New Jersey

VINELAND – The American public has the right to openly question their politicians and they will enjoy that right on Saturday, September 27 as NJ 2nd District Constitution Party Congressional candidate Peter Boyce (www.boyceyourchoice.com) hosts Dr. Chuck Baldwin, the party's presidential hopeful.  The free admission "Truth in Tandem Townhall" will be held at Cumberland County College, in the George P. Luciano FamilyCenter for Public Service and Leadership,  from 11:30 A.M. to 1:00 P.M.  All questions on any of the critical issues facing America today are especially welcome.

Barack Obama's lead in New Jersey has shrunk to six percentage points, according to a new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll: Getty Images Photo
The contest for New Jersey’s fifteen electoral votes has narrowed to a six-point lead for Barack Obama over John McCain, according to a new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll released this morning.  Obama leads McCain 47%-41%.  An August 13 Quinnipiac University poll had Obama ahead by ten points, 51%-41%.

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama had a private meeting in Newark on Friday, just before Obama headed to Middletown for a fundraiser at Jon Bon Jovi's home.  Menendez and Obama bet to discuss GOTV strategies for New Jersey and other key Latino communities across the U.S.  New Jersey's Senator is also considered an influential national Latino leader, who has demonstrated abilities to motivate Latino voters in states like Florida, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado.

A second independent poll in seven days on the 2009 race for Governor shows a potentially close contest between Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican Christopher Christie, the United States Attorney.  A Zogby International poll conducted for Garden State Equality gives Corzine a 45%-36% lead over Christie; a Quinnipiac University poll released last Tuesday has Christie leading 41%-40% -- a statistical dead heat.

Democrat Frank Lautenberg has a 50%-32% lead over Republican Dick Zimmer in the race for U.S. Senate, according to a Zogby International poll released today.  A Quinnipiac University released on August 12 has Lautenberg leading 48%-41%. 

The poll was conducted for Garden State Equality, a civil rights organization that advocates marriage equality and other gay rights issues.

Most of New Jersey's Democratic party leadership backed Hillary Clinton for the presidential nomination: Getty Images Photo
Democratic National Committeewoman Christine “Roz” Samuels said today that she was dumped from the New Jersey delegation last night because she flipped her support from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama back in February.

Samuels said she was called yesterday morning at 8:00 a.m. by Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan, who told her that Essex County Democratic Chairman Phil Thigpen wanted her off the ticket.

“One day notice,” she said. “They called me yesterday morning and told me I was off the ticket. And I said ‘You mean for what I did way in February? This is retaliation for February?’”

Samuels said that she was told she was thrown off the ticket because of her switch. Samuels officially switched to Obama on February 14th – less than one week before two South Jersey super delegates switched – but long before most north Jersey party leaders left the Clinton camp.

Samuels’s replacement will be former Assemblywoman Stephanie Bush-Baskette, who’s also from Essex County.

“I really have to find out what is the time limitation for pulling someone off a ticket. You can’t tell someone that morning the morning of the meeting. Usually you give a two week notice to someone if you’re going to fire them from the job,” she said, adding that she has run two recent successful Obama events in Montclair. “It’s just a vindictive thing because I had a couple good meetings, and I think (Thigpen) feels that way because he didn’t do it first.”

A new Quinnipiac University poll gives Barack Obama a 51%-41% lead over John McCain in the race for New Jersey's 15 electoral votes: Getty Images Photo
Barack Obama has a ten point lead over John McCain in New Jersey, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this morning. Obama leads 51%-41% among likely voters in the Gardem State.

"New Jersey continues to wear its true blue stripes and appears to be solidly in Sen. Barack Obama's corner heading into the Fall campaign. Like most strong Republican contenders, Sen. John McCain can wish, but it is unlikely that he can swing the tide in New Jersey unless he swings the tide dramatically nationwide," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Obama, a Democratic U.S. Senator from Illinois, gets the support of 94% of black voters, and has a 15 point lead among women, is ahead among men, narrowly, 48%-45%, and leads among Independents, 45%-42%. McCain leads among white voters (50%-42%).

RED BANK - In quintessential New Jersey fashion, potential First Lady Cindy McCain made her first solo public campaign stop today at a diner.

With State Sens. Jennifer Beck (R-Red Bank) and Bill Baroni (R-Hamilton) at her side, McCain shook hands and briefly conversed with patrons at the Broadway Diner in Red Bank, sharing the usual niceties we’ve come to expect at such events.

On her way out, McCain took one question from reporters about whether her husband, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, actually had a shot at carrying a state no GOP presidential candidate has carried since 1988.

“Absolutely. We’ve not written off New Jersey,” she said. “This is a very important state. We’re going to be up very late on November 4th, and New Jersey is a very important part of that. We intend to be here quite a bit before the election. I’m happy to be here on a great day. It was stormy a few days ago so maybe I brought the sunshine with me.”

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie is in a statistical dead head with Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine in a 2009 gubernatorial poll: Getty Images Photo
A new Quinnipiac University poll released early this morning shows Gov. Jon Corzine and U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie are in a statistical dead heat in the 2009 race for Governor. Christie leads Corzine 41%-40%.

Less than four out of ten New Jersey voters (37%) say Corzine deserves to be re-elected to a second term. Half the voters (50%) say he does not.

"Gov. Jon Corzine is in trouble. Since most New Jersey voters say they don't know a lot about Christopher Christie, Gov. Corzine's record and inability to unscramble the state's budget mess is pulling him down," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Frank Lautenberg has hit the magic number: he’s at 51% in a new Rasmussen Reports poll released on Wednesday. That’s the first time in Lautenberg’s 26-year political career that he has hit the fifty percent mark before Labor Day. He leads Republican Dick Zimmer 51%-33%.