John McCain

U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-Newark), and Piscataway grassroots organizer Nadia Brown: Politicker photo 

ROSELLE - It’s Garrett Smith country on a Saturday.

Emptying a chair alongside the young Roselle mayor, U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-Newark) stood in front of a microphone and gave Gov. Jon Corzine props for playing a role in discovering Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il) when Corzine chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Obama’s romping here in Roselle by every indication, but Payne and Obama aren’t eyeball to eyeball on everything, including last week’s Wall Street bailout.

While Obama and his Republican rival in the presidential race on Wednesday quietly supported the $700 billion measure that its critics say falls disproportionately across the shoulders of American taxpayers, Payne twice vociferously bucked the controversial bill in the House.

Today he laid out his views before a cheering crowd in Roselle’s Warinanco Park, where several hundred people gathered in support of Obama on the front-end of a Union County voter registration drive days before the Oct. 14th registration deadline.

Gov. Jon Corzine: Politicker file photo 

Governor Jon S. Corzine on Saturday afternoon plans to address a rally in support of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) at Warinanco Park in Roselle.

According to Obama campaign spokesman Andrew Poag, in his remarks the governor intends to detail why he believes Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) healthcare plan is wrong for New Jersey.

"Additionally, Obama’s New Jersey Campaign for Change will continue to hit the pavement across the state contacting voters in the run up to Election Day," Poag said.

To view a larger version of this cartoon, click here.

If you missed the first presidential debate you probably relied on the media to tell you who won.  

BTW, you're not alone. TV audiences for presidential debates have been shrinking for more than two decades. McCain-Obama Round 1 drew 30 million fewer viewers as compared to the Carter-Reagan debate in 1980.

These days the media relies on instant national polls to proclaim a winner.  

Thomas Roughneen in GOP HQ Tuesday: Politicker photo 

SOMERVILLE - Led by Iraq War veteran Thomas Roughneen, Republicans kicked off a concentrated nightly phone-banking effort here today on behalf of presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"Every night for 18 nights we will have people from a different town in Somerset County in here making calls for Sen. McCain, supplemented by women making targeted calls on Wednesdays and veterans calling people on Tuesdays," said Roughneen, who serves as the McCain campaign’s coordinator for Somerset County.

Roughneen, a Watchung lawyer who ran for Congress unsuccessfully in the 7th District earlier this year, is a longtime McCain supporter.

Barack Obama leads John McCain by nine points in New Jersey, according to a Strategic Vision poll set to be released tomorrow. 

That poll comes on the heels of today’s Survey USA poll that showed Obama leading McCain 52% to 42%. 

Survey USA also polled the U.S. Senate race, going as far as to pronounce incumbent U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg the winner in its headline, though probably not intentionally.   

Lautenberg leads Zimmer 51% to 38% in the Garden State.

A Press of Atlantic City/Richard Stockton College poll of South Jersey voters shows Obama leading McCain by 9% in the region, while Democratic U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg leads Republican challenger Dick Zimmer.

The poll is the first non-partisan survey conducted of the 3rd Congressional District race, where State Sen. John Adler (D-Cherry Hill) is running neck-and-neck with Republican Medford Mayor Chris Myers.

Myers leads Adler 38.5% to 37.1% -- within the poll’s 4.5% margin of error.

To view a larger version of this cartoon, click here.

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

Former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer: Politicker file photoWhile former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer praised Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) for suspending his campaign activities and bowing out of Friday’s debate, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate stopped short of temporarily ending his own campaign.

"This is a very perilous time for the American financial system and for the financial security of American families," Zimmer said in a statement. "I commend Senator McCain for putting the nation’s interest ahead of his political ambitions to work with his fellow Senators from both parties on finding a solution to the current crisis.