Republican National Convention

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Former Republican Gov. Tom Kean tends to be more circumspect about criticizing Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, even while he’s the favorite target of members of his own party. But Kean, perfectly aware of the ups and downs of gubernatorial opinion polls, said that he thinks that Republican criticism of Corzine is legitimate.

“It’s not unfounded,” he said. “The state’s not in great shape. Taxes are too high, we’re losing people and businesses. We can’t sustain that. We’ve got to be a state that’s expanding and creating jobs, not losing jobs.”

Kean, who after his second term expired in 1990 went on to become president of Drew University before retiring in 2005, said he recognizes the need to cut the budget, but it’s the programs Corzine has chosen that bother him.

“I have no problem with his cutting the budget, but I do have a problem with the cuts he’s selected that are going to take it out on higher education. I think the future of the state these days is college education is like a high school education… I’m really not happy with that.”

U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer, left, with GOP power player Bill Palatucci: Politicker photo 

MINNEAPOLIS - Now U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer takes the stage. Understated as usual, the Republican picks former Gov. Tom Kean out of the crowd, and happily notes the presence of U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Hamilton).

Then he celebrates the national ticket of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

"They’re two reformers, two mavericks, who are really going to change the country," Zimmer said.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Hamilton): Politicker photo 

MINNEAPOLIS - U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Hamilton) said New Jersey is now in play because of the governor of Alaska.

"We will have a competent woman as the next vice president of the United States," Smith said of presumptive Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

"She rejected the bridge to nowhere. She's a reformer. We need to work overtime....If New Jersey was held two months ago, maybe there would be a different outcome, but not now, not today," Smith said. 

State Sen. Joe Pennacchio gave up his delegate slot to stay in New Jersey for Labor Day weekend
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. While New Jersey Republicans gather for their convention, one person who’s staying home is state Sen. Joe Pennacchio, who was supposed to be a delegate.

Speaking to PolitickerNJ two weeks ago, Pennacchio (R-Montville) said he wouldn’t be attending for a number of reasons. For one, he decided after his U.S. Senate primary campaign to spend more time with his family. He also wants to spend more time focusing on his legislative career and his dental practice. But there’s something else too.

“To be honest with you, I didn’t want to party with the party leaders. The leaders everyone was talking about in my campaign,” said Pennacchio, whose delegate spot has been replaced by former Morris County Freeholder John Inglesino. “I have an indifference towards them as much as they have an indifference towards me.”

Former Summit Councilwoman Kelly Hatfield: Politicker file photo 

MINNEAPOLIS - Former Summit Councilwoman Kelly Hatfield likes former Gov. Sarah Palin as a vice-presidential selection in no small part because the Alaskan served as mayor of a small town.

In her own unsuccessful 7th Congressional District run earlier this year, Hatfield emphasized her knowledge of local infrastructure issues as a plus for holding office in a bloated and misdirected Washington.

Palin brings the same grounded background, in Hatfield’s view.

"Her face re-brands the Republican Party," she said. "It’s not a gimmick. You don’t pick someone to be vice-president as part of a gimmick."

MINNEAPOLIS - For most Republicans, that divide in their party between former Gov. Thomas Kean and George W. Bush is just as wide as the one they hope exists between Bush, and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"We’ve got an uphill battle," Kean said on the eve of party’s national convention. "The change theme is real."

In his acceptance speech last Thursday, McCain’s rival, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) elicited a roar from the crowd when he harnessed McCain to that 90 percent of the time he voted with Bush throughout the latter’s eight-year presidency.

But the GOP wants to sell McCain as a different kind of Republican: someone with gravitas who can reach out to the middle and appeal to people outside of the party, someone not unlike the environmentally friendly and socially tolerant Kean.

Minority Leader Alex DeCroce: Politicker file photo 

MINNEAPOLIS - Landing in Minneapolis for the Republican National Convention, state Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany-Troy Hills) said he was initially unhappy about John McCain’s selection for vice president.

But now he’s warming to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and in any case he’s delighted his rivals saw fit to party with embattled Bergen County Democratic Party Chairman Joseph Ferriero at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last week.

"If they’re that stupid to let him go, let them do it," said DeCroce. "It helps us."

MINNEAPOLIS - The elevator doors in the Hilton opened and a man stepped off and headed for the bar.

"It’s Chris Christie’s brother," said a veteran newspaperman, staring at the familiar facial features of the newcomer in a scene that all evening took in a steady flow of New Jersey Republicans.

The white-haired, Chris-Christie lookalike made his way over to GOP operative Bill Palatucci, who was seated at the bar, and they began talking. He took an extended handshake from a stranger and acknowledged, "Yes, "I’m Chris Christie’s brother."

The word out the there among GOP sources is that Todd Christie is here to keep the idea firmly fixed in people’s heads that his brother, the U.S. attorney in New Jersey, is going to be running for governor next year.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Just days after the Democrats’ celebratory bash in Denver, the New Jersey Republican delegation arrived at their hotel just outside Minneapolis today in a sober mood amid news that Hurricane Gustav was bearing down on the Gulf Coast.

State Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Hamilton), who’s heading up McCain’s New Jersey campaign, emceed the event’s first delegation meeting, a no-frills meeting where he acknowledged that this convention would be different than ones past.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain “made it very explicit to all of us that this convention is about our country, and we’re going to put our country ahead of party,” said Baroni. “I know that sounds strange to say sometimes at a convention, but Sen. McCain today made that very clear, and for the entire length of his career, he’s meant it.”

Former state Sen. John Bennett, left, and Assemblyman Sam Thompson (R-Old Bridge).: Politicker photo

MINNEAPOLIS - Everything but an afternoon business meeting is off the table at tomorrow's Republican National Convention here, with Hurricane Gustav bearing down on New Orleans south of this Mississippi River town.

Standing in front of the Hilton among the early arrivals for the New Jersey delegation on late Sunday afternoon, and going with the flow at this point, were former state Sen. President John Bennett (R-Monmouth) and Assemblyman Sam Thompson (R-Old Bridge).

Widely lambasted for taking a ho-hum approach to the devastation wrought on New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina three years ago, President George W. Bush will not speak at the convention tomorrow night.