JOE ALBRIGHT: Pendulum of public votes is swinging in favor of Corzine
JAMES AHEARN: A ‘regular guy' as odd man out
ALFRED DOBLIN: Obama is coming to New Jersey for Obama
JAMES FLACHSENHAAR:Our crusade for access to public records
BOB INGLE: How will history judge Corzine?
JIMMY MARGULIES: Ferriero Trial
PETE MCCARTHY: No election in Washington Township doesn't keep Republicans from being active
TOM MORAN: N.J. labor unions' support helps Gov. Corzine on Election Day
TOM MORAN: Chris Christie revamps his pitch to become N.J. governor
PAUL MULSHINE: It's official: Christie lied about Lonegan and rebates
PAUL MULSHINE: Two-party system is a waste, a fraud and an abuse
ALAN SEPINWALL: Cory Booker rewarded by trip to face Conan O'Brien - Sepinwall on TV
FRED SNOWFLACK: The empty chair was in the middle
CHARLES STILE: Trial lays bare the underbelly of N.J. politics
CHARLES STILE: Corzine confident in staying the course
JOAN WHITLOW: New Jersey governor candidates lack facts as they debate mammogram coverage

Tom Moran will return to the Star-Ledger as a political columnist eighteen months after he left the state's largest newspaper to take a communications job with PSE&G, New Jersey's largest utility company.  Moran was part of the Star-Ledger team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for their coverage of Gov. James E. McGreevey's resignation. 

Moran's comeback means that the Star-Ledger will go back to analysis pieces that have been largely absent since he left the paper in February 2008.  Only Paul Mulshine, who writes from a conservative viewpoint, has been noticeable as a political columnist.  Since Moran's departure, a trio of columnists for The Record, Charles Stile, Alfred Doblin, and Herb Jackson, have effectively dominated the political opinion pages in the New Jersey print media.

Columns by Alfred Doblin, Charles Stile, Augie Torres and Bob Braun are must-reads today.  Don’t miss them:

• Doblin: It's not the state that is broken
• Stile: A body blow to Corzine’s reelection
• Political Insider: Top of the ticket's answer: Resign now
• Braun: Accused Jersey politicians 'breathtakingly stupid'

Some pundits say that Gov. Jon Corzine benefits from the Republican primary between Steve Lonegan and Chris Christie.

Nobody really wanted Steve Lonegan out of the Republican gubernatorial primary, so speculation that the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission will leave Lonegan alone makes Democrats, some Republicans, and Charles Stile happy.  That's one reason it's good that New Jersey is not the sort of place where campaign finance regulators were influenced by political agendas,

Democrats surely like having Lonegan challenging the GOP front runner, former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie.  Backers of Governor Jon Corzine seem to think it helps them if Lonegan pushes Christie to the right in a primary, and that a primary delays Christie's focus on the general election until June.

Christie supporters seem to have divergent views on the politics of pushing Lonegan out of the race.  Some say that Christie, who has not won an election since 1994 and has lost his last two Republican primaries, will benefit from a competitive race for the nomination. They also say that pushing Lonegan out without the chance to compete might make it more difficult for Christie to win the votes of Lonegan supporters in the general election. But others believe Christie would be better served by clearing the field (which assumes none of the other five GOP candidates will qualify for matching funds) and getting an early start to the general election against Corzine.

Mark Sheridan is the Counsel to the Republican State Committee, and to Chris Christie's campaign for Governor.

Chris Christie won't be talking about the public release of e-mails between Governor Jon Corzine and his former girlfriend, CWA President Carla Katz.

"You won't hear anything about Carla Katz and e-mails out of me and or out of my campaign," Christie told The Record's Charles Stile in a ‘back-of-his campaign bus interview last week.' "There are too many important issues to be discussing than to be discussing that ... it's the governor's issue. If there is anybody that should be talking about it, it should be him, if he wants to. If he doesn't, that's his business. I'm not going to bring it up."

If Christie keeps to his word and won't let him campaign talk about the Corzine/Katz e-mails, how will that affect Mark Sheridan, who is the counsel to the Christie for Governor campaign?  Sheridan is also the lawyer for the Republican State Committee and GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson, the plaintiff in the legal battle to release the e-mails.

MERKT VOICES SUPPORT FOR BCRO CHAIR

YUDIN IS REBUILDING BERGEN COUNTY GOP, DESERVES STATE GOP SUPPORT

The feud between Republican State Senator Gerald Cardinale and Democratic Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney continues.   Today, McNerney wrote a Letter to the Editor published in The Record that slams the nine-term Senator for his opposition to regionalization of local government.  “If ignorance of constituents’ concerns paid dividends,” McNerney wrote, then Cardinale “would be a billionaire.”

Cardinale is using senatorial courtesy to block McNerney’s appointment to the Local Unit Alignment, Reorganization and Consolidation Commission.  Governor Jon Corzine has named McNerney to the panel twice, but Cardinale refuses to allow his confirmation.  According to The Record’s Charles Stile, Cardinale thinks McNerney will “simply rubber stamp… recommendations to merge smaller towns with larger ones.”  McNerney wants to merge as many as 35 Bergen municipalities that have less than 10,000 residents.

NJN’s Michael Aron will host former U.S. Attorney (and future gubernatorial candidate?) Chris Christie on On the Record this weekend.  The show airs Sunday at 9:00 and 11:00am, and again on Monday at 6:30am. 

On Reporters Roundtable, watch Nick Acocella of Politifax, Cynthia Burton of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Charles Stile of the Bergen Record and yours truly, Matt Friedman.  The show is hosted by NJN Reporter Zachary Fink, and we’ll discuss Steve Lonegan’s gubernatorial run, Chris Christie’s gubernatorial prospects, Rocco Riccio and the Governors’ summit with Obama.  Catch it at 7:00 this evening, or at 10:00am Sunday.

It’s all about the Governor’s economic stimulus plan on NJN this weekend.

On Sunday at 9a.m. and 11a.m., watch On the Record with New Jersey Policy Perspective President Jon Shure, Center for Policy Research of NJ President Gregg Edwards, Democratic analyst Mike Murphy and Ramapo College Finance Professor/former U.S. Senate candidate Murray Sabrin discuss Corzine’s plan.  The show is hosted by Michael Aron and will air again on Monday at 6:30 a.m. 

Tonight at 7:00 and Sunday at 10:00a.m., catch Reporters Roundtable, hosted by Michael Aron and featuring Bergen Record columnist Charles Stile, Gannett’s Greg Volpe and yours truly,  Matt Friedman.  We'll discuss the Corzine economic plan, the Republican sales tax cut proposal and commercials from the U.S. Senate and Congressional races.

This week's Winners & Losers: Click here.