The players: President Obama, Vice-President Obama, and members of the House & Senate from both parties, including Rep. Rob Andrews, who chairs the House Education and Labor subcommittee on health.
The Location: Blair House, across the street from the White House, significantly at the President's end of the national Mall.
Interesting analysis of what the President's after today, from Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic.
Donor information for all the speakers is at Sunlight Foundation (info changes depending on who's at the microphone - turn off the sound at their site, if you're listening to our stream here).
Meeting started 10am, but I just grabbed the feed. Click the arrow to go LIVE.
Next week will be a busy one for Democrats in New Jersey. On Monday October 19, we'll have Vice President Biden making a return visit with the Governor and then Tuesday Fmr. President Bill Clinton will be making campaign stops:
Vice President Joe Biden will attend a rally at Middlesex County Community College in Edison on Monday. The next day, former president Bill Clinton will make appearances at two separate events, first with Corzine running mate Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) in Collingswood and then with Corzine at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.
The doors will open for the Biden Rally at 11am. And then on Wednesday as we talked about yesterday, President Obama will be at Fairleigh Dickinson in the afternoon for a rally with Governor Corzine. He won't be done yet though:
Caroline Kennedy will appear with Corzine that evening at an Irish-American festival in Belmar.
We'll look out for more details on the events and share them with you when they are available.
Updated by Jason: But wait, there's more. PNJ tells us that Congressional members Michael Honda (D-CA) and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), along with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis will be campaiging in the state as well:
Honda is scheduled to bond with voters at a Saturday, Oct. 17 Filipino American Heritage Month Rally in Old Bridge, a Chinese Americans' Moon Festival Rally in Princeton, and a Korean Americans' Harvest Moon Festival Rally in Engelwood.
Also campaigning Saturday, Sanchez will atrend an Elks Lodge brekafast event in New Brunswick, a Mexican Chamber of Commerce event in Passaic, a luncheon hosted by Assemblywoman Nellie Pou (D-Paterson) for New Jersey Latinas at the Paterson Museum, a meet-and-greet with Latino Small Business Owners at the Harrison Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Harrison, and a late luncheon hosted by Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D-Elizabeth) for New Jersey Latinas at a restaurant in Elizabeth.
Solis will brunch on Sunday with Pou and New Jersey Latinas at Schuetzen Park in North Bergen.
Vice President Joe Biden is expected to campaign for Gov. Jon Corzine at a union event in Atlantic City next week, it was announced today.
Biden will appear alongside the Democratic governor at the New Jersey State AFL-CIO Legislative Conference at the Borgata on Wednesday, according to Corzine's campaign.
The Governor will need a good turnout from union voters. Here's more about the appearance:
Biden and Corzine are scheduled to address more than 600 union members between 9 a.m. and noon, Oct. 7. Other speakers then and Oct. 6 will rally members for the governor and the 70 candidates endorsed by the union.
Biden joined Corzine as he kicked off his campaign back in June. Here is some video of that appearance:
Congressman Frank Pallone appeared on Your World with Neil Cavuto last week to talk about how we should be judging and quantifying the progress of the stimulus:
Governor Corzine will join Vice President Biden and Attorney General Holder in Philadelphia, PA for what is being touted as "a major American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding announcement for law enforcement agencies across the nation." They will be joined by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Delaware Governor Jack Markell, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and City of Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey.
Biden and Holder were originally scheduled to hold the event, on community policing grants, in Pennsauken, Camden County, but the location was switched to Philadelphia.
The Ledger implies the event was switched as a result of the corruption busts last week. However Biden's office said no final decision was made:
"We scouted several locations and Philadelphia was the most convenient and central location for all the principals," Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander said.
It may be the most convenient, but I had also heard that the event was going to be held in South Jersey separately before reading of the current venue. For whatever reason, the event will be held in Philadelphia tomorrow at 10:15am.
The director of the Federal Transit Administration said the federal government will fully fund the remaining $3 billion of the new Hudson River rail tunnel.
Peter Rogoff, director of the FTA, made the announcement at the ceremonial groundbreaking here for the $8.7 billion tunnel today. He said it is the largest federal transportation funding commitment in history.
The announcement of more federal funding last week now means that the project is currently fully funded.
