DSCC to Andrews: Fuhgettaboutit!

by: Scott Weingart

Wed Apr 02, 2008 at 03:56:36 PM EDT

Campaign Roundup for Wednesday, April 2, 2008

by: Scott Weingart

Wed Apr 02, 2008 at 08:52:33 AM EDT

NJ-Sen: The Republicans

NJ-Sen: The Democrats

NJ-02: Van Drew staying out

NJ-09: Wildes wants in

Atlantic City Mayor: Conflicts of interest?

Photos from Lautenberg's Announcement

by: mitch

Mon Mar 31, 2008 at 08:08:12 PM EDT

Show Some Quarter-Ending Love (w/ Poll)

by: John Bartlett

Mon Mar 31, 2008 at 01:10:28 PM EDT

So, show some love.  Here are links to some great Democratic candidates running for office in 2008.  Contribute what you can.

Another Republican in the Senate Race?

by: Hopeful

Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 04:53:06 PM EDT

John Crowley, the 40-year-old president of Amicus Therapeutics of Cranbury, is "giving strong consideration" to joining the race, according to his friend, adviser and fellow Republican, Bill Spadea. He said he was authorized to speak for Crowley, who is out of the country vacationing with his wife, Aileen.

"John will be weighing his significant obligations to his family, to the shareholders and employees of Amicus and to the U.S. military as he and Aileen make this important decision together,'' Spadea said.

Well, if Mr. Crowley can afford to buy foreign currency after seven years of Bush economics, he must be able to self-finance.  But could the Republican candidates at least visit New Jersey?

New Jersey Dems Commemorate The 5th Anniversary

by: Scott Shields

Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 08:51:03 PM EDT

Today, a number of New Jersey Democrats, both in office and seeking office this November, released statements on the fifth anniversary of the start of Bush's disastrous Iraq misadventure.

Bob Menendez ~

..."We cannot continue to throw American lives and American money at a situation that neither will resolve. There are no good solutions to the conflict in Iraq, only better and worse options for the United States. The best option is to bring our troops home as quickly and safely as possible. Sadly, if the President and his Republican allies in Congress continue to block Democratic efforts to transition out of Iraq, it seems that only the upcoming election gives our nation any hope of believing that this sixth year of war is the last one we will be forced to endure."

Read more here...

Frank Lautenberg ~

"For five years, our troops have done their duty with bravery, answered every call and served above and beyond their commitments.  And for five years, President Bush's leadership has failed to live up to their service and their sacrifice.  It is time for the President to get the Iraqi government to live up to its commitments and start to bring our troops home."

Linda Stender ~

On the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, it is time our nation comes together to bring our troops home and set a timetable for withdrawal within a year. Nearly 4,000 American soldiers have lost their lives and 29,000 have been wounded in a war should never should have been waged.

"We have the best military in the world, but our soldiers should not have to referee a civil war while the Iraqi political leaders sit idly on the sidelines. President Bush continues to spend more than $12 billion dollars per month to fund a war that the majority of Americans disagree with. While the biggest sacrifice is the nearly 4,000 brave American soldiers who lost their lives and 29,000 additional wounded soldiers, we continue to dangerously neglect American priorities. With more than $3 trillion spent in total on the war, our schools, hospitals, bridges, and military readiness have all suffered. We are on the brink of a recession, American families are struggling, it's time to bring our troops home so we can again focus on making America stronger."

John Adler ~

"Nearly five years ago, President Bush rushed us into an ill-advised war in Iraq without a plan to win the peace or an exit strategy to bring our brave American troops home. In doing so, our President took the focus off the war against al Qaeda terrorist network that attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001. Instead of being bogged down in a civil war in Iraq, we must focus our military efforts on finding Osama bin Laden and destroying the al Qaeda terror network in Afghanistan.

"It is time for President Bush to put an end to our involvement in Iraq in a swift, honorable and responsible way. The war has claimed nearly 4,000 American lives and sent tens of thousands of our young men and women home with serious injuries. It will cost American taxpayers in the excess of $2 trillion."

Read more here...

