John Edwards

A poll released today by Rasmussen Reports confirms what a Monmouth University/Gannett poll showed earlier this week: that John McCain and Rudy Giuliani are in a dead heat in New Jersey.

If Nevadans don't put John Edwards into first or second place in their presidential caucus on Saturday, Edwards may lose his New Jersey campaign chairman: Senate President Richard Codey says he'll consider endorsing either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama before the February 5 New Jersey primary.  With Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero endorsing Clinton in Bergen next week, that could make Codey, a former Governor, the big fish on the Democratic side as Clinton and Obama seek last-minute support in a state where Clinton has a twelve point lead.  Codey may be New Jersey's most popular Democrat -- the last time he was in a statewide poll, he did much better than the Governor and two U.S. Senators.  That begs a question: how many votes would a Codey endorsement actually mean, since Edwards - with Codey's backing - is only at 9% among likely Democratic primary voters.

State Senate President Richard Codey today said if presidential candidate John Edwards comes in third in the Nevada primary on Jan. 19th, he would consider backing either Sen. Hillary Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama in advance of the New Jersey primary on Feb. 5th.

"If he comes in third, he may be gone," said Codey, who is Edwards' New Jersey campaign chairman. "I've been getting calls from both sides (the Clinton and Obama campaigns)."

The former New Jersey governor initially picked Edwards in part because they hit it off when Edwards was the party's vice presidential nominee in 2004. But his main reason for backing the former North Carlina senator was strategic.

Bluewave volunteer Ana Maria Cardenas collects ballots in the Unitarian Church Tuesday night in Montclair.Barack Obama won a big victory at the BlueWaveNJ straw poll tonight, receiving 170 votes (41%) against 99 for Hillary Clinton (24%) and 94 for John Edwards (23%).  Dennis Kucinich received 30 votes (7%).  Seventeen voters were undecided.

Speaking to a Unitarian Church crammed with members of the progressive Montclair Democratic organization, Newark Mayor Cory Booker represented Obama, while State Sen. Nia Gill spoke for Clinton, State Sen. Joseph Vitale for Edwards, and North Jersey activist Stuart Hutchison for Kucinich.

During the question and answer session, which was moderated by veteran Newsweek journalist Jonathan Alter, Booker and Gill traded shots as representatives of the two presidential frontrunners. 

Gill sought to amplify Clinton's basic argument that she is more experienced than Obama.

"If you do not control the apparatus of government, your ideas are over here and government is over here," said the Montclair-based senator and trial attorney. 

Of the remaining presidential candidates, only two have run in New Jersey before: John Edwards, who carried the state by 241,427 votes as the Democratic candidate for Vice President, and Ron Paul, who won 8,421 votes as the Libertarian candidate for President in 1988.

In the '88 race, Paul finished fourth in the field of eleven candidates -- 1,112 votes behind Peace and Freedom candidate Herbert Lewin, and 3,282 votes ahead of New Alliance Party candidate Lenora Fulani.

Several presidential campaigns are sponsoring events tonight so that New Jersey supporters can watch the returns of the Iowa Caucuses.  

John Edwards' New Jersey campaign will host a caucus “watch” party at 7 PM tonight at Tumulty’s Pub, 361 George Street, New Brunswick.  State Sen. Joseph Vitale will be the host.

Barack Obama’s campaign is sponsoring parties tonight in Newark (8PM at the Robert Treat Hotel, 50 Park Place), Jersey City (7:30 PM at the home of Vanessa Czaplicki, hosted by Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy and State Senator Sandra Bolden Cunningham) , North Arlington (7PM at the McGorty residence, hosted by Congressman Steven Rothman), and Cherry Hill (8PM at the Coastline Bar and Restaurant, 1240 Brace Road).

Hillary Clinton’s New Jersey campaign office will open at 5:30 PM tonight at 130 West State Street in Trenton.

The following is an unofficial list of the Democratic candidates for president in the order in which they will appear - lines A through F - on the Feb. 5th primary ballots in 20 of New Jersey's 21 counties. Cumberland County's lineup was not available on Thursday.   

Atlantic: Edwards, Richardson, Clinton, Kucinich, Obama, Biden 

Bergen: Obama, Biden, Edwards, Clinton, Kucinich, Richardson 

Burlington: Obama, Edwards, Kucinich, Clinton, Richardson, Biden

After all the emails and phone calls back and forth regarding ballot drawing procedure, Essex County Clerk Chris Durkin said he couldn’t believe the way it turned out for the Democratic presidential candidates in Essex.

On Thursday, all 21 of New Jersey’s county clerks will draw for ballot positions for the February 5 presidential primary.

Since this is the first time that New Jersey has had a primary so early – and the first competitive primary here since 1984 – county clerks are scrambling to figure out how they’re going to design the ballots. But the way the Democratic State Committee has requested that ballot positions are assigned has caused alarm with members of the Barack Obama and John Edwards campaigns, who decry their lack of input in the method and feel that it inherently favors Hillary Clinton.

Yesterday, Democratic State Committee counsel William Northgrave sent a letter to Assistant Attorney General Donna J. Kelly and copied it to all of the county clerks and several campaign officials, requesting a method for ballot construction in the Democratic primary.

The request was made up of three parts: that a candidate endorsed by each county’s Democratic organization appear on the first line and column of every ballot; that in counties where there is no endorsement, an initial draw takes place between Clinton and Obama for the first spot, since they were the only candidates to field a full slate of delegates; and that delegate slates are chosen along with the presidential candidate through the push of one button.

Democratic State Committee Chairman Joe Cryan supports Clinton, as do and the bulk of the state’s prominent Democrats.