Sarah Palin

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Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth), campaigning last year with Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande and Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon.: Politicker file photo 

MINNEAPOLIS - Identifying in her hockey mom, small town mayor’s story the features of a universal American life, and exhilarated by her willingness to put her head down and charge after their rivals, members of New Jersey’s GOP delegation praised the acceptance speech delivered tonight by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, their vice presidential nominee.

"I know my constituents will be able to identify with her, a working mother whose family depends on two incomes," said state Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Union).

Since he first declared his hope two or three weeks ago that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would choose Palin as his running mate as a way of reaching base conservative voters, women, and blue collar America, Kean has consistently emphasized as a strength Palin’s distance from the ambitious political culture of Washington, D.C.

"This was someone who was picked because of her competence as governor, as opposed to her going out and seeking the office," the senator added.

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MINNEAPOLIS - Republicans' build-up of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in the hours before her Republican National Convention speech tonight, prompted State Democratic Chairman Joseph Cryan out of his foxhole in New Jersey.  

"Sarah Palin's is a Bush conservative disciple, pro-gun and pro-life, whose position on issues is the opposite of mainstream New Jersey," Cryan said in a release. "The picture of her with the AK-47 says it all, and her selection will help Barack Obama win New Jersey this November."

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MINNEAPOLIS - It was all about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at the GOP breakfast meeting this morning.

She’s speaking tonight at the Republican National Convention, and State Party chairman Tom Wilson has brought in Republican strategist and New Jersey native Kelly Anne Conway to pump up the troops.

Owner of The Polling Company, KellyAnne Conway, Conway objected to the press coverage of the Palin story, and press coverage of politics in general.

"They’ve asked ridiculous questions like who you would rather have a beer with," she complained. "We have had a campaign focused in large part on like-ability rather than leadership."

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U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson: Politicker file photo 

MINNEAPOLIS - In a charge-the-barricade speech at his last convention as congressman, U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson’s (R-New Providence) worked hard at the podium to draw a contrast between Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) And Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who’s scheduled to address the Republican National Convention tonight.

"Some of those glory days are ahead of us as long as we stand for what we believe in," said Ferguson, who promised to work behind the scenes in the coming months. "I’m looking forward to being part of those efforts in the future."

He savaged the media’s depiction - vociferously reinforced by Democrats, he said - of Palin.

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MINNEAPOLIS - The Republican Party can survive the appearance tonight by President George W. Bush broadcast via satellite from the White House, assured former Gov. Christie Todd Whitman.

With the help of the family dog.

On her way to do a CNN interview on the suite level of the convention center shortly before the president made his pitch on behalf of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Whitman said, "Sure," the party can bounce back from Bush.

Strategic Vision places the president’s job approval rating at 15 percent in New Jersey, but Whitman, Bush’s former head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said Bush's dog, Barney, is from New Jersey, joking that people will find a connection there.

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Some political humor just writes itself. And who says Sarah Palin's not ready to be president, anyway?

She has a brother-in-law like Jimmy Carter's brother, that she tried to fire. A sex scandal with her daughter equal to any Bill Clinton ever did. Her husband drives drunk like George W. Bush. And she is being investigated for ethics violations in her home state. Ready for president? She is pre-scandalized, for heck's sake! What could happened to her in the White House that already hasn't happened? The odds are with her. So, for your enjoyment, but before she's dropped from the ticket, I offer this song. Read More >

MINNEAPOLIS - Offshore drilling.

It’s a dominant issue in the presidential campaign, and one that directly impacts state Sen. Sean Kean (R-Monmouth), whose district encompasses part of the Jersey Shore.

Kean wants federal protection from drilling for the New York/New Jersey area, and has a bill in the Statehouse urging such a measure.

His presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is meanwhile generating respect in the oil industry and from base conservatives with his exhortation to "drill here, drill now."

Despite what he sees as Sen, Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) lack of a Shermanesque stand against drilling, N.J. Sierra Club Executive Director Jeff Tittel said the McCain model is much closer to that of President George W. Bush, and wrongheaded, in his view.

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