Frank Pallone

Getty Images Photo

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.), a Congressman since 1955, has the backing of New Jersey's Rob Andrews

Two New Jersey Congressmen are at opposite ends of a intra-party battle for the the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of the most powerful posts in Congress.  Rob Andrews is working for incumbent John Dingell, an 82-year-old Michigan Democrat who has served in Congress since 1955.  Frank Pallone, who is chairman of the Health Subcommittee, is part of the whip team for Dingell's challenger, Henry Waxman, 69, an 18-term Congressman from California who is the second ranking member of the panel.  Today, Waxman won the support of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, defeating Dingell 25-22.  The full House Democratic conference will pick between the two on Thursday.

The Energy and Commerce Committee oversees legislation on health care, climate change regulations, and good and drug regulations.  Dingell has staunchly opposed Waxman's efforts to impose more stringent fuel efficiency standards on Michigan automakers.

U.S. representatives Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) and Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) teamed up to craft legislation to curtail the power of U.S. attorneys in appointing federal monitors, so it was no surprise when they responded today to Christie’s announcement that he would resign at the end of this month.

The congressmen separately jabbed at the departing U.S. Attorney, with Pallone augmenting Pascrell’s chief complaint with his own worry about what he cited as Christie’s politicization of his office. 

"I remain concerned that Christie has engaged in improper political activities in recent months while still serving as the U.S. Attorney,” said Pallone. “Numerous press reports have highlighted aggressive political outreach by Christie and his political lieutenants in order to develop a campaign infrastructure for a possible run for governor. In an effort to allay these concerns, I hope Christie agrees to release his private and public schedules for the last two years so that the public can make its own judgment regarding any possible political activity by the U.S. Attorney.”

NEW BRUNSWICK – Newark Mayor Cory Booker and U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) did some microphone tag team in the build-up to what everyone here seems to read as an imminent Obama victory.

 “I am so proud that the candidate who is going to be our victor is someone about whom they said it can’t be done,” said Booker. “In America, we are a place of impossible dreams.”

Pallone shouted, “We’re going to end this war! We’re going to have universal healthcare.”

Biotech millionaire John Crowley is still mulling a bid for the Republican nomination for Governor.  If he wins, he'd be the first Governor with no previous public sector experience since Woodrow Wilson moved from college president to Governor in 1910.  But in U.S. Senate races, the lack of political experience is more prevalent: New Jersey sent first-time candidates to the Senate in 1942, 1978, 1982 and 2000.

And if you're an extreme political junkie: if Leonard Lance wins a House seat tomorrow, he'll join a fairly elite group -- New Jersey  Congressmen who have served in both the State Senate and General Assembly.  The last ones were Bob Menendez in 1992, Jim Saxton in 1984, Harold Hollenbeck in 1976, Joseph Maraziti in 1972, and Elijah Hutchinson in 1914.

In Monmouth County, every town comes intriguingly into play on some level, several more critically than others.

Republicans have owned the Freeholder Board for over 20 years, but in the last two elections Democrats picked up two seats to bring them to within one of county control.

A profusion of newly registered Democratic voters have boosted the party’s confidence heading into Nov. 4th, and now Democrats Amy Mallet and Glenn Mason are ready for that 11th hour jolt of cash from the Democratic State Committee.

State Party Chairman Joseph Cryan wants to win here.

He wants it more than he would like to pick up additional warm bodies in the Assembly next year, where his party’s already built a comfortable majority.

A victory by either Mallet or Mason would make a Democratic Party statement.  But neither is a name candidate running against incumbent Freeholder Director Lillian Burry and auto dealer vice president John Curley, an intensely focused campaigner who served as a Red Bank Councilman and has close political connections to state Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth).

Democrats Amy Mallet and Glenn Mason: Politicker photo 

RED BANK/ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS - If Monmouth County Democrats don’t believe in trickle down economics they definitely don’t have a problem with getting some top down love from the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.).

The Democratic presidential nominee appears to be on cruise control in New Jersey, receiving a boost on Sunday from an unlikely source in this battleground county where the number of registered Dems grew considerably since last year’s primary. 

"The Asbury Park Press endorsed Barack Obama," announced Democratic County Chairman Vic Scudiery, who sported a tie pin in the shape of the state of New Jersey with an Obama logo emblazoned in the center. 

"Obama has the intellect needed to comprehend the complexities of the times and the ability to articulate his positions clearly and eloquently," the paper’s Sunday editorial read in part. "He can inspire, and we believe he will be able to bring out the best in the American people at a time when our best will be needed...

It’s not exactly a surprise, but the incumbent Congressmen in safe districts who have statewide aspirations tend to have the largest war chests.

Take, for instance, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch).  His Republican opponent, former Judge Robert McLeod, didn’t even raise the $5,000 that would require him to fill out a report with the Federal Election Commission.  But Pallone is raising and spending money anyway, raking in $302,139 last quarter for a total of $2.18 million this election cycle.  He has $3.36 million on hand – the largest war chest in Congress – and spent $304,000 this quarter.

That money is not being spent against McLeod.  The expenditures listed in the FEC report includes a $189,015 cable television ad buy.  The commercial, which began on Tuesday, is playing all over the state north of Interstate 195, in places well beyond Pallone’s district.

Gov. Jon Corzine continues to struggle to win the approval of New Jersey voters
Voters' feelings on Gov. Jon Corzine remain tepid, although they've slightly improved, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll released this morning.

Corzine’s approval rating stands at 45%, while 39% of respondents disapprove of the way he’s handled his job. 17% are unsure or mixed. 40% of voters have a favorable opinion of the Governor, while 43% are unfavorable.

Only 23% of voters think the state is heading in the right direction – the same number that FDU found last month.

The New Jersey delegation's vote on the bailout bill was close, and did not occur along party lines.

But while there were some odd vote combinations, with liberal Congressmen like U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn) voting the same way as his conservative neighbor, Scott Garrett (R-Wantage), they tended to cite different reasons.

Ultimately, New Jersey Congressmen voted against the bill by a 7-6 margin. None, however, enthusiastically supported it. Nor did any of its detractors express glee at its downfall, and some expressed more openness to voting for a new compromise package than others.

By far the most vociferous opponent of the bailout was Garrett, who yesterday took to the floor and excoriated his colleagues who supported it.

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) and 4th District Congressional District candidate Josh Zeitz want America to pull the plug on the war in Iraq.

Speaking on a conference call this afternoon, they tallied the $4.5 billion total cost of the six-year old war to the 4th and 6th districts, according to Obama presidential campaign spokesman Andrew Poag, and tied those numbers to the record and campaign rhetoric of GOP presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"We can’t afford another president who will continue George W. Bush’s failed foreign policies," said Pallone, one of four New Jersey congressmen who voted against the initial resolution authorizing Bush to go into Iraq. 

"Senator Barack Obama (who at the outset opposed the war in a speech he gave in 2002) has proposed a safe and responsible plan to bring our troops home, but John McCain has no plan to end the war," Pallone added.