Michael Dukakis

Former Vice President Al Gore will be in New Jersey today, lending a hand to Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election by addressing an annual meeting of Democrats in Atlantic City.  Gore becomes the second of the eight living Democratic nominees for President to stump for Corzine; Barack Obama was in the state last July.  Democrats expect two others to be in New Jersey over the next few weeks: former President Bill Clinton, and U.S. Sen. John Kerry.  There are no plans for any of the other four onetime Democratic standard bearers to campaign for Corzine: George McGovern, Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis.

There are four living Republican presidential candidates.  It's almost certain that former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush will not campaigning for GOP gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie.  There is no word if Bob Dole or John McCain will be visiting New Jersey before November.

Gore also puts in checkmark under the living former Vice Presidents column. It seems certain that Christie won't ask Dick Cheney to come to New Jersey this fall - the heavy traffic on Route 1 notwithstanding. There are no apparent invitations for Mondale or Dan Quayle to stump for Corzine or Christie, respectively.

Vice President Joseph Biden appeared at a Corzine rally on the night of the Democratic primary.

Of the other five living former VP candidates, three almost certainly will not be invited: Sarah Palin, John Edwards, and Joseph Lieberman.  Sargent Shriver has health issues and is no longer making public appearances. That leaves Geraldine Ferraro, and there is a decent chance the Corzine campaign won't want her.

A quick look at several old New Jersey presidential polls taken (mostly) in September:

Jersey City Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis met one of his idols tonight.    

Among the familiar faces milling about the crowd in the Massachusetts delegation, seated just behind New Jersey, was a former presidential candidate and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, who almost exactly 20 years ago took the podium himself.

Matsikoudis greeted him in Greek. 

“It was the first election that really grabbed me and got me hooked on politics.  I was inspired for a couple reasons – one it was the first time I paid attention to the issues, and I just found him to be on the smart side of the issues,” said Matsikoudis, 37.  “And of course as a Greek American, I was also moved by his candidacy.”

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.