Joe Biden

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton): Politicker photo

DENVER - The deep freeze feelings Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) fiercest supporters have reserved for the Obama-Biden ticket simply contributes to the convention’s drama, acknowledged Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton), a member of the New Jersey delegation.

People have deep-seated feelings this year, and it’s not always that way.

"I wasn’t at the 2004 convention, but I can’t imagine people getting as excited then as they are now," said Gusciora. "I just can’t imagine what the mood would have been like for John Kerry."

Maybe not everyone is ready to run straight to the barricade for Obama-Biden, but there’s a thrill in the sense of the unknown at this Democratic National Convention; white-knuckle suspense over whether the party will emerge truly unified.

Joseph Biden is the seventh vice presidential nominee from a state that borders New Jersey since William McKinley picked New York Gov. Theodore Roosevelt to run on his ticket in 1900, following the death of Vice President Garrett Hobart, a resident of Paterson. New Jersey hasn’t cast its electoral votes for a border state VP candidate since U.S. Rep. James Sherman (R-Utica) ran with William Howard Taft in 1908. New Yorkers Jack Kemp (1996), Geraldine Ferraro (1984), William Miller, (1964), and Franklin Roosevelt (1920) did not carry New Jersey when they ran with Bob Dole, Walter Mondale, Barry Goldwater and James Cox, respectively. Sherman ran for re-election with Taft in 1912 (he died a few weeks before the election, but Taft decided not to replace him), but New Jersey supported favorite son Woodrow Wilson instead.

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who so far has not been asked to speak at the Democratic National Convention this week, has one potentially important ally in his quest for a speaking slot.  His new Chief of Staff, Danny O’Brien, has spent the last few years as the Chief of Staff to U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, leaving the Senate staff to become National Political Director of Biden’s bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Former Gov. Jim Florio used to ride the Amtrak train to Washington with Joe Biden, now the Democratic VP candidate: Politicker photo
DENVER – Standing in the lobby of the Inverness Hotel this morning flanked by Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan and Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero, former Gov. Jim Florio said that he’s very excited to see his former commuting-mate tapped for the Democrats’ Vice-Presidential nomination.

“I’m very enthusiastic. He’s a personal friend,” said Florio, a superdelegate who originally supported Hilary Clinton.

During his years in Congress from 1975 to 1990, Florio, who commuted to Washington daily from the 1st District, would occasionally find himself on the same train as Biden, who commuted from Delaware. That led to a friendship and the occasional campaign function attended by Biden.

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Over the last twenty years, five of eight vice presidential candidates had defeated incumbents in races for the United States Senate. Joseph Biden, who was picked as the Democratic VP candidate on Saturday, won a U.S. Senate seat in 1972 when he upset J. Caleb Boggs, a two-term incumbent and a former Governor of Delaware.

John Edwards defeated one-term U.S. Sen. Lauch Faircloth in North Carolina in 1998; in 1988, Joe Lieberman ousted three-term U.S. Sen. Lowell Weicker in Connecticut; Dan Quayle beat Birch Bayh, a three-term U.S. Senator from Indiana; and in the 1970 Democratic U.S. Senate primary in Texas, Lloyd Bentsen upset the incumbent, Ralph Yarborough.

But during the same time period, just one of the three successful candidates for Vice President – Quayle -- had ever defeated an incumbent. Al Gore won open seats for the House (1976) and Senate (1984), and Richard Cheney won an open seat for the House in 1978. Another VP candidate, Jack Kemp in 1996, had never run against an incumbent. Kemp won his House seat in 1969 special election.

Gov. Jon Corzine: Politicker file photo

Governor Jon S. Corzine today released a statement on the selection of Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) as Barack Obama's running mate.

"Joe Biden is the best choice for the nation and Barack Obama," said Corzine in his statement. "His foreign policy expertise is unequaled. He is authentic and direct, a man of deep integrity. He has dedicated himself to public service and has been guided by values that are deeply rooted in the American middle class. He has spent decades working in Washington without ever living there. Joe Biden will be a great partner in Barack Obama's efforts to bring about change in America."

McCain State Chair Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Mercer): Politicker file photo

DENVER - New Jersey Republicans jeered Barack Obama’s choice for vice president in a Saturday afternoon conference call today, with state Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Mercer) describing as "historic," presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Il.) decision to name Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) as his running mate.

"Yesterday, Sen. Obama picked someone who does not believe his own running mate is ready to be president of the United States," said Baroni, chair of the McCain campaign in New Jersey.

Citing a Democratic Primary debate exchange between ABC moderator George Stephanopoulos and then-presidential candidate Biden in which the latter said he does not believe the presidency is the proper venue for on-the-job training, Baroni focused on the freshman Senator Obama’s lack of experience.

"That’s not me saying it, it’s Joe Biden," said Baroni, echoing a McCain television ad that is now up and running in South Jersey.