Hillary Clinton

Check back tomorrow morning to view my sketchpad for day two of the Democratic National Convention, and go to my national blog to follow convention coverage by cartoonists from around the country.

U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and his niece, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg: Getty Images Photo

• Roberts: Lonegan is 'preposterous'
• Roberts mum on Andrews replacement
• June and Jun
  
• Warren County is in the house
• In the belly of the Spotted Dog
• Healy allies dream of an Obama visit
• Some Jewish delegates sit on their hands for Carter
• Biden won't change Van Drew's mind about running
• Codey and Roberts come out swinging with 'us' versus 'them' battle cry
• Menendez would be a great boost as convention speaker, Rothman says
• For Torres, the streets of Paterson lead to Denver
• Passaic ready to go big for Obama, says Currie
• Tom Byrne is not sitting on a $1 million campaign account for nothing
• Frank Lautenberg introduces his son to the delegation
• Pounding the 'One America' theme on day one
• Shulman makes the rounds in Denver
• In a crowded Passaic field, Morales says she has fire in the belly
• Report: Springsteen and Bon Jovi to perform at Obama speech
• Gusciora: 2004 couldn't have been this good
• Other states take note: New Jersey rules
• Vega doesn't want to go back to the legislature, but isn't happy with Rodriguez
• Rothman seeks to appease Clinton supporters
• Corzine speaking out to get Menendez a chance at the podium
• Florio talks up Biden, weighs in on Andrews replacement
• If it's not to be Rone, mayor prefers a woman replacement in Central Ward
• It was 20 years - and 18 points ago
• Primary hurt still lingers in Obamaland

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, the winner of the February 5 New Jersey Democratic presidential primary, will speak tonight: Getty Images Photo
The second day of the Democratic National Convention will be called to order at 5:00 PM EST today, with a theme of "Renewing America's Promise." Featured speakers include Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kan.), U.S. Sen. Robert Casey, Jr. (D-Pa.), Gov. Deval Patrick (D-Mass.), and Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-Mont.). The keynote speaker will be Gov. Mark Warner (D-Va.), followed by the headline prime-time speaker, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).

The full schedule is below.

Party Chairman John Currie and Assemblywoman Nellie Pou (D-Paterson): Politicker photo 

DENVER - Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) romped in Passaic County in the Democratic Primary, essentially blowing up the candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) there with a 59-38% victory.

"He didn’t win a single town in Passaic," said Democratic Party Chairman John Currie, and that includes the county’s biggest city.

"In my ward, he lost handily," recalled Sixth Ward Paterson Councilman Andre Sayegh, a longtime Obama supporter. "A lot of Latinos in my ward told me, ‘We’ll vote for you, but not Obama.’ It wasn’t a landslide, but he lost Paterson, and got trounced in my ward."

Now old school Democrat Currie, a onetime Clinton backer, wants to mobilize his troops behind Obama for the general election, where Democrats number 47,807 to the Republicans 38,662 registered voters.

DENVER –  Seeking to shore up the full support of New Jersey’s Hillary Clinton supporters for Barack Obama, U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman used a line that sounded like it could have come from former President Bill Clinton.

“I hope this is not presumptuous,” he said.  “I think and feel your pain.”

The reception for Steve Rothman at today’s first delegate breakfast at the Inverness Hotel bore little resemblance to the one who, almost a year ago, drew a few boos and catcalls at the Democratic State Convention in Atlantic City when he advocated for Barack Obama, and made comments that some perceived as a knock on Hillary Clinton.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ): Politicker file photo 

DENVER - When Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) attended his first convention, he was running for Congress and serving as a Bill Clinton delegate in 1992.

"It was interesting," Menendez recalled in a phone interview with PolitickerNJ.com. "We invited this little known Southern governor to Hudson County, to our Hudson County dinner. He lost his voice that night, but he was very earnest in his effort, and he went on to become our president."

Fifteen years later, Menendez supported Bill Clinton’s wife for president in what was ultimately her unsuccessful bid for the White House.

Now Menendez, vice chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), backs Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL.), and wants an all-out Democratic Party takeover of not only the executive but the legislative branch.

TRENTON -- Governor Corzine today reiterated that he does not plan to go to Washington if Barack Obama wins the presidential election, but he still wouldn’t rule out the prospect indefinitely.

“I like what I’m doing. I think that, given the opportunity to stay fixing the finances, getting us into a position where we’re growing the economy and we’re not fighting a national recession, where we are improving the education of our children and expanding health care—doing the things I think the public would like to see in the long run -- I’ll be more than happy to have a few more years of this and go sit on the beach,” said Corzine during a 30 minute session with reporters.

But when asked if he would categorically say that he would not go to Washington if appointed to a cabinet position by Barack Obama, Corzine responded “I don’t even know what categorically means.”

Instead he repeated “I like what I’m doing.”

Just how powerful is Joseph Ferriero?   Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has no interest in telling the Bergen County Democratic Chairman to stay away from Denver next week, even though reporters are likely to focus on yesterday’s events – FBI agents appearing at Ferriero’s law offices and seizing documents from his personal files.  Democrat State Chairman Joseph Cryan says the decision is Ferriero’s.  Most others  -- even those who have not been accused of any wrong doing (see Coniglio, Joseph [Summer 2007]) would be told to stay home, with their invitation to the Democratic National Convention essentially revoked.  

Gov. Brendan T. Byne, right, earlier this week with Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.: Politicker file photo 

Ask former Gov. Brendan Bryne about his most memorable Democratic National Convention and he fires back the answer without hesitation: 1976.

"The first one with Jimmy Carter was a new experience for me, although he did not carry New Jersey," said Byrne, who served as governor from 1974-1982.

"It was a festive atmosphere, as I recall," he said. "People were throwing peanuts around the convention hall and everything had a newness for me, though now it’s a little bit stale."

State Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer): Politicker file photo 

Monday night’s convention tribute to Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) carries special meaning for state Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer), who served as a delegate to underdog presidential candidate Kennedy in 1980, when she attended her first Democratic National Convention in New York City.

"I remember it brought tears to my eyes," says Turner, who supported Kennedy because she believed the Republicans would defeat President Jimmy Carter and doubly humiliate the Democrats by gaining a majority in Congress.

They did - on both counts.

But although Kennedy lost the nomination, in endorsing Carter, he delivered an emotional speech whose final lines Turner remembers by heart: "For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."