Montclair Times Endorses Menendez

by: Brian McGinnis

Thu Oct 19, 2006 at 11:59:35 PM EDT

The key question to gain their endorsement- which candidate would stand up to President Bush's agenda? Clearly, based on his past record of leadership and his current positions, that leader is Bob Menendez. (all emphases mine)

At this crucial juncture in our nation’s history, we need legislators who can offer substan-tive solutions to the Bush administration’s incompetence and the corruption-wallowing GOP-led Congress. Menendez, not Kean, will challenge Bush on the host of mistaken policies purveyed during the past five years.

The Montclair Times, like many across the state of New Jersey, sees this race as a chance for New Jerseyans to voice their disapproval of a failing Bush administration and to change the course:

“Stay the course” has become Bush’s mantra. Stay the course has resulted in the United States’ worst strategized war of the past century. The Katrina-level incompetence of Bush and the appalling corruption of the Republican-dominated Congress is a stain on our national character that requires a new generation of leaders — Democrat, Republican and independent — to rectify.

While insisting on tax cuts, Bush and the GOP irresponsibly spend money obtained by hocking our nation to China, Japan and European nations that buy our treasury bonds by the billions each day. With Bush and the GOP ballooning our national debt, today’s tax break becomes tomorrow’s burden of debt for our children to confront.

The Republican Party has had the chance to uncompromisingly govern the United States, and the GOP has failed in fiscal oversight, healthcare, military administration, diplomacy, Social Security, environmental issues, alternative fuels and secure borders.

The Times also issued a stinging rebuke to Tom Kean Jr's sleazy campaign tactics:

The Times supports the election of Sen. Robert Menendez to a full term in the Senate. Menendez, a Democrat, articulates stances that will strengthen the United States.

The Times has editorially praised state Sen. Thomas H. Kean Jr. as a legislator who’s sponsored vitally needed ethical mandates for state government. As the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, however, Kean lobs smears against Menendez while ineffectively articulating his own positions on national issues.

In addition to endorsing Senator Menendez, the Times also endorsed Reps. Pascrell and Payne for reelection to the House of Representatives.

They Did Not Have To Die

by: huntsu

Wed Sep 20, 2006 at 01:38:37 PM EDT

Yesterday, State Senator Tom Kean Jr. voted against a bill that would permit needle exchanges in the state of New Jersey.  New Jersey is the last state not to allow a needle exchange program to stem the tide of HIV/AIDS.

Without mentioning Tom Kean Jr., columnist Tom Moran calls this exactly as it should be seen:

Later that day, a compromise bill providing for six pilot programs across the state passed the Senate Health Committee, along with $10 million more for drug treatment.

What changed? For one, New Jersey has become the last holdout in the nation, the only state in the country where a drug ad dict cannot legally obtain a clean needle.

That means addicts here are more likely to share needles, more likely to get AIDS, and more likely to pass on the agony of this disease to their infant children. ...

  Gov. Jon Corzine got involved, pressing recalcitrant Democrats. So did Senate President Richard Codey, who hammered out the compromise with Sen. Joe Vitale, the committee chairman.

It was a good day for public health in New Jersey.

But it has taken way too long. You almost want to light a candle for the many people who were lost over the last decade or so while the politicians in Trenton dithered. They did not have to die.

They ... did ... not ... have ... to ... die.

I hope that line wakes Tom Kean Jr. up in the middle of the night.

Why, oh why...

by: AmadeusNJ

Fri Sep 08, 2006 at 05:01:52 PM EDT

Where's Junior: On Higher Education

by: Thurman Hart

Tue Aug 15, 2006 at 06:55:00 PM EDT

That means that more kids who should be going to college this year won't be.  While I understand - and fully support - the Governor's fiscal plan, I can't help but worry that NJ will pay for this for a long time to come.  But education isn't just a state issue - and this is particularly true for higher education.  I don't know a student at any school who doesn't file a federal financial aid form (FAFSA) and most students receive at least loans, if not out-right grants.

