Trenton

IT'S DE-JA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

The Republicans are at it again. Not content to learn from their party's past mistakes, Assemblymen Sean Kean and Steve Corodemus have gone ahead and abused taxpayer dollars to send letters to voters in a tried, true, and illegal form of incumbency protection.

Panter and Morgan:$800,000 Buys A Lot of Loyalty

Jennifer Beck and Declan O'Scanlon, the Republican candidates for Assembly in the 12th Legislative District, today questioned whether the nearly $1 million in campaign contributions their opponents, Assemblymen Mike Panter and Bob Morgan, accepted from Democrat party leaders is responsible for their voting records being mirror-images of the Assembly Democratic leadership.

Forrester Announces Government Reform Plan to Take Back New Jersey

Building on his calls for an elected state auditor and a host of other government reforms, gubernatorial nominee Doug Forrester today detailed a comprehensive Government Reform plan. Forrester cited the years of government abuse in Trenton that have demonstrated the need for comprehensive structural reforms to New Jersey's government.

Day 5: Corzine Still Condoning Politics First
--Silent Senator Never Spoke Out on Golan, Won't Speak Out on Pallone, Andrews, Menendez skipping Vote to Help Katrina Victims to Do Debate Spin--

Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson issued the following statement today: Last Tuesday, Congressmen Frank Pallone, Rob Andrews and Bob Menendez missed an important vote to provide relief to survivors of hurricane Katrina so they could do the political bidding of Jon Corzine. Five days ago, I asked Jon Corzine to speak out on this and make it clear that it was wrong for those three members to put politics first. He's said not a peep. No one should be surprised though because Corzine always puts his politics first and remains silent when his party does the wrong thing.

If Doug Would Stop Flip Flopping He'd Spend Less Time Back Tracking

After flip-flopping on the gas tax, Doug Forrester today tried to backtrack from his admission that he would consider raising the gas tax. Forrester issued a release today saying he firmly opposes raising the gas tax, but on both his AAA and League of Municipalities questionnaires Forrester said he would consider raising the gas tax as a last resort.

Day 2: Corzine's Silence on Dem Congressmen Who Put Politics First
Corzine Still Refuses to Condemn Menendez, Pallone, and Andrews for Skipping Vote on Katrina Aid to Campaign for Him

From the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University: "In the spring of 1910, Col. George Harvey, editor of Harper's Weekly, persuaded [former U.S. Senator] James Smith of Newark, "boss" of the New Jersey Democratic Party, to support [Woodrow] Wilson for the gubernatorial nomination. Wilson, who had recently lost an internal struggle at Princeton with one of his deans, agreed to accept the nomination if it were offered without conditions. Smith's well-oiled machine worked perfectly, but his plan to elect a dignified puppet soon went awry. Wilson accepted the Democratic state convention's nomination, aligned himself with the progressive forces that had been fighting Smith, and won in a landslide on Nov. 8, 1910. It was only the beginning of the revolution. Before his inauguration Wilson prevented Smith's election to the United States Senate by the state legislature. Inaugurated on Jan. 17, 1911, the new governor maintained such heavy pressure on the legislature at Trenton that he won enactment of most of his program in one session: direct primaries; effective state regulations of public utilities; workmen's compensation; municipal reform; and reorganization of the school system. In early 1913 he won the last of his important demands--antitrust legislation to drive industrial monopolies from New Jersey."

The hot rumor of the day, according to numerous sources in Bergen County and in Trenton, is the possible appointment of State Senator Joseph Coniglio to the state Board of Public Utilities. Several sources told PoliticsNJ.com that Coniglio is interested in going to the BPU if the current occupant of the seat, Jack Alter, retires. If Coniglio were to leave the Senate, it might set off another hotly contested special election convention among Bergen Democrats. Possible candidates: Assemblyman Robert Gordon and Paramus Mayor James Tedesco.