Joseph Biden

Vice President Joseph Biden is making his third visit to New Jersey this year in support of Gov.  Jon Corzine's bid for re-election.  Biden will speak at an 11AM rally at Middlesex County Community College in Edison.

President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton will also be in New Jersey this week for Corzine.

President Barack Obama is expected to visit New Jersey on October 21 to campaign for Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election, according to campaign sources.  This is Obama's second visit to New Jersey on Corzine's behalf.  The Corzine campaign has also asked the White House to consider a third visit, just before Election Day.

Vice President Joseph Biden has also made two campaign visits to New Jersey in support of Corzine.

The Star-Ledger is reporting that Vice President Joseph Biden has moved an event scheduled for Tuesday in Pennsauken to Philadelphia, suggesting that the Obama administration was unwilling to visit New Jersey so soon after dozens of public officials were arrested on federal corruption charges.  Biden and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder were "originally scheduled to hold the event, on community policing grants."

According to a criminal complaint, Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano allegedly accepted a bribe on the same day that he attended a Democratic rally in Holmdel featuring President Barack Obama.  Obama also gave a shout out to Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who admitted on Friday that he was one of the local officials referred to in several criminal complaints.

In an attempt to send a message, nearly one out of four Democrats who voted in Tuesday's Democratic primary (23%) did not vote for the incumbent Governor, Jon Corzine.  None of Corzine's three primary opponents, former Glen Ridge Mayor Carl Bergmanson (9%), 9/11 conspiracy theorist Jeff Boss (8%) and factory worker Roger Bacon (6%) spent more than couple of thousand dollars and had no organizational or interest group endorsements. 

Among the most significant political stories of the day was a Star-Ledger report that the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the state's largest public employee union, threatened to picket Corzine's campaign kickoff rally tonight - a move that might have led to Vice President Joseph Biden cancelling his appearance.  In order to avoid the controversy, Corzine agreed to a deal with the union on furloughs, according to the published report.

The Lincoln Tunnel, the New Jersey Turnpike and Route 280 were closed for more than thirty minutes during rush hour this evening for Vice President Joseph Biden's motorcade, according to traffic reports from CBS 880 AM and WINS 1010 AM.  Biden was traveling to Gov. Jon Corzine's campaign kickoff in West Orange after spending today in New York.

The road closures could potentially delay commuters seeking to return to New Jersey before the polls close at 8PM this evening.

Last week, State Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Cedar Grove) criticized Corzine for holding his Election Day event at the Richard Codey Arena, which is also a polling place.  Because political activity is barred from a polling location, Essex County officials were forced to relocate the voting machines.

One day after appearing with Vice President Joseph Biden to formally kick off his re-election campaign, Gov. Jon Corzine will travel to South Jersey on Wednesday for an appearance with an even bigger celebrity: TV personality Kelly Ripa.  Corzine will administer the oath of office to Ripa's father, Joseph Ripa, as the new Camden County Clerk.

Embattled contractor Joseph Sanzari was told he could not join other dignitaries on the stage when Vice President Joseph Biden visited a construction site in Bergen County last week - a move that left Sanzari off the charts angry, according to sources familiar with the event.  Sanzari's partner in the construction project on Route 46 and Main Street in Lodi, Fletcher Creamer, was also denied a spot on the dais. 

It is not clear who told Sanzari that he was not welcome on the dais.

Biden joined Gov. Jon Corzine and U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park ) and Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) in Lodi to tout the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which will help fund upgrades to Route 46 bridges.  Sanzari and Creamer were awarded a construction contract on that project.  Other contractors were permitted to join Biden at the event.

Accompanied by Vice President Joseph Biden, Gov. Jon Corzine will formally launch his bid for a second term on Primary Election day with a rally at the Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange.

There is some speculation that Barack Obama's choice to serve as Democratic National Chairman is Tim Kaine, the Governor of Virginia and a runner-up to Joe Biden in the summer vice presidential sweepstakes.  If Kaine gets the DNC post, it might drive traffic to www.timkaine.com - something that might help Steve Lonegan, the conservative Republican running for Governor of New Jersey this year.  The timkaine.com domain forwards to Lonegan's campaign site.

Several election officials agree that the New Jersey Division of Elections messed up when they allowed a candidate who says he witnessed the U.S. government arrange the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack to file for both President and U.S. Senate.  New Jersey election law prohibits candidates from seeking "more than one office to be filled at the same general election, the simultaneous holding of which would be prohibited."  While some states allow a candidate to run for two offices -- for example, Vice President and U.S. Senate, as Joseph Biden is doing in Delaware -- New Jersey does not.  Still, the state certified the nominating petions of Jeff Boss as a candidate for President and for the Senate.