McCain opened his New York/New Jersey regional headquarters in Woodbridge today, and a group of prominent New Jersey Republicans did some trash talking to commemorate the occasion. First, there's this from Bill Baroni, who is usually a pretty lucid guy:
New Jersey is McCain country.
Then Leonard Lance took the bravado a step further:
It's clear Sen. McCain is going to carry both New Jersey and New York.
Here's a quick reality check for the state senators. In the two most recent polls in the state, Obama has led outside the margin of error. Even Quinnipiac, which generally underestimates support for Democratic candidates, has Obama up 6 points. Advertising in New Jersey-which straddles the New York and Philadelphia media markets-is notoriously expensive, and McCain will face a severe cash disadvantage in the general election.
However, the Obama campaign isn't taking New Jersey for granted. A press release sent out this morning by Rep. Steve Rothman made it clear that New Jersey would recieve plenty of attention from the campaign:
The Obama campaign in New Jersey is up and running. There are 10 paid Obama staffers currently in the state working on voter outreach and registration efforts. There is leased office space in Trenton, Cherry Hill and Hackensack. There are also 95 Obama Fellows operating in New Jersey today. ...In the weeks to come the campaign will be opening additional offices, bringing in more staff and appointing a New Jersey State Director. Senator Obama will compete vigorously for New Jersey's 15 electoral votes and be a full partner with Senator Frank Lautenberg's campaign and our other important races across the state.
The folks over in the McCain camp are beating their chests because they are sending five staffers to their regional office. Let me offer my advice to New Jersey Republicans: if you're going to bring a knife to a gun fight, it's probably a good idea to keep your mouth closed.
