Rudy Giuliani

Up onstage with 12th district GOP state Senate candidate Jennifer Beck and her running mates for the Assembly, Declan O'Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande, presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani called for less government and more people power.

Rudy Giuliani told Republicans today that he expects the Democratic nominee to close up shop in New Jersey -- and that he'll continue to campaign for the state's fifteen electoral votes through November 2008.

In the ultra-competitive district 12 legislative race, the Republicans are breaking out the big guns.

Rudy Giuliani is scheduled to make an appearance on behalf of Republican legislative candidates Jennifer Beck, Declan O’Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande, according to campaign spokesman Tom Fitzsimmons.

The appearance is scheduled for a Thursday rally at The Excelsior in Manalapan at 3:30 p.m.

In a general election match-up, Hillary Clinton leads Rudy Giuliani by 10 points in New Jersey -- by a margin of 49% to 39% -- according to a Rutgers-Eagleton poll released this morning.

Both candidates remain far ahead of the presidential pack in New Jersey, while President Bush’s approval rating plummeted to a new low of 19%.

Clinton leads her nearest Democratic rival, Barack Obama, amongst Democratic voters by 52% to 31%. That’s seven points higher than Clinton’s lead in the institute’s August poll. Other recent polls have her leading by similar margins. Giuliani’s domination of the Republican field is even greater. He leads the next most popular Republican presidential candidate in the state, John McCain, by a margin of 54% to 12%.

When I young and living in Madison, New Jersey, we would listen in the autumn to the World Series, usually between the awesome New York Yankees and the hapless Brooklyn Dodgers (sometimes the New York Giants made it in). This competition was termed the “Subway Series,” indicating that one could see all the action by traveling to stadia via the subways in the Bronx or Brooklyn. One did not need a car to see the World Series.

It looks like the Democrats are moving toward a coronation of Hillary Clinton as Obama and Edwards seem so weary or stale. Obama has decided to attack flag lapel pins, and Edwards has gone from being a populist to a prissy wealthy liability lawyer.    So that gives us time to focus at least for now on the Republicans.  And one can see them in bloom at their Detroit debate, celebrating capitalism, Bush, budget cuts, and themselves.  Like an old marriage, we have heard all that before with some exceptions.

Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani continue to hold substantial leads in New Jersey’s February 5, 2008 presidential primary, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning.

Among Democrats, Clinton leads Barack Obama by a 46%-20% margin, with 9% to John Edwards. On the Republican side, Giuliani leads Fred Thompson by 36 percentage points – 48%-12%, with 9% for John McCain and 7% for Mitt Romney.

In a general election matchup, Clinton and Giuliani are in a statistical dead-heat, with each candidate at 44%.

Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani continue to hold substantial leads in New Jersey's February 5, 2008 presidential primaries, according to a new Strategic Vision poll released today. Clinton leads Barack Obama by a 52%-21% margin among Democrats (John Edwards is at 7% and Bill Richardson at 5%), while Republicans give Giuliani a 53%-11% advantage over Fred Thompson. John McCain and Mitt Romney each have 7%.

In New Jersey, President George W. Bush has an upside-down overall job approval rating of 18%-71%. Seven out of ten voters disapprove of his handling of the economy, 69% disapprove of his handling of the war in Iraq, and 57% want a U.S. troops withdrawn from Iraq within six mohths. But New Jersey voters, by a 49%-41% margin, approve of Bush's handling of the war on terrorism.

British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli once said the purpose of the opposition is to oppose.  So why doesn't the New Jersey Republican party oppose more effectively and often?  The reality is that elected Republicans in the state legislature are a part of the establishment that enjoys the perks of public office that they and the Democrats put in place over the years.

Also the GOP is unable to capitalize on the Democrats’ considerable problems.  They do not cultivate and field and most importantly fund young candidates of promise in enough districts to make a difference even if they have a good year.  One should not have to self-fund a political campaign to be able to run for office especially in the beginning of a political career.

The Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll was conducted by telephone with 1091 New Jersey registered voters from September 27 to 30, 2007. The total sample has a margin of error of + 3.0 percent. The margins of error for the two voting intention questions are + 4.5% for the 478 likely Democratic primary voters and + 4.8% for the 411 likely Republican primary voters. The poll was originally published by the Gannett New Jersey newspaper group (Asbury Park Press, Courier-Post, Courier News, Daily Journal, Daily Record, Home News Tribune, and Ocean County Observer).