Linda Stender

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Former President Bill Clinton with Linda Stender in the closing days of the 2006 campaign

CRANFORD -- Speaking in support of Assemblywoman Linda Stender's congressional bid at Union County College today, former President Bill Clinton said Hillary had sent him.

"She said that New Jersey had been good to me and good to her, and we needed to be good to New Jersey by helping Linda Stender get elected to Congress," said Clinton.

Clinton spent the bulk of his time giving his usual stump speech for Barack Obama, but he started off by rattling off some of Stender's accomplishments in the legislature.  He characterized her as an integral part of a sweeping change needed in Washington.

"I have reviewed Linda Stender's record very carefully, and if you look at the needs of America today, I think you can make a very compelling case that she has a record that is one of the finest not only in the legislature in New Jersey, but in the entire United States of America," he said.

Clinton specifically mentioned Stender's global warming bill, her previous work dealing with mortgages, her support for stem cell research and her bill to ban junk food in school cafeterias.

He also demonstrated some familiarity with her last race against now-retiring U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson.

"She lost by 3,000 votes last time.  There are enough people in this room to turn 3,000 votes between now and Tuesday," he said.

He was less familiar with the margins he won New Jersey by in his two elections.  Clinton said he won the first time by one percent, and the second time by 15 percent.

"We haven't won by less since," he said. (John Kerry beat President Bush in the New Jersey by 6%).

Former President Bill Clinton is running late, leaving more than 1,000 Democrats waiting on the Saturday before the election at a rally for Democratic congressional candidate Linda Stender.  The rally began at 12:30 PM, with Clinton expected about an hour later.  It's now 2:20 PM and the former President has not yet arrived.  That's tough on the master of ceremonies, State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, who is trying hard to come up with new material to keep the crowd engaged.

CRANFORD -- Democratic State Chairman Joe Cryan took the stage today at Union County College not just to tout Linda Stender as a hard working public servant who always “does the right thing,” but to Pummel her opponent’s reputation as a moderate independent.

“Some people say to me the other guy’s nice, or he’s ok, or what’s unfathomable to me: that he’s independent,” he said.

Cryan spoke favorably of Stender's background, including her global warming bill and work as a freeholder preserve open space. Then he challenged the audience to name one thing Lance had accomplished in his legislative career.

“What a way to get a room quiet -- just ask what Leonard Lance has accomplished,” he said. “He’s not independent. He’s as partisan as they come. Independent my ass!”

A Union County Democratic party official suggests that if Linda Stender loses her race for Congress next week, she won't get a fifth term in the State Assembly when her seat comes up next year.  As Democrats see it, Stender has had two shots to move up (she lost a race to Mike Ferguson by one percentage point in 2006), and they believe she should win this year.  There is a long line of Union County Democrats who are interested in succeeding Stender in the Legislature, and party leaders feel their opportunity to run for the Assembly ought not be eliminated because Stender didn't run a strong enough House race.  If she loses, look for Stender to wind up with an appointed position, either in the state or in Union County. 

Yesterday, Union County Republican Chairman Phil Morin faxed a letter to the president and the communications head of Union County College to ask why they were making an exception to their own policy in order to host Bill Clinton’s rally for Democratic Congressional candidate Linda Stender tomorrow.

So far, he has not heard back from either of them.

So today, Morin fired off an email, this time to Trustee Edward J. Hobbie, complaining that the college’s staff was avoiding him.

“In your capacity as a member of the Board of Trustees and vice chair of the Board of Governors of the College, I am requesting that you inquire why they are ducking me and the media on this issue and why they are allowing partisan political activity on campus when the facility use rules and regulations specifically prohibit it,” wrote Morin (Hobbie’s brother Mark responded immediately to Morin, saying that he would try to reach Edward).

In a Democratic year, State Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Flemington) could win a congressional seat against the front runner, Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood)

With just four days left in the 2008 campaign, Republican Leonard Lance is poised to eke out an upset victory against Democrati Linda Stender, according to James Pindell, the editor of Politicker.com's The Pindell Report, which offers independent analysis of federal- and state-level races.  Pindell today moved New Jersey's 7th district seat from Leans Democratic to Leans Republican.

Pindell says that the decision of Democrats to dispatch their highest profile surrogate, former President Bill Clinton, to campaign for Stender is not something a campaign does when its ahead going into the final hours of a race.  PolitickerNJ.com reported this week that the Stender campaign has an internal poll showing her trailing Lance by four points.

"How did we get to this point?," Pindell asked.  "After a year of national Democrats and aligned organizations dumping millions of dollars behind Stender, the Democrat missed when she spent part of the last stretch of the campaign talking about abortion. If there is anything we learned from this cycle, it’s that social issues didn’t matter much. Other Democrats across the country gained traction by focusing on the economy. Should Stender indeed fall short, it would be a disappointing end to a race that Democrats had invested heavily in."

Union County Republican Chairman Phil Morin has challenged the right of congressional candidate Linda Stender to use Union County College’s facilities for her rally with former President Bill Clinton on Saturday, and further charged that the school was discriminating against Republicans.

In a letter to the college’s president, Thomas H. Brown, Morin said that hosting the rally was a violation of the school’s facility rental guidelines.

"I was taken aback today to discover that Union County College was hosting a rally promoting one Democratic candidate to the exclusion of her Republican opponent, Leonard Lance.  To my knowledge, there was never any offer of this event being an “open public debate of political issues” as this rally was apparently orchestrated without contacting the Lance campaign,” wrote Morin.

Bill Clinton is coming to New Jersey because Linda Stender is trailing Leonard Lance in the race for the 7th district congressional seat.  The decision of national Democrats to dispatch Clinton to help Stender and not John Adler might be an indication of their confidence in winning the third district race.  It's noteworthy that Clinton will be in the state and not traveling the extra hour to help Adler; it seems the Democrats have made a decision that they're comforable with Adler's chances against Republican Christopher Myers.

U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, will be in two of New Jersey’s most competitive congressional districts tomorrow.

Van Hollen will make an appearance with congressional candidate Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) in the morning, and move up to the 5th District to campaign with candidate Dennis Shulman in the afternoon.

Joining Van Hollen for Shulman will be U.S. Reps. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn), Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) and Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch).  The rally will take place at IBEW Local 164's Paramus headquarters. 

Shulman, whose race has long been watched by the DCCC, was recently bumped up to its top tier classification of candidates. There are few indications about which way that district is going, but those that do exist show it tightening.