U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews is calling key local Democrats today to inform them he is planning to run for his congressional seat after months of vowing he would not. The veteran Camden County Democrat is expected to receive the full support of South Jersey Democratic leader George Norcross who according to a report on PolitickerNJ.com last week had told Andrews he would respect whatever decision he reached.

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. 

United States Rep. Frank Pallone, who was one of Rep. Rob Andrews’s harshest critics during his primary run, today introduced him at the Democratic delegation’s breakfast today as the “great congressman from South Jersey.”

Pallone said that he appreciated the way Andrews handled the aftermath of the primary against Frank Lautenberg, reaching out to mend relations as soon as the primary was over.

DENVER -- United States Rep. Rob Andrews made it to the convention yesterday, and while there are clearly still some frayed relations between himself and members of the party who were loyal to incumbent Sen. Frank Lautenberg, he said he’s been received warmly.

“It’s really been very positive, very heartwarming, very good,” he said. “I feel very comfortable here.”

This morning he ducked out of the delegation’s breakfast during Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-Illinois) address to pick up his credentials. There he ran into his recent campaign chairman, Michel Murphy.

Andrews has been the topic of much discussion among members of the New Jersey delegation. Despite the report that he’s negotiating for a job at Goldman Sachs, many say he’s still weighing returning to Congress. When asked today why people were still speculating about it, Andrews didn’t issue the blanket denials about returning to his house seat that he’s used since he entered the primary against Lautenberg.

“I’ll have something to say about that next week. This is a week to talk about the convention, not about me.”

DENVER --If U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-Haddon Heights) does go back on his pledge and returns to his House seat, don’t expect U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) to welcome him back.

When asked whether he would “forgive and forget” Andrews’s primary challenge against Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park), Pascrell said “I look at it this way, who am I to forgive anyone?”

It’s the scenario that won’t die, no matter how many times Andrews denies it.  South Jersey sources here at the convention continue to speculate that there’s a slight chance Andrews will return to the seat – the ballot spot for which is being held by his wife.  Even the revelation that Andrews is in job negotiations with Goldman Sachs hasn’t extinguished the idea. 

Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer: Politicker file photo

DENVER - The name of Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer often appears on people’s short lists for lieutenant governor in 2009.

Palmer doesn’t have a problem with that.

"I’m thinking about it," he told PoltiickerNJ.com, regarding attempting to land an under-card position on a ticket with Gov. Jon Corzine.

DENVER - South Jersey Democratic Party leader George Norcross would not speculate on the specific public future of U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-Haddon Heights), who’s due in at the Hotel Inverness this afternoon.

Andrews failed in his bid to oust U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) in the Democratic Primary earlier this year, and is now considering retiring to take a job at Goldman Sachs.

His wife, Camille, is holding his congressional seat amid talk out of South Jersey that Norcross’s younger brother, Donald, desires to make a run for the First Congressional District seat.

"What Rob and his family choose to do, I will support and advocate for his benefit," said Norcross. "Rob has to make that decision himself, and I don’t think he’s made that decision yet."

When U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews decided to wage a primary challenge against Sen. Frank Lautenberg, few politicians went after Andrews as hard as Rep. Frank Pallone did.

But Pallone (D-Long Branch) today indicated that, with Andrews (D-Haddon Heights) expected to depart from the House in January, the two will once again have a working relationship.

“I don’t know if it’s certain that he’s working for Goldman Sachs, but I assume he’s going to be involved in legislation and continue to be involved with Congress in some way, even though he’s not a congressman. I’ve worked with him for years, and will continue to,” said Pallone.

Glading Campaigns Across District
While Andrews & Norcross Schmooze in Denver

Citizen representative running for Congress
meets voters in all three counties, more than 10 towns

BARRINGTON – Dale Glading, candidate for U.S. Congress in New Jersey’s 1st District, is spending the week of the Democrats’ national convention in Denver campaigning throughout the district and meeting voters.

Glading has been running an aggressive grassroots campaign since January, meeting voters and making a personal connection the way our leaders did before highly paid consultants and television advertising.

“I want to meet as many voters as I can, face to face,” Glading said. “I don’t believe in running a campaign from a distance, allowing consultants to craft a made-for-TV message. I am a citizen representative, not a career politician, and I am going to run my campaign the way campaigns were meant to be run.”

The same, however, cannot be said for Rob Andrews and Don Norcross. They are busy rubbing elbows in Denver, wining and dining with the elite that have corrupted Washington and led our country down the wrong path.

In contrast with career politicians Andrews and Norcross, Glading is spending the week of the convention by meeting voters in all three counties of the 1st District and appearing in more than 10 towns. He campaigned on Sunday night in Sewell and Wenonah, Monday night in Palmyra, and will be visiting Winslow Township, Voorhees, Maple Shade, and other towns later in the week.

“The vast majority of voters I have met thus far on the campaign trail have been independents, the voters who ultimately determine who will be elected the next congressman from our district,” Glading added. “I have had an overwhelmingly positive response to my message of lower taxes and bringing real reform to Washington.”

“The fact is that you can’t send the same people from the same party and the same political machine down to Washington and expect anything to change,” Glading concluded. “The voters of the 1st District realize that in order to get the change they so desperately desire, they need to make a change in the people they send to represent them. That’s why we’re going to make history on November 4.”

U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and his niece, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg: Getty Images Photo

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