Bill Bradley

One sign that rumors of Bill Bradley’s name on a list of potential vice presidential candidates could be accurate: one of Barack Obama’s top advisors is Anita Dunn, who was Bradley’s Senate Chief of Staff and later as chief strategist for Bradley’s 2000 presidential campaign.  Dunn believes in the value of the Bradley brand, and her seat at the Obama table is likely to get the former three-term Senator from New Jersey at least some consideration.

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Is Bill Bradley on Barack Obama's short list for Vice President?: Getty Images Photo
Politifax’s Nick Acocella reports this week that former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley is a top contender to become Barack Obama’s veep pick.

Acocella wrote that a former Democratic governor from another state told him “that the former Hall of Fame basketball player, the former Senator, the former presidential candidate, and the current post-politics intellectual is not only very high on Barack Obamas vice presidential short list but also the preferred choice of master strategist David Axelrod.”

While the bulk of the state’s prominent politicos came out for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, Bradley endorsed Obama in January.

Bradley sought the Democratic presidential nomination against Al Gore in 2000.

New Jersey Democrats haven’t had a real statewide primary in eight years – the last time was in 2000, when newcomer Jon Corzine beat former Governor Jim Florio’s South Jersey-based coalition in the U.S. Senate primary by a 58%-42% margin.

In the eleven primaries since Democrats last lost a U.S. Senate race in 1972, eight of them have been virtually uncontested. In 1978, basketball star Bill Bradley beat the establishment choice, State Treasurer Richard Leone, by a 59%-26% margin, with ex-State Sen. Alexander Menza receiving 9%. And in 1982, newcomer Frank Lautenberg won a ten candidate primary with 26% of the vote against former Reps. Andrew Maguire (23%) and Joseph LeFante (20%), and Princeton Mayor Barbara Boggs Sigmund (11%). Six other candidates – businessman Howard Rosen, former state Banking Commissioner Angelo Bianchi, Passaic County Freeholder Cyril Yannarelli, labor leader Frank Forst, Richard McAleer, and Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello combined for the remaining votes. Cresitello, who is running again this year, finished last with 4,295 votes statewide.

Bob Decheine probably wouldn’t know how to get from Haworth to Hawthorne, but he’s very much in control of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in New Jersey. His power comes from his day job as Chief of Staff to Congressman Steven Rothman, who has emerged as the leader of the state Obama campaign. And Rothman’s lead in a PolitickerNJ.com online poll of which New Jersey Democrat has the most political power today appears to be the result of Obama’s surge as a national candidate.

It was no surprise that U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman John Adler came out against Governor Jon Corzine’s plan to raise tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway.  The two Democrats plan to be on the ballot this November, and they’re not exactly interested in seeing this controversial state issue engulf their federal campaigns.

Former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley with state Sen. Loretta WeinbergIt was Bobby Kennedy in 1964 who inspired the young Bill Bradley to get into politics.

He would go through his hall of fame basketball career, but as Bradley writes in his latest book, "The New American Story," Kennedy ‘s leadership in the 1960s planted the seed for Bradley's life of public service following his career with the New York Knicks.

On Monday, the day before Election Day, the late Bobby Kennedy’s memory was alive as both sides - the Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama campaigns - appealed to his legacy with the help of his heirs.

Even as Sen. Ted Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy mounted the stage in the Meadowlands Monday to back up Obama, Bobby Kennedy, Jr., was preparing for a campaign appearance in Passaic on behalf of fellow New Yorker Clinton.

On the eve of the New Jersey presidential primary and with most polls showing his rival trying to maintain a slight lead here, Sen. Barack Obama made a last stop in the Garden State today, telling voters that his message of hope is not one of naivete but of common purpose.

As presidential candidate Barack Obama enters the IZOD Arena today to address a crowd of between 5-6,000, former Senator Bill Bradley, a candidate for president in 2000, says the sight of Obama makes him feel great.

"It's what America needs," Bradley says.