John McCain

Democrats will pick up congressional seats of retiring Reps. Jim Saxton and Mike Ferguson as part of a national trend that will net them seven U.S. Senate seats and sixteen House seats national, according to James Pindell, the editor of Politicker.com's Pindell Report, which provides independent analysis of federal and state races.

Pindell says that Democrat Frank Lautenberg will win re-election to the U.S. Senate and that Barack Obama will carry New Jersey and win its fifteen electoral votes.

"In two Republican-leaning districts, Democrats John Adler and Linda Stender are going to Congress," said Pindell. "Democrats have momentum and they're winning just about all of the marginal races."

The Pindell Report has the Senate at 58-41, and the House at 252-180.  The Senate races in Alaska, and House races in Florida, New Mexico and Kansas, remain toss-ups.

"The economy, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush combine to push Senate and House races that were toss-ups last week into the Democratic column," said Pindell.   "While the Democrats will control the White House and both houses of Congress, they won't get the 60 Senate seats they need for a filibuster-proof majority." Read More >

Politicians spin for a living, but they're rarely held accountable for what they say after the fact. So today I'm taking a look back on what they were saying about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin when she was announced as John McCain's vice presidential running mate.

State Sen. Bill Baroni predicted that Palin would appeal to "a broad spectrum of New Jersey voters," especially the state's "vast independent voting bloc." Asked about accusations that she pressured the former Commissioner of Public Safety to fire a state trooper, Baroni replied: "There's no evidence of it. It will be completely vetted [in] the next 48 hours."

In fact a bipartisan legislative panel found that Palin violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act when she "abused her power in pushing for the firing of an Alaska state trooper."

Baroni wasn't as far off on the other point, though. In the latest Survey USA poll, McCain leads among independents in New Jersey by 45 to 40 percent, although voters who identify as "moderate" break for Obama by 58 to 36 percent. Still, Obama has a 15 point lead in the poll.

State Sen. Kevin O'Toole called the Palin pick "a stroke of brilliance." If this is his idea of brilliance, I don't want to know what other good ideas O'Toole has in store.

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Democrats Amy Mallet and Glenn Mason: Politicker photo 

RED BANK/ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS - If Monmouth County Democrats don’t believe in trickle down economics they definitely don’t have a problem with getting some top down love from the campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.).

The Democratic presidential nominee appears to be on cruise control in New Jersey, receiving a boost on Sunday from an unlikely source in this battleground county where the number of registered Dems grew considerably since last year’s primary. 

"The Asbury Park Press endorsed Barack Obama," announced Democratic County Chairman Vic Scudiery, who sported a tie pin in the shape of the state of New Jersey with an Obama logo emblazoned in the center. 

"Obama has the intellect needed to comprehend the complexities of the times and the ability to articulate his positions clearly and eloquently," the paper’s Sunday editorial read in part. "He can inspire, and we believe he will be able to bring out the best in the American people at a time when our best will be needed...

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Obama volunteer Karin R. White Morgen: Politicker photo 

BAYONNE - Forget about president, there’s a war for mayor going on, and millions of contract dollars at stake as this hard knock dock town faces redevelopment of the Navy peninsula.

But the mayor’s race and its implications for next year’s politics have now produced a smaller - but no less intense - spin-off war between regular and renegade Democrats scrambling to prove their allegiance to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) with a little more than two weeks until Election Day.

Leading mayoral candidates, police director Mark Smith and retired judge Pat Conaghan, don’t want to publicly back Obama as they court 7,453 independent voters and 2,157 Republicans in what is billed as a nonpartisan election in an overwhelmingly Democratic (15,894 registered voters) yet historically white city.

The Republicans see opportunity here in this onetime Reagan Democrat stronghold, and have made targeted phone calls on behalf of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). But Obama’s 13-point lead over McCain in New Jersey and the Democrat’s frontrunner status nationally have at least one conspicuous Conaghan ally rushing to quell the perception that he’s operating outside the auspices of Obamaland.

On Saturday, Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone (D-Bayonne) enlisted the help of his ally, state Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-Hudson), and opened an Obama for President headquarters at the corner of Avenue C and Andrews Street.

From that vantage point, he launched an attack on what he sees as a stalled-in-the-past local party organization he said has soft-pedaled its Obama outreach.

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For a larger version, click here.

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In their televised debate last night, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) criticized Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Il.) tax plan, arguing that it would unfairly punish business and redistribute wealth.

The Obama campaign's response here in New Jersey is to establish an "Obama Tax Cut Calculation Station" on State Street in Trenton.

"At the station, New Jersey workers on their lunch break will be able to... calculate the tax cut they will receive under Senator Obama’s 'making work pay tax plan for the middle class,'" said Obama spokesman Andrew Poag. "Senator Obama’s plan will cut taxes for 95% of working families and will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year."

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Via AP Newswire
 
The McCain Campaign finally released its long-awaited Economic Stimulus Plan today at a campaign event in Boston, Massachusetts -- a state where the Arizona Senator trails Senator Barack Obama by more than 17 points, according to the latest Rasmussen polling data. “My friends, the fundamentals of our campaign in the Bay State are sound,” declared McCain. “And our economic plan will take a hatchet to budget earmarks. Maverick. Maverick. And you will know their names…Maverick.”

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One week after scoring major Democratic endorsements from former Secretary of State Joan Haberle and her daughter, John McCain now has the support of Alfredo Gutierrez, the owner of Xtra Supermarket in Newark. “He sits on the board of United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce," said spokesman Peter Feldman.  "He is the first Dominican to ever hold a seat on the board.”   Gutierrez was the only New Jerseyan on a list of fifty Latino endorsements announced by the McCain campaign nationally.

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The McCain campaign issued a list of endorsements from 50 Hispanic business leaders around the country, with a heavy emphasis on California and Texas. Among the names was one from New Jersey: Alfredo Gutierrez.

“Alfredo Gutierrez is an entrepreneur and owner of Xtra Supermarket in Newark,” said McCain spokesman Peter Feldman. “He sits on the board of United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He is the first Dominican to ever hold a seat on the board.”

Feldman said after his arrival to the United States in 1966, Gutierrez worked as a stock boy in a New York grocery store. He later opened his own bodega, followed by five area grocery stores.

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To view more cartoons by Politicker.com editorial cartoonist Rob Tornoe, click here.

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