In an election where the Democratic Party is expected to make large gains, no young candidate has generated more buzz than Josh Zeitz, the Democratic candidate for Congress in New Jersey's 4th District. Polling data putting his incumbent opponent well below the 50% mark just weeks before election day, Josh's already record breaking fundraising, and an influx of new registrants making Democratic voters the majority in this district may very well be the perfect recipe for change from years of ineffective Republican rule in this part of the state.
Visuals: Opening image of New York Stock Exchange floor, followed dark screen with words "Fire Scott Garrett" followed by Garrett's face alongside the Capitol building and then Countrywide mortgage office as phrases spoken by narrator appear on screen. Ends with image of Shulman.
Analysis: Shulman, who has aired only negative ads this fall, continues his head-on attack of Garrett. If voters believe the markets-know-best attitude caused the current crisis, the ad - despite exaggerations - could do some damage because Garrett has generally been a free-market champion.
Here is the ad. It's a great example of linking the Congressman and his actions to the current situation.
Lance admitted he opposed Stender's bill and believed women should be forced instead to rely on pharmacist referrals for their prescriptions if they were not able to obtain their birth control. Stender denounced this as an undue burden for women, stating, "Women should not have to drive around just to get their basic prescriptions filled. Leonard Lance is truly out of touch if he believes women should be forced to drive from pharmacy to pharmacy looking for someone to give them their medication."
I wasn't aware this is such a huge issue in the 7th. I might mention that whether a woman is able to get birth control becomes less of a factor if she can't afford the birth control because she already makes less at the job she hopes she doesn't lose because she won't be able to find another one in the bad economy. They mention driving from pharmacy to pharmacy, but don't make the connection to the burden of the cost of gas. Lance has tried to focus on the Property Tax grant program as well, not making any mention of the economy.
Update: I was running out the door. Here is some more.
The Cape May County League of Women Voters and 98.7 FM WCZT, The Coast radio station, are joining forces this year to sponsor the only Candidates Forum in the county where all six candidates running for the 2nd Congressional District will be present.
All of the candidates went after Lobiondo's record at the last debate to which he responded if you have any question to call his office, so I wouldn't expect anything different once again. Kurkowski also has a press conference scheduled for tomorrow at 2pm to discuss Lobiondo's broken contract with America.
My hope at this point is that any recovery plan focuses first and foremost on the root cause that haunts Main Street. All attempts should be made to see that honest, hardworking people can somehow remain in their homes and avoid foreclosure. This is essential to stop the slide in the market overall. Stimulating the economy comes next. Many options are on the table, including efforts to create jobs through a conversion to a green economy.
What's that you say? November 5th is a long way off? We have about 4 weeks left in THIS election?
Absolutely RIGHT! There's STILL time for ALL of New Jersey's Democrats with safe seats and deep pockets to get off their butts and open their wallets in support of the WHOLE ticket!
(This started out as a comment in Thurman's excellent diary The Senate Race that Wasn't http://www.bluejersey.net/show... but it went a bit far afield from his immediate subject......)
..........I wish Lautenberg and Stender had used their financial advantages and momentum to call upon ALL of the NJ congressional delegation to make it a CRUSADE to put win in ALL the contested seats.
Frank and Linda will likely win; but they could have been far more aggressive and won for the whole state instead of just focusing on their own elections.
The same applies to all the congressional incumbents like Rothman and Pallone et al who have safe seats. Why aren't they all all over the state stumping for every challenger??? Makes no sense to me. Is that considered "rude"? Is there an unwritten law against congresspeople supporting challengers to sitting members???
We could have had a statewide reform movement that would have garnered another half a million new voters to vote for Barack and to create a downticket landslide that just might have swept folks like Tom Wyka and certainly Dennis Shulman into office. As it is they are still fighting long odds
I really do wonder about the intelligence, competence and motivations of the NJ Democratic party.
Do they REALLY want to win big and REALLY clean up/transform our state? Or is it just about maintaining a corrupt status quo that puts more money into the hands of the same individuals and corporations that have been raping us forever?
Yeah sure, I'll vote Democratic across the line.....but only because the Republicans would be even worse for New Jersey.....but is that really the best we can do???