Menendez Interns launch Global Facebook Group

by: Brian McGinnis

Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 08:47:07 PM EDT

Here at the Menendez Campaign, the interns have been hard at work over the past month and a half helping to make sure all aspects of the campaign run smoothly. It's been a blast so far-- from announcement week to primary night to two debates, and the day-to-day operations in
between. We're working our tails off to make sure New Jersey sends Senator Bob Menendez back to Washington so he can continue standing up for New Jersey and fighting the Bush Administration's dangerous and misguided policies.

A couple of us interns were out getting some lunch today, wondering how we could use the Internet to better promote Senator Menendez's
progressive vision for New Jersey, and, in an absolutely "duh" moment for any college student who hasn't been living in a cave for the past two years, we decided to use that ubiquitous social networking site for college students across the nation-- Facebook.

So today, we're pleased to announce that the interns have launched a global Facebook group, entitled "Senator Bob Menendez: Standing Up for
New Jersey", which you can visit here . The goal of the site is to keep college student activists and progressives up to date with all the
latest campaign news, events and discussion. It's an unofficial site, not run by the campaign, but by some of the interns. TJ Helmstetter created the group which, in only its first few hours of existence, already boasts over 100 members from all across the country.

So if you're a college student or recent alum who thinks we need a strong voice to stand up to the Bush agenda in Washington and to stand up for progress and America's future, please join our facebook group  to find out what you can do to help.

Tom Kean, Jr. Runs Away (Literally) From The Fight

by: Scott Shields

Sat Jun 17, 2006 at 03:09:13 PM EDT

All of us here at the Menendez campaign have been pretty fed up with the petty attacks against the Senator, from NJ GOP chairman Tom Wilson's Ann Coulter-isms to Kean, Jr.'s own vague and unfounded personal attacks. Now, there are a few options for responding to this kind of Rove-style campaign. You can ignore it. You can send out surrogates to protest. Or you can confront the tactics, head on. Senator Menendez insisted on the latter.

As Juan wrote about earlier, on Friday morning in Atlantic City, at a meeting of the New Jersey Association of Counties, Senator Menendez had some choice words for Tom Kean, Jr..

My record is clear, and I will not stand by another minute and let my opponent malign me or my service to the people I have represented throughout my career.  Tom, you may be playing with George Bush’s campaign playbook, but you’re on the field with a different kind of Democrat....

One week ago, his state party chairman stooped to the lowest form of politics, and said that if I had my way, the terrorist Zarqawi would still be alive to murder innocents in Iraq and plot attacks against our country.  And Tom Kean, Jr.?  No, rebuke, no apology, not a word.

That’s not a campaign of courage, that’s a campaign of cowardice.

You have to earn the right to talk about honesty and integrity and frankly Tom, when it comes to ethics and character, you have no standing to lecture anyone.

What was Kean's response to the speech? Well, even though he was supposed to be sitting on the stage with Senator Menendez, he chickened out and waited outside until the Senator was done speaking. He then went up to the podium and delivered the same canned speech he'd been planning all along, with absolutely no response to the Senator's comments. After Kean, Jr. spoke, reporters tried to get him on the record. No such luck. As Josh Gohlke of the Bergen Record put it, Kean and his crew "stampeded down a carpeted hallway and into an elevator."

Several reporters managed to keep up, blurting out questions the candidate was determined not to answer.

Did he care to respond to Democratic candidate Robert Menendez's scathing speech just a few minutes earlier in the same ballroom? Was he, as Menendez charged, a lightweight armed only with empty attacks?

The Kean contingent stampeded down a carpeted hallway and into an elevator. The reporters and questions squeezed into it with them. Kean kept repeating a few slogans.

"I'm proud of both my record and my vision for the future of the country," Kean reiterated, this time with finality, as everyone spilled back out of the elevator and he hurried off. "Thank you very much!"

After talking for a few minutes, the reporters realized they had entered and exited the elevator on the same floor. So ended a strange episode in a campaign that is reaching impressive levels of absurdity, given that it's only June.

When the only impressive aspect of his campaign is the new level of absurdity he's been able to reach, Tom Kean, Jr.'s got to be wondering what he's doing in this race at all. The Beltway Republicans think they're going to win this race the same way they've won races all across the country -- shoveling fear and smear. Welcome to Jersey, Rove. It's not going to work this time.

