DICK ZIMMER

Former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer would like to find his way to the U.S. Senate.  But first, he wants to find incumbent Senator Frank Lautenberg.

Frustrated at the Senior Senator’s refusal to engage him in any debates just yet, Zimmer has decided to embark on a diner tour where he’ll ask patrons if they’ve seen or heard from Lautenberg, and to give out some tongue-in-cheek campaign literature. 

“A number of newspaper editorials have asked, ‘Where is Senator Lautenberg hiding?’  I intend to help find our missing Senator by handing out missing-person flyers at diners throughout New Jersey,” said Zimmer. 

Former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer: Politicker file photoWhile former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer praised Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) for suspending his campaign activities and bowing out of Friday’s debate, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate stopped short of temporarily ending his own campaign.

"This is a very perilous time for the American financial system and for the financial security of American families," Zimmer said in a statement. "I commend Senator McCain for putting the nation’s interest ahead of his political ambitions to work with his fellow Senators from both parties on finding a solution to the current crisis.

Dennis Shulman in Denver last month.: Politicker photo 

They say there are about two or three enduring storylines in world literature, and over the last year there have proved to be two or three storylines in New Jersey politics..

In the U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett/Dennis Shulman Fifth Congressional District contest, the Shulman campaign argues that it’s the Ellen Karcher story all over again, with Garrett receiving a $41,000 tax break on a piece of land that yields approximately $700 per year in income.

In a television ad that went up today on Channel 5 in the district, Shulman charges that by enjoying the tax loophole, Garrett proves he is just another "corrupt politician."

Some Republicans think former State Sen. Richard LaRossa is preparing for another political comeback bid, this time as a candidate for State Assembly in the 15th district against Democratic incumbents Bonnie Watson Coleman and Reed Gusciora.  This week, LaRossa announced that he was filing an ethics complaint against Gusciora for sending out a political press release attacking GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin from his legislative office.  He also came to the aid of Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose after a Democratic staffer questioned her intellectual capacity.

If he's re-elected, Frank Lautenberg would be 90 at the end of his next term: Getty Images Photo
Three months after former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer held a press conference and said he would not make age an issue in his U.S. Senate run against incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg, Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson stood in the same State House conference room and brought the issue front and center, making repeated references to the 84-year-old Senator’s senior status.

“If you’re too afraid, too incompetent or too old to campaign, then you’re surely not fit for six more years in the U.S. Senate,” said Wilson. “It’s time to let voters decide whether you’re up to serving in the United States Senate until you’re 90 years old.”

Wilson called the press conference to attack Lautenberg for the way he’s run his campaign – or rather, his lack of a campaign.

Lautenberg, said Wilson, has been missing on the campaign trail, making only a public appearance here and there while giving the media little time for questions and refusing to accept one of the roughly 20 debate invitations that have been issued so far.

By not engaging his opponent or the voters on the issues, Wilson said, Lautenberg has brought attention to his age by raising the question of whether he really is up to the task of serving another six year term, at the end of which he’ll have just turned 91. He contrasted Lautenberg’s public schedule with U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.), 78, who although not up for reelection has been holding town hall meetings on behalf of John McCain in every one of his state’s counties.

- Presidential Candidates Agree to Three Prime Time Debates, Lautenberg Is AWOL -

Yet another poll shows John McCain closing in on Barack Obama in The Garden State.

A Strategic Vision poll of 800 likely voters released today shows the Barack Obama/Joe Biden presidential ticket leading John McCain/Sarah Palin by a margin of 47%-43%.  

Today's poll comes on top of several recent polls that show McCain closing in on Obama, though September polls historically show Republicans closer in New Jersey.

Two independent polls released today on the race for United States Senator offer conflicting data on the question of Frank Lautenberg's ability, at age 84, to serve another six-year term: more than half the voters polled by Quinnipiac University say yes, while less more than two-thirds of Monmouth University/Gannett poll voters disagree.  Both polls have Lautenberg leading Republican Dick Zimmer by about the same margin.  Patrick Murray, who runs the Monmouth/Gannett poll, offers an explanation in his blog, which is worth the read.

Some good news for Republicans: Dick Zimmer leads Frank Lautenberg 51%-36% in a combined region of Atlantic, Ocean and Monmouth counties, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.  That helps GOP congressional candidate Christopher Myers, who must win a huge plurality in Ocean to beat State Sen. John Adler for the open third district House seat.  It's also helpful to Republican countywide candidates in Atlantic and Monmouth, areas that have been trending Democratic in recent elections.

Two thirds of New Jerey voters don't know who Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer is
A new Quinnipiac University poll released early this morning shows Democrat Frank Lautenberg with a nine-point lead, 48%-39% among likely voters, over Republican Dick Zimmer in the race for U.S. Senate.  Quinnipiac was at 48%-41% last month.  Lautenberg has had double digit leads in several independent polls released over the last week, including a ten-point lead in a Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll also released this morning. 

Lautenberg leads despite a "lukewarm" 44%-38% apprival rating, and a feeling by 54% of voters, including half of Democrats, that the 84-year-old Senator is too old to serve six more years.  But voters still don't know Zimmer, who served in Congress from 1991 to 1997.  He has a 24%-8% favorable rating, and two-thirds of the voters don't know who he is.