Mitt Romney

Check back tomorrow morning to view my sketchpad for day three of the Democratic National Convention, and go to my national blog to follow convention coverage by cartoonists from around the country.

Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth): Politicker photo 

As they find themselves once again among the general election ranks of their respective parties, two state senators in opposing camps still hope their first picks for president end up as running mates for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il).

Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), former state chairman for the Romney campaign, believes Romney would be McCain’s best choice for vice president. Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex), meanwhile, hopes Obama picks Rice’s primary candidate, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

"Hillary needs to be a match on that ticket to keep some perspective," said Rice. "We’re talking about 18 million votes for her, plus your Obama votes. That team could really keep people coming out in a general election. I feel he needs to identify a vice president, and it should be Hillary."

Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), left, confers with Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittell after economic growth hearing.

TRENTON - State Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), who served as director of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, says the former Massachusetts governor would be a good pick as Sen. John McCain's running mate.

During the Republican primary, Romney and McCain disagreed on the Bush administration's policy regarding torture. On at least one occasion, the Arizona senator upbraided Romney for what he believed was his GOP rival's naivete in not taking a firmer stand against some methods employed by U.S. military and intelligence forces.

One person who won’t have much influence in the next Administration: Congressman Michael Ferguson. The four-term Republican, who is not seeking re-election this year, endorsed Mitt Romney for President the week before the New Jersey primary; Romney dropped out one week later.

State Sen. Leonard Lance says he will endorse John McCain for the GOP presidential nomination now that Mitt Romney has ended his campaign.

"I hope that the party will now unify behind McCain, said Lance, a candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress.  "I hope that Senator McCain considers Governor Romney for his vice presidential running mate or for a position in the administration."

The Inside Edge is always happy to help our good friend Paul Mulshine, which is why there were no complaints when his February 5 column on the idea that Mitt Romney’s campaign can run their own delegate slate in June and effectively bypass the winner-take-all system appeared to mirror a similar column on this site six days earlier.  After all, Mulshine is a better writer, and he did use the s-word. 

But one word of caution to the man who sits on the right side of the Star-Ledger:  be careful when you let C. Richard “Dick” Kamin, a man of limited intellectual capacity and even less influence, spin you on a story – especially one the ex-Motor Vehicles Director read on PolitickerNJ.com.

In the end, Barack Obama came no closer to Hillary Clinton than Doug Forrester came to Frank Lautenberg and Jon Corzine. Clinton appears to have won New Jersey by more than 100,000 votes – a 54%-44% margin. It was a solid win fueled by strong showings in Bergen, Hudson, Camden, Passaic and Middlesex counties. Clinton carried sixteen counties; Obama won Essex, Mercer, Somerset, Hunterdon and Union counties.

Huckabee spokesman Peter KaneFormer Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's Super Tuesday performance sparked his supporters here in New Jersey, including State Campaign Director Peter Kane, who also couldn't resist taking a shot at the GOP field's favorite target, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney.

"They said we had a second tier candidate," Kane said in a statement. "They said the Iowa win was a fluke. They said we were just in it to be a spoiler. They said we should just get out of the race now. They said we had limited appeal to a narrow slice of the electorate."

Huckabee picked up victories in his homestate of Arkansas, in Georgia, Alabama and West Virginia, and was competing in at least two more states Wednesday morning.

"With wins in several states, throughout this country and the delegate count
rising steadily maybe this has finally become a two person race," said Kane. "And maybe, it is time for Gov. Romney to bow out gracefully and leave the battle to the one true, sincere conservative in this race: Mike Huckabee."

Two final New Jersey polls show Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain with leads in their respective fields.

A Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll shows Clinton leading Barack Obama 46%-41%. A Strategic Vision poll shows Clinton leading Obama 47%-41%.

The Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll shows McCain with 53%, Mitt Romney with 24%, and Mike Huckabee with 5%. The Strategic Vision poll shows McCain with 55%, Romney with 25%, and Huckabee with 10%.