Menendez Primary Night Rally

by: Scott Shields

Mon Jun 05, 2006 at 08:11:20 AM EDT

Menendez had stern words for those who would work hand in hand with the Bush administration when doing so would hurt New Jersey, referring to Republican opponent. Tom Kean, Jr., son of a former governor. He declared, “[M]y opponent supports George Bush's war in Iraq and longs to be part of the status quo in Washington. I couldn't disagree more. We need to change the direction of our nation and I will be an agent of change.”

And jmelli, who took part in the conference call despite a few technical set-backs, also posted on the conversation, writing about the Senator's position on Iraq, his opposition to the right's constitutional ban on gay marriage, and the importance of running a statewide campaign, inclusive of every county and region in the state.

We also launched our new website, Menendez2006.com, started moving into our new HQ in New Brunswick, and the Senator took part in a number of other events in the state. The most notable of those had to have been the appearances the Senator made with his colleague, Illinois Senator Barack Obama.

So to celebrate, please join us for a primary night rally at the Brunswick Hilton in East Brunswick on Tuesday, June 6, at 8:30pm. The event info is posted here at Blue Jersey as well as at our new campaign site, Menendez2006.com. I'm looking forward to seeing you all there!

Menendez For Senate - Kicking Off The Campaign

by: Scott Shields

Thu Jun 01, 2006 at 08:00:46 AM EDT

This is an incredibly exciting week for all of us here at the Menendez campaign. While we've been hard at work for some time now, we're just starting to work at the new headquarters in New Brunswick and are "officially" launching the campaign today with two events in North and South Jersey. Even though New Jersey's considered a "blue" state and Senator Menendez has something of an incumbency advantage, this race is far from over. The rightists have been crowing, for example, over poll numbers that indicate a tight race, or even a lead for Kean Jr.

However, the polls they've been citing have largely been from partisan Republican firms like Strategic Vision and Rasmussen. In fact, the GOP's clamoring for bona fide good news in this race has even caught the attention of Media Matters, which has repeatedly criticized the partisan Republican Beltway media for pushing absurdly pro-Kean Jr talking points. Meanwhile, truly independent polling forms like Quinnipiac have shown Senator Menendez in the lead.

As I wrote in my farewell post at MyDD, I couldn't be more proud to be working on this campaign. Bob Menendez's performance in the Senate has impressed me to no end. Unlike some newcomers who too-cautiously refuse to stick their necks out to stand up for the people who voted them into office, Senator Menendez has yet to shy away from a fight. While the Republican leadership hemmed and hawed when it was announced that the Bush administration had approved the sale of American port operations to a corporate holding of the United Arab Emirates, Menendez stood up and said no. Just recently, when a majority of the Senate (including a majority of Democrats) voted to confirm Michael Hayden, the man who orchestrated the illegal wiretapping of American citizens, to head the CIA, Menendez stood up once again and said no.

Standing Up To Big Oil

by: Scott Shields

Wed May 17, 2006 at 01:17:46 PM EDT

In my first official post as a Menendez for Senate staffer, I'm really excited to announce the launch of StandUpToBigOil.com. As many of you have probably heard by now, Senator Menendez is fighting back against Big Oil and their allies in the Republican Congress. The Menendez plan will force Big Oil to foot the bill for a 60-day suspension of the federal gas tax to ease the burden of outrageous prices at the pump. Senator Reid and the DSCC have been touting the Menendez plan for a few weeks now, and it really seems to be gaining traction.

Here's the proposal, in a nutshell. As both retail gas prices trend upward with no relief in site, the federal gas tax -- currently $0.184 per gallon -- would be suspended for 60 days, ideally during the traditionally high-priced summer driving months. This tax holiday would be revenue neutral, however, as it's paid for by a repeal of the tax breaks and corporate welfare Republicans have made sure to protect for their cronies in Big Oil. Even though word of the Menendez proposal has made its way around the netroots, this is an important point that's been too often overlooked. Senator Menendez is going to stand up to Big Oil and make them pay for real relief at the pump.