Hillary Clinton

Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden): Politicker file photo 

Few will declare it outright, but off the record people talk about soft versus solid support, and when it comes to Hillary Clinton conqueror Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il), some of his party support in New Jersey remains soft.  

With that in mind, and heading into the Democratic National Convention, Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) today called on his fellow Democrats to jettison the angst and hurt feelings and focus on getting Obama elected president.

In a state where she triumphed by 10 points, "there are a number of people still frustrated that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) got a bad deal this year," acknowledged Roberts. "But the reality is the Democratic Party should be proud that we had two history-making candidates colliding."

The big money Democratic Party fundraisers who backed Hillary Clinton in the primary but have now committed to supporting Barack Obama, accepted an invitation to fly out to Chicago Monday to sit down with Obama’s campaign manager.

There’s a Jersey connection there, as David Plouffe managed Bob Torricelli’s successful U.S. senate campaign in 1996.

Those members of the "Group" who plan to head to Obama’s Midwest base of operations for a three-hour confab include Zenon Christodoulou, Al DeCotiis, John Graham and William Harla.

"We were asked to come out by the campaign so that they could introduce us to all of the main people they want us to get to know in the head office," said Christodoulou.

Most of New Jersey's Democratic party leadership backed Hillary Clinton for the presidential nomination: Getty Images Photo
Democratic National Committeewoman Christine “Roz” Samuels said today that she was dumped from the New Jersey delegation last night because she flipped her support from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama back in February.

Samuels said she was called yesterday morning at 8:00 a.m. by Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan, who told her that Essex County Democratic Chairman Phil Thigpen wanted her off the ticket.

“One day notice,” she said. “They called me yesterday morning and told me I was off the ticket. And I said ‘You mean for what I did way in February? This is retaliation for February?’”

Samuels said that she was told she was thrown off the ticket because of her switch. Samuels officially switched to Obama on February 14th – less than one week before two South Jersey super delegates switched – but long before most north Jersey party leaders left the Clinton camp.

Samuels’s replacement will be former Assemblywoman Stephanie Bush-Baskette, who’s also from Essex County.

“I really have to find out what is the time limitation for pulling someone off a ticket. You can’t tell someone that morning the morning of the meeting. Usually you give a two week notice to someone if you’re going to fire them from the job,” she said, adding that she has run two recent successful Obama events in Montclair. “It’s just a vindictive thing because I had a couple good meetings, and I think (Thigpen) feels that way because he didn’t do it first.”

With now less than 100 days to go until the presidential election, the veepstakes race is reportedly narrowing. The problem with the news reports is a gender bias that seems to keep cracking its head open on the glass ceiling.

To its credit, The New York Times public editor recently took a hard look at its own coverage -- "Pantsuits and the Presidency." In the column, Clark Hoyt quoted two experts that noted The Times did a better job than others in the media on the newsroom sexism measuring stick. 

New Jersey Democrats have already begun a process of filling Assembly Deputy Speaker Neil Cohen’s position as a Barack Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver next month. Cohen, an early Obama supporter, is an At-Large Obama delegate. The logical choice to replace Cohen is Reed Gusciora, a veteran Assemblyman from Mercer County who is the first Alternate for Obama. Democratic National Committee rules require representation from Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) delegates, and Gusciora is one of two openly gay member of the Obama delegation. Hillary Clinton’s campaign has six LGBT delegates.

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton will be in New Jersey on Monday to thank key supporters of her bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and Gov. Jon Corzine are expected to attend the event in East Rutherford.

Some Democratic leaders are talking, again, about the possibility that Gov. Jon Corzine might be interested in a federal post if Barack Obama wins the presidency.  Rumors of Corzine’s interest in a cabinet post came more frequently when it looked as though his favored candidate, Hillary Clinton, might be the nominee.  It’s not likely that Obama would load up his cabinet with Clinton supporters, although the presidential candidate does enjoy a good relationship with Corzine, who was Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman in 2004 when Obama was a first-time statewide candidate.

Caren Turner, a Democratic fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, could back John McCain for President
Lifelong Democrat Caren Turner doesn’t plan to vote for Democrats out of a sense of nostalgia. In fact, she’s not sure she’s going to vote Democratic in the coming presidential election.

Turner, a Hillraiser who worked as part of the powerhouse New Jersey fundraising arm called the Group, was among those Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) holdouts who yesterday took part in a feel-out session with a surrogate of Sen. John McCain’s (D-AZ).

Of the group formerly known as "The Group," Michael Kempner last month indicated his absolute adherence to the Obama campaign, as did the Rev. Reginald Jackson; John Graham and others last week sat down with Mark Alexander, senior policy advisor to Obama.

When it comes to presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.), Graham and others are getting there, and they plan a unity bash for State Party Chairman Joseph Cryan next Thursday.

Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth): Politicker photo 

As they find themselves once again among the general election ranks of their respective parties, two state senators in opposing camps still hope their first picks for president end up as running mates for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il).

Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), former state chairman for the Romney campaign, believes Romney would be McCain’s best choice for vice president. Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex), meanwhile, hopes Obama picks Rice’s primary candidate, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

"Hillary needs to be a match on that ticket to keep some perspective," said Rice. "We’re talking about 18 million votes for her, plus your Obama votes. That team could really keep people coming out in a general election. I feel he needs to identify a vice president, and it should be Hillary."