It's time the people of New Jersey, MOST of whom will back a progressive reform agenda that provides fundamental root to branch change, literally TAKE OVER the state Democratic party from the morally/ethically corrupt hacks who are now in control.
Nothing less will do the job.
The people, institutions and corporations who have been living "high on the hog" off of the hard work and sweat pf NJ taxpayers have to be thrown out of office and thrown into jail (where possible). There is no more "fat of the land" for them to live off of.
I went to read the Star Ledger article about the drivers settling their contract that Scott posted in the roundup. As I got halfway through the article, I saw a web ad on the right side of the page from the DCCC for the website truthaboutchrismyers.com.
Clicking over to the website, you see the astronaut ad that is currently running on TV here in the 3rd district. The site mocks Chris Myers saying he will fit right in to Washington as a graphic on the header shows Myers with a place to wind him up following George Bush. The content of the site attempts to tie Myers to George Bush and Dick Cheney by pointing out the policies he has supported dealing with business and the Iraq war, while pointing out contributions Myers has made.
Does Leonard Lance believe or does he not believe that women have a fundamental right of access to birth control?
It's a simple question, but one he seems intent on dodging. This week, in a response to a DCCC ad charging that the Republican candidate is too extreme for 7th district voters, his campaign did not refute the on-screen charge that Lance had "voted to deny women birth control." Now, this wouldn't have been notable except for the fact that the campaign refuted (falsely, of course) every other claim in the TV spot.
Along with the vast majority of New Jerseyans, Linda Stender believes that pharmacies should be required to fill prescriptions, regardless of their personal views on women's rights. That's why she introduced a bill in the Assembly guaranteeing that such discrimination would not be allowed in New Jersey. At the time, she said that "under no circumstances should a pharmacist's personal beliefs impede a patient's ability to obtain their prescribed medicines."
Senator Adler was holding a town hall meeting about 10 minutes from my house at Legacy Oaks, a senior community across town so I decided to stop by and grab some pictures.
I also got some news that given the opportunity to vote on the bailout bill, Senator Adler said he would vote NO. He pointed to some of the flaws in the legislation including all of the pork that was added in to entice support from members of the House.
Much of the focus was on the current economic situation with many people asking questions and making comments about the mortgage market, banking and what they think needs to be done to fix the situation.
On Friday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced that Josh Zeitz, the Democratic nominee for Congress in New Jersey's 4th Congressional District, was added to their targeted Races to Watch list.
The targeting demonstrates that the DCCC believes this race is competitive and worth investment. Demographic shifts have created the unique conditions for beating 28 year incumbent Chris Smith. Democrats now enjoy a voter registration edge in the 4th District and consistently win the district at the Presidential, Gubernatorial and Senate levels. With boosted turnout and registration expected from urban areas like Trenton, Zeitz is poised for one of the biggest upsets of the cycle.
"We're excited to have the DCCC engaged in the race," said Zeitz campaign manager Steve D'Amico. "With our economy struggling and a representative like Chris Smith, who is more interested in introducing legislation to abolishing common, everyday birth control than he is in helping middle-class families, voters in the 4th District are realizing it's time for change."
(While Chris Myers whines about bloggers, John Adler's campaign focuses on building a volunteer base for what will undoubtedly be one of the best field operations in the country. - promoted by Scott in NJ)
(While Chris Myers whines about bloggers, John Adler's campaign focuses on building a volunteer base for what will undoubtedly be one of the best field operations in the country. - promoted by Scott Weingart)
Did you know we passed a milestone this weekend?
Just yesterday -- Saturday -- marked 100 days until election day in November.
At the Adler Campaign we marked the occasion with a "mobilize for change day."
That meant dozens and dozens and dozens of volunteers pounding the pavement and manning the phones for John Adler (and Barack Obama.)
Chris Myers is the GOP candidate in NJ-3rd Congressional district. Given his lackluster fundraising thus far, you can forgive him for being a little cranky. But his outright contempt for the progressive Netroots even caught me by surprise.
Myers seeks to trivialize the Netroots as:
Radical, liberal bloggers who spew angry partisan tirades from the safety of their home computer.
Myers is peeved at his Democratic rival John Adler's description of bloggers as "citizen soldiers in terms of activism" in the video below.
Myers goes on:
"These radical liberal bloggers are in no way, shape or form "soldiers," and referring to them in that way is an affront to the brave men and women in uniform fighting to defend our freedoms around the globe."
