DENVER -- The reaction of the New Jersey delegation to Hillary Clinton’s speech tonight seemed almost uniformly positive. Most said she hit the right notes. All found her message a unifying one.

And perhaps the message that resonated most with the delegation was Clinton’s emphasis that her supporters weren’t just pulling for her, but a message that she said Barack Obama shares.

“I think Hillary Clinton really hit all the right notes. She did a magnificent job reminding everyone – she asked her supporters the right question: did you work so hard just for me or was it for all the causes that we believe in,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman, who was Barack Obama’s most prominent early backer in New Jersey. “If it was ‘not just for me,’ if it was for the causes we all believe in, then you must support Barack Obama as President.”

EDISON - Diners anchor what’s left of the train-track and warehouseEdison Mayor Jun Choi: Politicker file photo girded countryside in this sprawling town, fifth biggest in New Jersey, where Mayor Jun Choi drinks his coffee on a summer morning in one of the more recognizable roadside haunts called the Plaza Diner.

The suit and tie and modest demeanor belie a man restlessly at work, for if Choi was an enigmatic upstart when he hit the scene three years ago, he has built himself into a surging political force, three-fourths of the way into his first term.

"And I’m running again," he says with a smile.

The Edison-raised kid who came from the inner sanctum of Bill Bradley’s machine-bucking 2000 presidential campaign, former state Department of Education wonk, Choi remains the Democratic Party outsider in a party that still does not know quite what to do with him.

State Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex).: Politicker photo 

Nothing’s ever rock solid in politics, but the top of the Trenton power heap may contain more potential for movement than usual in the lead-up to Statehouse reorganization come January.

Two possible factors include Speaker Joseph Roberts’s (D-Camden) imminent departure from the Assembly, and the possibility that a newly crowned Obama administration would haul former Wall Street guru Gov. Jon Corzine out of New Jersey to crunch numbers in Washington.

In the thicket of this political drama, it’s difficult not to identify Senate President and former Governor Richard Codey (D-Essex) as a protagonist.

"I’m just a kid from Orange," Codey told a packed auditorium in his native Essex County town last month - but he’s also a former governor, who by all appearances liked the job and enjoyed great popularity.

Not thrilled with some of the budget provisions, Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) presided over its passage. 

TRENTON - With a majority arguing that the state pension system needs to get on better financial footing, the Senate tonight passed a package of state worker pension reforms by a vote of 30-8.

Sen. Stephen Sweeney of South Jersey introduced the controversial proposal in what he described as a bipartisan vein.

"I make my living as a union leader," Sweeney told the Senate chamber. "You can go out of business if you don't manage your funds properly. These are modest not major reforms."

U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, and John Rutkowski
PERTH AMBOY - A city of wrought iron fire escapes hugs the waterfront to east of the highways, where in a banquet hall behind the ZPA Cocktail Lounge on Saturday night, U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews goes from table to table with Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex).

The 100 people here representing the United Poles in America ZPA embrace Wisniewski as one of their own, the powerful chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, who grew up among them in Sayreville, and who’s represented them for over 12 years.

When the state Senate pasAFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanechsed paid family leave today by a vote of 22-16, AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech admitted he felt a particular sense of satisfaction after a hard, 12-year trudge.

"We're exhausted, but we're very happy," said Wowkanech, whose outfit numbers 1 million strong in New Jersey, and who remembers first trying to float the idea of paid family leave over a decade ago.

What the Senate passed today was a bill that enables employees to pay into a fund that would allow them to receive compensation while taking up to six weeks off from work to care for their own health or the health of a relative. According to the bill, "an amount not to exceed $25 million may be transferred from the state's temporary disability fund to the new account to support start-up costs." The program is designed to run on the monies employees pay into the funds, which amounts to about $33 apiece annually.

In an atmosphere of political cliches being bandied from one side of the party to the other, Democratic Sen. Barbara Buono today paraphrased a much-quoted poem by Irish bard Seamus Heaney as she reasserted her support for the presidential candidacy of Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Next month, two major Democratic county strongholds will see important internal party contests.

Mercer County is set to see a significant turnover during its March 15th county committee convention. Its Democratic Chairman, Richard McClellan, plans to step down shortly. Meanwhile, Freeholder Elizabeth Muoio will resign on March 1st, giving a number of Democratic hopefuls a chance to take over her seat. Failing to win Muoio’s seat, some of those candidates may challenge Democratic incumbents Tony Mack and Lucy Walter, whose terms expire this year.

In neighboring Middlesex County, Freeholder John Pulomena has resigned so that the board can appoint him to a position as county administrator, while Freeholder Camille Fernicola has said that she will not seek another term.

Middlesex County Democrat Barbara Buono takes over one of the state's most powerful posts: Senate Appropriations ChairAs expected, Senate President Richard Codey has named Barbara Buono as Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, with Paul Sarlo as Vice Chair. Sarlo, who sought the post after losing a race for Majority Leader to Stephen Sweeney, will be the Labor Committee Chairman.

Freshman Senator Jim Whelan, the former Mayor of Atlantic City, will be the Chairman of the Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee.