Tom Giblin

Corzine Campaign Manager Maggie Moran and Belmar Councilman Matt Doherty

BELMAR - Down by double digits over the summer and into September, Gov. Jon Corzine's campaign now has him positioned for a last stretch dogfight with Republican challenger Chris Christie.

Assemblyman Tom Giblin (D-Montclair), former state party chairman, in part credits his tenacious protege, Corzine Campaign Manager Maggie Moran of Belmar, whom he calls Congressional material in the event that U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch) someday moves up to become a U.S. Senator.

"Yes, I do think Maggie should be a candidate for Congress," Giblin told PolitickerNJ.com. "She has great popularity here in the district and a great ability to network. There's no one else like her."

Caroline Kennedy, and Democratic State Party Chairman Joe Cryan

BELMAR - Appearing Wednesday night here at the Barclay in support of Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, Caroline Kennedy reached back to 1980 when her late uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy, campaigned for the presidency and won the Democratic Primary in New Jersey.

"I remember campaigning with Teddy in Elizabeth, Jersey City and Hoboken, and that victory you gave to him meant the most to him," said Kennedy, recalling other campaign visits throughout the years too, but dwelling on that Jersey win, when incumbent President Jimmy Carter defeated her uncle in 24 of 34 primaries but failed to turn him back here.

When Corzine mentioned how the senator, who died on August 25th after battling brain cancer, stood in the same spot in 2005 to help Corzine in his first run for the governorship, State Party Chairman Joe Cryan choked up at the memory before the governor added, "Nobody looks out for Jon Corzine like this Irishman, Joe Cryan."

There was sustained applause for Cryan and the late Kennedy from this Irish-American crowd that packed the split-level bar and banquet hall a block away from the capital beach for a community hovering at near 16% of the total population in New Jersey, for whom Caroline Kennedy remains a beloved symbol.

Corzine then invoked another Irish politician in the room, former Gov. Brendan Byrne, who occupied the chair of honor between Kennedy on one side, and a stage packed with Irish-American Mayors, including Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, on the other.

Saturday street corner in Newark's Central Ward.

NEWARK - Stunned by an ongoing state investigation into the absentee ballot operations of the North Ward Democratic Organization and up against the reality of a Democratic incumbent governor who doesn't send pulses racing, Newark operatives are counting on the GOTV power of a ginned-up labor movement here - as elsewhere.

"What the union effort does is supplement what's there on the ground," said Assemblyman Thomas Giblin (D-Montclair), president of the Essex-West Hudson Central Labor Council.

"The resurgence of the Democratic Party in New Jersey is a direct consequence of the unpaid union effort, with different labor organizations carving up the city (Newark) and taking different assignments by ward to get a lot of mundane, nitty-gritty jobs done," Giblin added.

To date, the gubernatorial ground game has looked grim for Democrats in Newark, where party members outnumber Republicans, 64,822 to 3,413, but where a state Attorney General's Office investigation into state Sen. Teresa Ruiz's (D-Newark) 2007 senate campaign - run by the city's most powerful political operation - has so far resulted in five indictments and unnerved political street people.

Gov. Jon Corzine meets up with state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) in erona.

VERONA - Selling his record on healthcare today with the latest poll showing him trailing his opponent by nine points in a head-to-head, Gov. Jon Corzine said back chatter about a ham-handed reelection campaign encumbered by too many chiefs is a "non-story."   

"Maggie Moran and Tom Shea are running the campaign," said the governor, where he appeared at a park in Verona with lieutenant governor candidate Loretta Weinberg.

Corzine has brought in former Bergen County Democratic Organization (BCDO) spokesman Bill Maer and Democratic Party strategist Jamie Fox, but the governor insisted the upper eschelon hierarchy of the campaign remains unchanged.

Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, center, greets state Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-Middletown), now chair of the Christie campaign, with Steve Adubato, Jr., left, and Christie confidante Bill Palatucci at last year's North Ward Center party at the Breakers.

Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo officially scratched himself off a shortening - and then lengthening - and now indeterminate lieutenant governor gossip sheet tonight, saying he wouldn't take the job if Gov. Jon Corzine offered. 

"I'm going to be running for Essex County Executive next year," said DiVincenzo, who is seeking his third term. "The more successful I am as county executive, people are interested in me wanting to run for lieutenant governor. But I'm not interested.

"I'm running for re-election," he added. "Jon knows I'm going to work very hard to get him re-elected."

DiVincenzo said he heard the LG rumors kick in about him on Friday, and he dismissed them. Today, The Inside Edge wrote a piece acknowledging the backchatter.

"I never talked to the governor, he never called me about this, I just want to put the rumor to rest," DiVincenzo told PolitickerNJ.com.

