Fairleigh Dickinson

Quinnipiac: Obama 48%, McCain 45%: Getty Images Photo
The contest between Barack Obama and John McCain in New Jersey is too close to call, with a new Quinnipiac University poll showing the battle for the state's fifteen electoral votes at 48%-45% among likely voters.  Obama led McCain by ten percentage points, 51%-41% in an August Quinnipiac poll.

This is the fourth independent poll within the last week to show New Jersey as an emerging battleground state in the presidential campaign.  A Monmouth University/New Jersey poll released this morning shows Obama leading by 8 points, and a Marist College poll released Friday night had identical numbers to Quinnipiac, 48%-45%. A Fairleigh Dickinson University poll from last week had Obama up by six points.

“The McCain-Palin ticket has narrowed the gap dramatically, but it will take more than this post convention bounce for the Republicans to win in true blue New Jersey.  The upcoming debates probably will provide a clue to whether Sen. McCain can build on his current momentum, or whether the tide will turn back to the Democrats,” said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. 

A new Quinnipiac poll shows Gov. Jon Corzine with upside-down approval numbers: Getty Images Photo
Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan said that the Governor’s 38% approval rating in the Quinnipiac poll released today was “not unexpected.”

Corzine is undertaking some tough but necessary reforms in the state budget, Cryan said.

“The Governor has been dealing with the economic problems in the state. He’s not doling money out. We think that people ultimately are going to respect what we’re doing and it will put us in a positive position next year,” he said.

Nor was Cryan surprised by that the email controversy between Gov. Corzine and union leader Carla Katz, an ex-girlfriend, hasn’t stoked the public fury – despite GOP Chairman Tom Wilson’s push to make the emails public.

Voters have no idea who the Republican U.S. Senate candidates are, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll released this morning. 84% of voters have never heard of State Senator Joseph Pennacchio, 87% don’t recognize Anne Evans Estabrook, and 89% have no idea who Murray Sabrin is. Among Republicans, the number is similarly dismal: 82% haven’t heard of Pennacchio, 83% don’t know who Sabrin is, and 87% are unfamiliar with Estabrook.

“No brand name has entered the race for the Republicans,” said Peter Woolley, a political scientist and director of the poll. “In part, that is a reflection of poor prospects for the Republican Party nationally which is bogged down with an unpopular President, an unpopular war, and a softening economy.”

The four-term incumbent, Democrat Frank Lautenberg, is known by 85% of New Jersey voters; he has a 42%-23% favorability rating.

“He’s a brand name and they like him.” Woolley said.