"I've been familiar with this project and worked on it years ago when Frank Lautenberg was my sub-committee chairman, but back then we never really felt that we would get here because we never really thought that the states and localities would be able to put up a sizable enough match to make a project like this a reality," said Rogoff.
Rogoff continued, "Governor Corzine has proved us wrong, and we couldn't be more thrilled that he did. When you've got a tunnel that's already at capacity and transit ridership alone expected to grow perhaps double in the next 20 years, we don't have the choice in not doing this project. So that fact that the leadership came together and that the money came together to make it a reality is a thrill for me, especially on the 10th day of the job."
So I'm not sure what the Star Ledger article author is talking about, because that would be a drastic change in the span of a week.
On June 8th the Governor, along with state and federal officials, broke ground on a new Mass Transit Tunnel under the Hudson River. From the Governor's weekly statehouse email:
Currently, 10 NJ Transit rail lines use one tunnel to enter Manhattan. The groundbreaking ceremony in North Bergen kicks off the construction of a second way in and out of New York City. Once completed, the new tunnel will double commuter rail capacity on New Jersey Transit from 23 trains to 48 during peak rush hours, increase the number of direct rail lines into New York City from North Jersey and create 44,000 permanent jobs as a result of increased economic mobility in the region.
"It will create thousands of jobs for hardworking families across the region, promote better mobility and provide enormous environmental benefits,'' said the Governor, after handing the shovel he used to break ground to one of the tunnel construction workers standing nearby.
The project has long been championed by the Governor and Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez. Financed with funds from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and federal stimulus dollars made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed by President Barack Obama, the $8.7 billion project is expected to be finished in 2017.
It all sounds great so far. But follow me below the fold to see video of what went right from the groundbreaking, a story of what went wrong and how this project could put us on the hook for a large bill.
Glad to see the Governor went to Pride - promoted from the diaries by Rosi
Two new YouTube videos capture just some of the excitement that's spreading around New Jersey as Governor Jon S. Corzine's re-election campaign shifts into gear.
Governor Corzine reaffirmed his support for equality this weekend when he spoke at the 18th Annual GLBTI Pride Celebration in Asbury Park on Sunday, June 7th. The Governor told the crowd, "It is important that we make sure we stand up for everybody's rights and I'm going to be the governor who will bring that to the State of New Jersey if you'll help me this fall."
See the Governor's remarks:
Of the thousands who came to West Orange to help kick-off the Governor's campaign on June 2nd, one supporter especially had a lot to be excited about. Hava was randomly selected to meet Vice President Joe Biden before the event. We caught up with Hava backstage at the Richard J. Codey arena in West Orange just moments before Vice President Biden and Governor Corzine arrived.
Promoted from the diaries and cross-posted at Huffington Post - Rosi
Just how strongly is Joe Biden considering a third presidential bid in 2016? He's made more headlines for gaffes and botched jokes than he has for helping the President in moving legislation through the Senate or navigating G-20 leaders.... But if anyone understands that a successful political career is a marathon, not a sprint, it's Biden... and eight years is a long time.
Last night in New Jersey, the Vice President gave a speech to the Democratic faithful rallying behind Governor Jon Corzine, who faces a tough reelection campaign this fall. Biden's appearance had been hyped for weeks by nervous Jersey pols - a sign that the Obama administration would not hang the unpopular Governor out to dry... and yet it almost didn't happen. But not because Corzine has negative approval ratings... because Biden would not cross a picket line.
UPDATE: Okay, I'm taking down the live stream link. It's off-air, has been for a while, won't get back up again and it's slowing things down for anybody participating in the open thread and trying to refresh for new comments. See comments for why - Rosi
It's primary election night and by the end of the evening, we will officially have the General Election matchups for Governor along with all seats in the Assembly and many local offices. The Governor stopped by to give a personal thank you yesterday before tonight's campaign kickoff.
You can watch along with NJN's live coverage through their stream. What are you doing this election night? Join us to discuss the night's results and look forward to the upcoming election campaigns. Share your thoughts in this election night open thread.
Each week, Blue Jersey Radio streams LIVE with New Jersey's latest political buzz, interviews with newsmakers, and your stimulating calls.
This week: We're LIVE in West Orange for the Primary Night Kickoff Rally with Vice President Biden and Governor Corzine. Will we have an exclusive interview with Almost-Jersey Joe? Well, um, Almost-Surely No.