State Sen. Ronald L. Rice (D-Newark), foreground, campaigning for Obama with his son, West Ward Councilman Ronald C. Rice.

The early establishment reaction out of Democratic Party stronghold Essex County to LG prospect Randal Pinkett ranged from off-the-record outrage to on-the-record bewilderment to polite resignation.

Staring at a 12-point deficit in the governor's race and saddled with the responsbility of driving big Essex numbers in November for Gov. Jon Corzine, name Democrats here gaped at Corzine's rumored impending selection of a private sector African-American running mate. At least intially they question Pinkett's presence beside an incumbent schooled on Wall Street whose strong point was never his old-hand knowledge of politics and government.

"I don't know him, so I wouldn't have any comment about him," Essex County Democratic Party Chairman Phil Thigpen said of Pinkett. "The skills required to get elected and to get people to vote are not necessarily the same as the skills you need to make money. He hasn't been active in politics, to my knowledge."

State Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Newark) doesn't know Pinkett, but doesn't have a good feeling about him.

"People have relationships in business, and when they do, frankly, I get a little nervous when it comes to grassroots issues," said Rice of the 38-year old technology consultant from Franklin Township who's never held elected office. "Some of these business people should remain business people. Their trouble when they get into politics is they personalize what's good for them and they reach that point where they cross that line and can't see the people anymore."

CHIVUKULA / OLIVER / GIBLIN BILL TO ENCOURAGE INVESTMENT, EXPANSION IN NJ TECH FIRMS ADVANCES

Measure Would Expand Existing Technology Incentive Program To Put NJ Back on the Vanguard of Technology Development

(TRENTON) – Legislation Assembly members Upendra J. Chivukula, Sheila Y. Oliver and Thomas P. Giblin sponsored to enhance the incentives offered to individuals and businesses that invest in the state’s technology sector was released by an Assembly committee today.

“New Jersey has a long history of being a hub for technological innovation and advancement,” said Chivukula (D-Somerset), a member of the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee. “This enhanced investment incentive will ensure we continue writing new chapters of that history.”

STENDER / WISNIEWSKI / RAMOS / GIBLIN PEDESTRIAN SAFETY LEGISLATION CONTINUES ADVANCING

(TRENTON) – Legislation Assembly members Linda Stender, John S. Wisniewski, Ruben J. Ramos, Jr., and Thomas P. Giblin sponsored to enhance pedestrian safety throughout New Jersey continues advancing toward law.

The bill recently passed the Assembly 76-0 and has been referred to the Senate Transportation Committee.

“The number of pedestrian deaths in our state has been increasing instead of decreasing despite our best efforts in recent years,” said Stender (D-Union), vice chairwoman of the Assembly Transportation, Public Works and Independent Authorities Committee. “This measure will clearly give pedestrians the right of way so that school children and people on foot can safely walk to their destinations.”

Assemblyman Albert Coutinho (D-Newark)

NEWARK – The creeping disillusion Fred Linhares felt with the East Ward Democratic Party reached its denouement two weeks ago when the Ironbound attorney, Kean University professor and former municipal judge changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican and filed to run for the Assembly in the 29th Legislative District. 

“I’ve been a registered Democrat my whole life,” said Linhares, 40, who served on the local bench from 1999 to 2002, when he hung up his robes to run for freeholder on a ticket with then-county executive candidate Tom Giblin.

That ticket famously lost to Joe DiVincenzo and his team, and when it comes to assessing the self-styled progressive Linhares, who admits he feels no heartfelt tug from the GOP and says he voted for Ralph Nader in the last three presidential elections, members of his former party generally point to 2002 as Linhares’s real turning point in politics.

“I’ve known Fred Linhares since we were kids, and I think he should have stayed as a judge. I respect everyone’s right to run, but he was a good municipal judge,” said Assemblyman Albert Coutinho (D-Newark).

GIBLIN TRAVELS TO FT. SILL OKLAHOMA, VISITS WITH NJ NAT’L GUARD TROOPS BOUND FOR IRAQ

Assemblyman Meets With Members Of 150th Assault Helicopter Battalion During One-Day Trip

(TRENTON) – Assemblyman Thomas P. Giblin today traveled via military aircraft to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma as part of a state delegation to lend support and observe the validation ceremony of the 150th Assault Helicopter Battalion Unit of the New Jersey Army National Guard.

“These brave soldiers represent the best of New Jersey,” said Giblin (D-Essex). “The battalion of 256 men and women represents each of our 21 counties. Many of these soldiers are on their second tour of duty – some on their third or fourth. These selfless New Jerseyans have put their lives on hold to protect ours. They are truly American heroes.”