," he said.