But, then again, stranger things have happened. We'll be on the ground, getting quotes, and sharing the energy in the room LIVE tonight at 7:30 p.m., and if opportunity knocks, maybe we'll finally score the Biden interview we should have nailed back in Fall 2007.
Now, while I'm trapped in the bubble tonight, I'll be counting on you to help me and Jason with updates from around the state. So, let us know in the comments how things are going.
Or, you can always give us a call during the show and join the conversation. Remember, it's all LIVE. That number again is: 646-652-2773.
With only two states - NJ and Virginia - running governor's races this year, it stands to reason that the Democratic Party's biggest names will come out to throw their support to NJ's incumbent Jon Corzine. The opening volley is Vice-President Joe Biden, whose origins from neighboring Delaware make him a state favorite. He'll be here Primary Night.
Primary Election Night Rally Vice President Joe Biden and Governor Jon Corzine
June 2nd, evening
Richard J. Codey Arena at South Mountain in West Orange.
Vice President Biden will be in Lodi tomorrow with Governor Corzine and Senator Lautenberg. He will be there to discuss the federal stimulus package and make the public aware of how the money is being spent.
"There are literally hundreds of these visits brought on by the stimulus program," Corzine said. "This is about jobs. It's about building schools, environmental projects. People should expect there to be many many more."
But the Governor didn't want to hear anything about the visit being political:
Corzine shrugged off the suggestion that the vice president's visit may benefit him in his bid for re-election, saying that Biden was just in Minnesota to examine how the stimulus money is being spent there.
"I can't emphasize enough. This is about pushing for economic recovery," the governor said.
He may not want to talk about the politics, but it can't hurt to have the Vice President in a popular administration talking about spending projects in a county that is vital to the Governor remaining in that position come the fall. Corzine also said that Biden will help him inaugurate a road project. If you're near Lodi and attend the event, feel free to post photos and a story here on the blog.
Barack Obama inspires me, just as I'm sure he inspires you. And after 8 devastating years of the Bush Administration it's hard to believe Election Day is only 5 days away.
As Co-Chair of Barack Obama's statewide campaign, I want to invite you to an exciting rally this Saturday in Jersey City. New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, New York Governor David Paterson and U.S Senator Bob Menendez will be attending, as well.
Barack Obama is the leader our nation needs at this important moment in time. And by voting for Obama and the entire Democratic Team next Tuesday, you can help bring the change our nation needs. You can help restore America to its rightful place as the respected moral leader of the free world.
As Mayor of Jersey City, I look forward to finally having a partner in the White House who understands our struggles and the needs of America's cities. Particularly, I look forward to working with an administration that will help combat the plague of illegal guns on our streets and can get our economy back on track.
But none of this will be possible if you don't come go out and vote. Let's not squander this precious opportunity to bring the change our families and our cities so desperately need.
When I first found the post, I thought it was going to a gag video, I really didn't think this was for real.
It is for real, Ron Howard, Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler have made a video advocating for Barack Obama, advocating for the change we need.
The 3 stars reprise their decades old TV roles, from The Andy Griffith show and Happy Days, in a light hearted display of support for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
In NJ the Obama campaign is not handing out very many free lawn signs. 500,000 lawnsigns costs about a 1/2 million bucks. But that means other battleground states can have our money, where it will be put to good use.
Lawnsigns are good visibility, so how are we in Essex County NJ, making up for the lack of lawn signs ? We are going back the old school boots on the ground visibility. The Honk & Wave rally. This is Obama turf, let there be doubt about it.
I won't lie: it's been a godawful two weeks for Republican veep nominee Sarah Palin. After listening to segment after segment of her interview with Katie Couric, I think my cringe reflexes are totally worn out. I'm sure many of you agre.
But for those of you who are already proclaiming a Biden victory in tonight's debate, I'd say not so fast.
The expectations game, as it's currently been set, favors Palin, in part because of those embarrassing interview spots with Couric. The congealing CW on this is that the bar is so low for Palin, that she can't help but exceed it unless she totally melts down onstage. So she's got that going for her, and we've got to do our best to try and reset that narrative, short though our time is.
The truth is, while Sarah Palin is certainly no intellectual heavyweight or even wonky in the slightest, she is an excellent debater. Check out this video of her past debate performances:
Clearly, she's a very skilled politician. So let's not start doing the McCain camp's job for them in lowering expectations for her.