Myers singles out dKos and BlueJersey by name which is particularly rich since the founder of Daily Kos is a Veteran and BlueJersey had a Vets voice on the front page since day one!
Myers thinks we're a bunch of unpatriotic pajama warriors, huh? So much for free political speech, right Chris?
Let's all show Chris Myers what we're really about and send him a punitive shout out at the same time by donating to Adler on ActBlue.
Feel free to crosspost far and wide. I know I will!
I listened in this afternoon to the DCCC/Netroots Strategy Session: Mobilize For Change online briefing by DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen "outlining the challenges and opportunities we face in the final 100 days leading up to the election." The DCCC has strongly committed to New Jersey in this cycle, placing both Linda Stender (NJ-07) and John Adler (NJ-03) on the Red to Blue list and Dennis Shulman (NJ-05) on the Emerging Races list. Of course, that won't be news to you.
I believe from the discussion that Shulman could "move up" in priority -- or others could be added to the "Emerging Races" -- if they show a strong, independent, well-managed campaign. However, I strongly got the sense that there are already too many good opportunities given the limited amount of money that is available, so I suspect our other candidates are on their own.
Thinking about Linda Stender's 2006 defeat and this Chris Bowers post, (more here and here), I actually asked a question that was answered:
Some blogs have discussed the fact that in 2006, a disproportionate number of women candidates fell just short of victory. Does the DCCC have any lessons learned from this disappointment and a plan to aid women candidates?
They responded that they (and independent women's groups) have looked very carefully at this issue, and while there are number of theories that have been advanced to explain this problem, none are fully convincing. They did not discuss the theories they have considered, but they did promise to support women candidates. If nothing else, it's good to know that the discussions online are not that different from the discussions in DC.
Talking Points Memo got its hands on the list of 34 districts across the country that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is spending television money on this year, and for the first time in a long time some of that cash is coming to New Jersey.
According to their chart, the DCCC is planning on spending $1.8 million in New Jersey's 7th District where Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D) is facing State Senator Leonard Lance (R) for the vacant seat currently held by Congressman Mike Ferguson (R-Embryo).
Considering that that's about as much as Stender spent for the entire 2006 election, that she is significantly outraising her 2006 effort, and Lance appears to be faltering after an expensive primary, it looks like the Democrats may overwhelm the Republicans in NJ7 in 2008. At least when it comes to money.
Stender has $1.2 million cash on hand, which means that without even raising another dollar (and she will raise quite a few more) there is $3 million coming in to NJ7.
What is odd is that John Adler, who is running for another open seat in NJ3, is not currently listed as getting any DCCC television money. He has been widely seen as having as good if not a better chance than Stender.
It is possible that Adler's incredible fundraising numbers and the significantly less expensive Philadelphia market may have led the DCCC to think that Adler is doing OK on his own and that Stender needs help. Or maybe they plan to decide how much to help NJ3 later in the year.
Either way, this is great for the Stender crew in NJ7 and great for Democrats in New Jersey!
The DCCC has launched a radio ad campaign against Scott Garrett and 12 other House Republicans. It takes aim at his continued blind support of George W. Bush and his oil policies.
The Democratic Campaign Congressional Committee just announced their third round of "red to blue" targeted congressional districts, which already included John Adler in NJ-3 and Linda Stender in NJ-7. They also announced that Dennis Shulman in NJ-5 is among 20 "emerging races" where "Democratic candidates have generated excitement in their districts for their campaigns for change."
Blue Jersey reported in December that Republican Congressional candidate Chris Myers donated $500 to Senator Frank Lautenberg. The rest of the media just noticed today (incidentally, they complain that blogs steal their material, but rarely tip their hat to new media when we get scoops. It's okay, we're not bitter. Yes we are.). This is what the DCCC said in response:
"The differences between the parties are now so clear that even Chris Myers, a Republican candidate for Congress, understands that Democrats best serve the American people by creating jobs, keeping America safe, responsibly ending the war in Iraq, and investing in priorities here at home," said Carrie James, Northeast Regional Press Secretary at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "Clearly, Chris Myers recognizes the Republican Party is void of new ideas and understands that the best way to move the country forward is to support Democrats' agenda for change. We thank Mayor Myers for offering his financial support to Democrats and invite him to support other New Jersey Democrats who are fighting for change. "
This is only marginally New Jersey-related, but I hope Juan will forgive me for drawing your attention to this DCCC contest called The Real State of the Union. The Blue Jersey community is too talented to overlook this video opportunity, even if not a single celebrity judge is from New Jersey.
