Tim Kaine

Worth noting is a huge load of crap from Democratic National Chairman Tim Kaine, who issued a press release last night suggesting that he never really thought Jon Corzine would win re-election.  "In New Jersey, the party in power in the White House hasn't won the Governor's office since 1985... It would have been historic if not unprecedented to win one or both of these races given historical trends," Kaine wrote. 

The race for Governor "turned on local and state issues and circumstances and on the candidates in each race - and despite what some will certainly claim - the results are not predictive of the future or reflective of the national mood or political environment," Kaine said.  "Exit polls showed that both races turned on local issues... the President's approval ratings are better today than the share of the vote he received in 2008."

Gov. Jon Corzine arrives Thursday night in Harrison.

HARRISON - Shoved into the swamps of Hudson and for years all but forgotten except to post-industrial artifact watchers on passing trains, disgruntled people whose cars got towed from Newark to the impound lots, and the clutch of blue collar workers who live between bridges, Harrison welcomed Gov. Jon Corzine tonight to the Polish National Hall.

"What's he doing here?" wondered a hard-nosed party insider observing the governor as Corzine pressed into the packed crowd with Mayor Ray J. .McDonough and a band of Hudson diehards, including Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, County Executive Tom DeGise, Assemblyman Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus), and Assemblywoman Joan Quigley (D-Jersey City).

After distributing 1,000 pumpkins to North Bergenites, state Sen. Nick Sacco (D-North Bergen) arrived at the event when Corzine, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine, McDonough and attendant dignitaries were already onstage.

He offered an explanation.

Referring to the disparity between Democrats and Republicans in the town (2,835 to 276), Sacco told the cheering crowd, "You know, I've always said the best organization is in Harrison, which continually turns out the largest plurality of Democrats in the state."

DNC Chairman Tim Kaine, left, enters the Polish National Hall on Thursday night and is greeted by Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy

HARRISON - In New Jersey this evening to stump for Gov. Jon Corzine, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tim Kaine said his organization has committed another layer to the final week street-level campaign operations of Gov. Jon Corzine.

"We're putting in a chunk of dough from contributions we have received over the last couple of months and ours and Obama's best people are helping out," said the governor of Virginia (term-limited out of office at the end of this year) and 2008 short-list candidate for vice president. 

Just days before President Barack Obama's final campaign rally across the river for Corzine in Newark on Sunday, Kaine made three campaign stops here in New Jersey for the governor today, finishing at the Polish National Hall at a bi-annual party fundraising event hosted by Harrison Mayor Ray J. McDonough.

"The issue is there are good partners and there are bad partners, and President Obama recognizes the fact that Gov. Corzine is a good partner for the White House," Kaine told PolitickerNJ.com. "I think the governor's opponent is a guy who talks a good game but who's pretty empty ultimately with no economic experience."

DNC CHAIR TIM KAINE JOINS CORZINE, WEINBERG
AND NEW JERSEY DEMOCRATS ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

 
(HARRISON) – Joining a wave of high-profile Democrats who have made appearances in the state in recent weeks, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tim Kaine joined Governor Jon S. Corzine, his running mate Loretta Weinberg and New Jersey Democrats on the campaign trail this evening. Kaine made several stops where he praised the governor’s record fighting on behalf of New Jersey families and encouraged supporters to make every effort to “get out the vote” on Election Day.

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, the Democratic National Chairman, will be in New Jersey tomorrow evening to campaign for Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election campaign.  Kean will join State Sen. Loretta Weinberg at a Health Professional & Allied Employees union event in Saddle Brook, and will accompany Corzine to a party thrown by Harrison Mayor Raymond McDonough.

TRENTON -- Minutes after Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) told reporters that the state's current budget forecast is the worst he's seen in his 22 years as a legislator, Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie held a news conference to outline his proposals for taking a "hands on role" in stimulating the state's economy.

In a key point meant to counteract the common argument that the Bush Administration is to blame for landing the country and therefore the state in its current cash-strapped predicament, Christie argued that New Jersey has its own government's policies to blame - not the global economic recession.

"For seven years now, two governors and a Democratic legislature have succeeded in making New Jersey the worst place in the nation for private sector employment. That's beyond dispute and it's going to take a number of years for us to restore the state's image," said Christie, the former U.S. Attorney.

The overarching theme of Christie's proposals, which included tax cuts, eliminating the Economic Development Authority, doing away with the position of chief of economic growth, health insurance reform, government agency fine and fee reform, legal liability reform and the creation of a "Red Tape Review Board," was to make New Jersey a more business-friendly state.

There is some speculation that Barack Obama's choice to serve as Democratic National Chairman is Tim Kaine, the Governor of Virginia and a runner-up to Joe Biden in the summer vice presidential sweepstakes.  If Kaine gets the DNC post, it might drive traffic to www.timkaine.com - something that might help Steve Lonegan, the conservative Republican running for Governor of New Jersey this year.  The timkaine.com domain forwards to Lonegan's campaign site.

The fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention will be called to order at 5:00 PM EST on Thursday, with a theme of "Change You Can Believe In."

The final day's events will take place at INVESCO Field at Mile High, where over 70,000 people are expected to attend.

Featured speakers will include Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D), former Vermont Gov. and Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean (D), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), U.S. Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D), former Vice President Al Gore (D) and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D).

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the Democratic presidential nominee, is scheduled to address the convention at 10 p.m. EST.

The full schedule is below.

Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex): Politicker file photo 

DENVER - Gorged on a buffet dinner, the delegation now heads for the light rail that hugs the side of I-25, and that will shuttle the Jersey politicians northward into the bowels of downtown Denver for the convention, and a few scattered souls remain behind in the otherwise desolate Columbine Room at the Inverness Hotel.

Some stragglers head for the exits.

"I told Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) we need this in Jersey," said Michael Greenstein, husband of Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D-Monroe), moments before he trots up the stairs to the light rail station.

The bar awaits.

Another round of drinks arrives in the basement-level Spotted Dog - cranberry juice in honor of Jersey - and vodka - as a baseball-capped Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine appears on the large-screen television screen and tries to stifle a lump in his throat acknowledging Obama’s wisdom in selecting Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) as his veep. It doesn’t sound altogether sincere. Kaine was on the short list for second banana and now it’s over and he manages a smile for anchor Wolf Blitzer but he doesn’t radiate eye of the tiger.

State Party Chairman Joseph Cryan on Friday night.: Politicker photo 

DENVER - The Denver Broncos had left several hours earlier when Joseph Cryan, state Democratic Party chairman, entered the lobby of the Hotel Inverness on Friday night at around 10 p.m., mountain time. 

The football team trains nearby and evidently they get their pre-home game rub-downs here at the Inverness. 

Now the Broncos could be seen vying against the Packers on suspended television sets in the Spotted Dog bar and all the talk around Cryan from his state committee staffers concerned Barack Obama's veep pick.

Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) apparently were already out of the running, according to news reports, leaving most of the New Jersey staffers assuming that Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) would be Obama's running mate.