John Edwards

Dick Codey, who may be New Jersey's most popular politician, will endorse Barack Obama for President
Senate President Richard Codey is expected to endorse Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination, sources close to Codey told PolitickerNJ.com. Codey, who served as Governor from 2004 to 2006, had served as New Jersey Chairman of John Edwards’ campaign.

Warren County Democratic Party Chairman Mike Sedita said if the news is true about former Sen. John Edwards giving up his presidential aspirations, Sedita would back Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. Hillary Clinton.

"I would definitely be supporting Obama because he’s the more progressive candidate," said Sedita, who is a delegate candidate for Edwards on the Feb. 5 ballot.

Rutgers student Caryn Miller remains in the Edwards camp post South Carolina but says she'd be "a little more inclined" to back Obama if her candidate short circuits utterly.

Rutgers student Adrian Zareba says he'll stick with Edwards, even after his presidential candidate's third place finish in his native state of South Carolina.

Audi Syarief, a student at Rutgers University, concedes in the wake of Sen. John Edwards' third place finish in South Carolina that he will now back Sen. Barack Obama for president. Syarief had volunteered for Edwards in New Hampshire.

With less than two weeks to go before the Feb. 5th presidential primary in New Jersey, Essex County Clerk Chris Durkin explains the Democrats' primary process here, as distinct from the Republicans' winner-take-all contest in New Jersey.

John McCain and Rudy Giuliani are in a statistical dead heat in New Jersey, and Hillary Clinton holds a 17 point lead for the February 5 presidential primary, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning. McCain leads Giuliani 29%-26%, with Mitt Romney at 14% and Mike Huckabee at 9%. Fred Thompson had 9%.

Clinton, who will make stops in Hackensack and North Bergen today, leads Barack Obama, 49%-32%. John Edwards gets 10% of the likely Democratic vote. Among Black voters, Obama leads 62%-27%, while Clinton leads among women 44%0-36%.

Two polls show John McCain leading Rudy Giuliani in New Jersey’s February 5 presidential primary: a Neighborhood Research poll has McCain leading 31%-26%, with 18% for Mitt Romney, 9% for Mike Huckabee, and 4% for Ron Paul; and a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll has McCain ahead of Giuliani by a 23%-29% margin, with 10% for Romney and 7% for Huckabee.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton leads Barack Obama, 41%-27%, with 8% for John Edwards in the FDU poll.

Quinnipiac University will release their poll this morning.

Assemblywoman Nellie PouAfter watching the CNN debate in South Carolina on Monday night, Assemblywoman Nellie Pou applauded the performance of her presidential candidate, Sen. Hillary Clinton, who during the Democratic Primary tussle bashed what she described as Bush's too little too late economic stimulus package.  

"The most important change we can bring to the  country is a change in the policies and priorities that have governed from the  White House and I believe the best Democrat to deliver that change is Hillary  Clinton," said Pou. "The economic  injustices of the past eight years need to be reversed and Hillary has the  experience and ability to produce the type of change that offers economic  opportunity to all."

Obama likewise targeted what he sees as the failed economic policies of the Bush administration but took an additional poke at the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) championed by Clinton's husband when he was president, in a debate that largely saw frontrunners Clinton and Obama gunning for each other.