Julie Roginsky

Heartened by three weeks of negative news about Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie, Democrats hoped to see independent polls reflect a tightening race.  They did not get their wish today. 

A Quinnipiac University poll released today put Christie ahead of Governor Corzine by 10 points – a four point increase from their poll last month.  Another independent poll released today from Fairleigh Dickinson University put Christie ahead by 5 points – virtually the same as FDU’s poll last month. 

Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan, however, says that he and other Democrats are not worried.

“We have a campaign strategy that lays out how to get to our vote goal numbers.  It lays it out pretty carefully. I admit it’s internal, but I think party folks in particular have seen part of what we’ve laid out so far and its intended consequences.  So I think people understand we’re going to get to where we need to be,” Cryan said. 

Privately, some Democrats express concern and disappointment that the horse race numbers have not moved.  But the renewed sense of optimism about Corzine’s chances -- which came after morale bottomed out in the wake of July’s “Corruption Thursday” bust of mostly Democratic politicians -- has not disappeared. 

Gov. Jon Corzine’s State of the State address will be broadcast live on New Jersey Network at 1PM today.  The speech will air simultaneously on NJN Public Radio and be web streamed and archived at njn.net. The State of the State speech will be rebroadcast tonight at 10PM.  Republican Roger Bodman, Democrat Julie Roginsky, and Monmouth University Gannett NJ poll director Patrick Murray will provide analysis.

Former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer would like to find his way to the U.S. Senate.  But first, he wants to find incumbent Senator Frank Lautenberg.

Frustrated at the Senior Senator’s refusal to engage him in any debates just yet, Zimmer has decided to embark on a diner tour where he’ll ask patrons if they’ve seen or heard from Lautenberg, and to give out some tongue-in-cheek campaign literature. 

“A number of newspaper editorials have asked, ‘Where is Senator Lautenberg hiding?’  I intend to help find our missing Senator by handing out missing-person flyers at diners throughout New Jersey,” said Zimmer. 

With less than two months to go until the election, no debate dates have been set between Sen. Frank Lautenberg and his challenger, former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer.

“There’s a deafening silence on the other end, which seems to be the pattern of the Lautenberg campaign,” said Randy Mastro, a former New York City Deputy Mayor and Assistant U.S. Attorney under Rudy Giuliani who was brought onto the Zimmer campaign as a special counsel to facilitate debates between Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) and Zimmer. “It’s hard to understand why Frank Lautenberg doesn’t want to debate the issues of importance to New Jersey voters with Dick Zimmer.”

The day after a relatively narrow victory in the Republican U.S. Senate primary, Zimmer held a news conference in Trenton challenging Lautenberg to a series of debates, bringing up Lautenberg’s quest in his first Senate campaign in 1982 to debate Republican opponent U.S. Rep. Millicent Fenwick “morning, noon and night.”

United States Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) will have to take a loss on the $1.65 million he loaned himself for his primary against U.S. Rep. Ron Andrews (D-Haddon Heights), according to an advisory opinion from the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

A Lautenberg lawyer last month wrote to request the opinion to see if the Supreme Court’s ruling that the “millionaire’s amendment” to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) was unconstitutional could also be applied to a provision of the act that bans candidates from paying off more than $250,000 in personal loans with campaign contributions made after the election.

In a memorandum dated Monday, four lawyers from the FEC replied that the provisions regarding repayment of personal loans were not struck down by the Supreme Court’s decision in Davis v. Federal Election Commission.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer introduced a new campaign theme at a Passaic supermarket this afternoon: the “waste of the week.”

Zimmer today highlighted incumbent Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s support of the Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 – informally known as the Farm Bill – saying that it is full of pork-barrel spending, provides unneeded subsidies to agribusiness and raises prices for consumers.

“New Jerseyans pay twice for the Farm Bill: once in higher federal taxes to fund big handouts to wealthy farmers in other states and again in the higher prices they pay at their supermarket checkout line,” said Zimmer in a statement.  “Politicians like Senator Lautenberg have been in office so long and are so disconnected with average taxpayers that they fail to see the wastefulness of this bloated depression-era legislation.  To them, it is business as usual—catering to special interests, throwing good money after bad, all at taxpayer expense.”

In one way, Republican Dick Zimmer’s Senate campaign against Frank Lautenberg looks remarkably like Rob Andrews’s ill-fated Democratic primary challenge to the incumbent Senator.

For the second week in a row, Zimmer held a press conference to challenge Lautenberg to televised debates – including two this month.  This time, Zimmer stood with State Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr., who engaged in two June debate with Sen. Bob Menendez during their race in 2006.

“If Senator Menendez could debate then, Senator. Lautenberg can certainly debate now,” said Kean.

But Zimmer’s campaign contrasts with Andrews’s in that Zimmer does not believe that Lautenberg’s age will prove to be his vulnerability.  When asked whether Lautenberg, 84, was too old to effectively serve another term in office, Zimmer said “No, not in terms of years.”

Not to be outdone by Frank Lautenberg’s Web site tying him to President Bush’s Iraq policies, Rep. Rob Andrews announced the creation of his own site today.

The site outlines what Andrews says are Lautenberg’s contradictions – from his call for 21 debates with Millicent Fenwick in 1982 to his early support for the Iraq War.

"Nothing speaks louder than a man's own words and actions," said Andrews Campaign Chairman Mike Murphy. "This website lets Sen. Lautenberg's record speak for itself."

Reporters Roundtable with Michael Aron (Friday at 6:30PM and Sunday at 10AM): Dusty McNichol (Star-Ledger), Mark I’onno (Star-Ledger), Matt Friedman (PolitickerNJ.com) and John Reitmeyer (The Record) discuss the U.S. Senate race, the Farmers Rally in Trenton, proposed state parks closings, and congestion pricing in New York City.

On the Record with Michael Aron (Sunday at 9AM and 11AM and Monday at 6:30AM): Julie Roginsky, Gregg Edwards, Rick Perr and Steve Lonegan talk about the U.S. Senate race