Step 1
Get your camera and make a short video telling us what you want to hear at the State of the Union. Where do YOU want the country to go in 2008 and beyond?
Step 2
Go to YouTube.com and upload your video.
Step 3
E-mail the web address of your video to stories@dccc.org to let us know where we can find your video!
A panel of celebrity judges will select the winners.
ps. Post your youtube here in a diary too. Mention New Jersey again so that I don't get deleted for violating the site rules. :)
Roll Call has a story(behind a firewall) about the DCCC targeting 40 GOP seats and from the sound of things, NJ will feel some of the love...
The first six Democratic candidates set to enjoy the largess of the DCCC's fundraising effort include state Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson in Illinois' 11th district;state Sen. John Adler in New Jersey's 3rd; state Assemblywoman and 2006 nominee Linda Stender in New Jersey's 7th; Franklin County Commissioner and 2006 nominee Mary Jo Kilroy in Ohio's 15th; state Sen. John Boccieri in Ohio's 16th; and 2006 nominee Gary Trauner in Wyoming's at-large.
Van Hollen said these six candidates made the cut for immediate fundraising assistance because they are running in open seats, have no primary challenger, and have proved their mettle as politicians and fundraisers since entering their respective races.
"Our 'Frontline' Members have put themselves in a very strong position," Van Hollen said of potentially vulnerable incumbents. "It allows us to partner with these campaigns - to team up with these campaigns - and do what we can to direct resources into these campaigns."
Van Hollen went on to explain the importance of these early moves...
"We're now letting our base know, our supporters around the country know, that it's critical that they now start directing resources to some of our key challengers," Van Hollen said. "We think we've done a good job putting our Frontliners in good shape."
So the end of the fundraising quarter is December 31. If you can spare some change between your holiday gifts, please show our candidates some love.
Another indication that the DCCC is serious about NJ-3: Congressman Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, will be in Trenton Thursday afternoon for a fundraiser for Senator John Adler's congressional campaign. The reception at the Archives Restaurant in the Trenton Marriott will be from 1:00-2:00pm and the suggested contribution is between $100 and $1000.
With the S-CHIP bugaboo at a fevered pitch, I was hoping we could get NJ Sen John Adler onto Blue Jersey BlogTalkRadio over the weekend. I reckoned Sen. Adler -- who's running for Congress -- would welcome the opportunity to share his views on the timely topic of kid's health care.
Just to review: incumbent GOP Congressman Jim Saxton has the best healthcare taxpayer money can buy. But when it comes to making allowances for children's healthcare, Jim Saxton would rather stand by the President. (Nothing new to look at for Blue Jersey readers, but the context is necessary if folks do a Google search to learn about this race.)
Anyway, I wasn't able to track Sen. Adler down, but that's okay he had a really good reason for being incommunicado.
Adler:
I had an intense two day training session with top members of Congresss, leading political consultants, and many of the top tier challenge candidates for 2008, including several open seat candidates.
Billed as a sort of "bootcamp" for top tier candidates, the DCCC -- along with AFSCME -- has hosted such events for the past several cycles. In '06, twelve alums from this bootcamp went on to unseat an incumbent GOP rival.
(So while John Adler was in Chicago honing the stragety, the Blue Jersey BlogTalkRadio juggernaut rolled on. If you missed our show, click here and get with the program!)
It's not surprising that the more steam John Adler gathers, the louder the chatter becomes that Jim Saxton will retire, at least locally.
To that I can only say: SAXTON BETTER NOT RETIRE!!
After getting clobbered by Jim Saxton in 'o6, I want another chance to beat him fair and square. I want the satisfaction of the victory dance after the election is over. (Sports fans, you know the one.)
For democrats in NJ-3 like me, we deserve to muse about a victory dance. After twentysomething years of Jim Saxton's bilge, it's been a looooong time coming.
P.S.: Take the poll (after the flip) and let us know what Congressional District you vote in!
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