John Edwards

Hillary Clinton's supporters have a dream. They see current Iowa frontrunner Barack Obama limping into a shocking third place finish in the Jan. 3rd caucus and then standing before a crowd of youthful campaign volunteers with a hand-held microphone. 

Some prominent Essex County Democrats will do battle on the Feb. 5th primary ballot to represent their presidential candidates at the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver. But their names won't be at the top of the ticket, and outright victory or loss hinges on three people named Clinton, Edwards or Obama.

In the 14th delegate district, which is composed of the 26th and 27th legislative districts, Sen. Hillary Clinton’s team of candidates consists of Orange Rev. (and Clinton Campaign fundraising Co-Chair) Reginald Jackson, Essex County Freeholder Pat Sebold, Essex County Executive Chief of Staff Phil Alagia, and South Orange Councilwoman Stacey Jennings.

Sen. John Edwards’ full team in the 14th is made up of Sen. President (and former Gov.) Richard Codey, his fellow 14th district legislators, Assemblyman (and West Orange Mayor) John McKeon and Assemblyman Mila Jasey; and Elaine Britcher of Morris Plains.

The Barack Obama campaign made a statement Monday as the Democratic Party's tallies of signatures to get presidential candidates on the ballot in New Jersey showed Obama smothering the Hillary Clinton campaign, by almost 2,000 votes.

As Obama resists the Tom Cruise temptation to leap out of Oprah's stuffed chair in excitement over Iowa poll numbers that show him with a slight lead, and establishment darling Clinton searches for a way to generate vitality beyond the marble pillars of officialdom, former Sen. John Edwards remains a statistically relevant presence, at least in Iowa.

"Edwards is not done," insisted Peter Woolley, executive director of Fairleigh Dickinson's PublicMind poll. "The fat lady hasn't sung. He's still running third. If one month before the Iowa caucus, it's as close as it is, you're doing very well. But the bad sign about Edwards is his level of support has been pretty static. He's not moving the needle."

In the Northeast, Edwards' presidential campaign ravenously pursues good news, and finds little. The fact that the one-term senator and former vice-presidential nominee emerged the winner at an informal caucus in Roselle Park on Friday belies the fact that Clinton's supporters bolstered Edwards rather than get seared by the victory chants of their prime tormentor, Team Obama, which placed second.

Gov. Jon Corzine endorses Hillary Clinton for President last April: Getty Images Photo
Although presidential favorite Sen. Hillary Clinton is waging a dead-heat dogfight with Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John Edwards in Iowa, Gov. Jon Corzine today said he’s confident that the establishment candidate will prevail, and refuses to criticize her initial thumbs up vote on the Iraq War.

"She’s very credible, and she was very responsible in the way she took her position," said the governor, who last spring stood on the steps of City Hall in Elizabeth with a cavalcade of Jersey politicians behind him, and embraced Clinton as his presidential choice.

The early endorsement dismayed anti-war Democrats who believe Clinton rolled over in the face of post 9-11 political pressure when she voted to give President George W. Bush the authority to go to War in Iraq. Among the other Democratic presidential contenders, senators Chris Dodd, Joseph Biden and former Sen. John Edwards also gave the nod to Bush.

Try as critics may, more and more people seem to like Hillary. She is liked enough it seems to make her the next president of the United States. Her election will mark the beginning of the end of the disasterous presidency of George Bush II.  Even Republicans may breathe a sigh of relief when the Sage of Crawford leaves in January 2009.  But why Hillary?  First, despite the observations of the Washington chattering class, she has broadened her appeal to women.  Initially, she had considerable support among working class women of the nation who are most directly affected by downturns in the global economy, the lack of medical care, and the education mess in urban areas.  It made sense, they said, since they saw her liberalism as good for them. They voted in their own self interest, and since many working class women do not vote, it looked like their support was less important than meets the eye.

It looks like the Democrats are moving toward a coronation of Hillary Clinton as Obama and Edwards seem so weary or stale. Obama has decided to attack flag lapel pins, and Edwards has gone from being a populist to a prissy wealthy liability lawyer.    So that gives us time to focus at least for now on the Republicans.  And one can see them in bloom at their Detroit debate, celebrating capitalism, Bush, budget cuts, and themselves.  Like an old marriage, we have heard all that before with some exceptions.

Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani continue to hold substantial leads in New Jersey’s February 5, 2008 presidential primary, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning.

Among Democrats, Clinton leads Barack Obama by a 46%-20% margin, with 9% to John Edwards. On the Republican side, Giuliani leads Fred Thompson by 36 percentage points – 48%-12%, with 9% for John McCain and 7% for Mitt Romney.

In a general election matchup, Clinton and Giuliani are in a statistical dead-heat, with each candidate at 44%.

Former Neptune Mayor Michael Beson was PoliticsNJ.com's Politician of the Year in 2003.  Beson had become presidential candidate Howard Dean's state campaign manager in mid-2002, when Dean was polling in the single-digits and PoliticsNJ.com's Brian Murphy became the only political reporter in the state willing to meet with him during a June '02 visit to New Jersey.  By the end of 2003, Dean was the front runner for the Democratic nomination, and most of the state Democratic establishment, including Governor James E. McGreevey, were backing Dean. 

Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani continue to hold substantial leads in New Jersey's February 5, 2008 presidential primaries, according to a new Strategic Vision poll released today. Clinton leads Barack Obama by a 52%-21% margin among Democrats (John Edwards is at 7% and Bill Richardson at 5%), while Republicans give Giuliani a 53%-11% advantage over Fred Thompson. John McCain and Mitt Romney each have 7%.

In New Jersey, President George W. Bush has an upside-down overall job approval rating of 18%-71%. Seven out of ten voters disapprove of his handling of the economy, 69% disapprove of his handling of the war in Iraq, and 57% want a U.S. troops withdrawn from Iraq within six mohths. But New Jersey voters, by a 49%-41% margin, approve of Bush's handling of the war on terrorism.