Opinion

Barack Obama shakes Bob Menendez's hand at the Democratic National Convention in Denver tonight: MSNBC Photo
U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, who did not get a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention, made it near ... >

If Rick Merkt and Chris Christie both wind up in the race for the 2009 Republican nomination for Governor, it will be the first time in 28 years that two former running mates and two candidates from the same small town compete in a statewide primary.  Merkt and Christie, who live in ... >

If Rick Merkt gives up his State Assembly seat to run for Governor next year, there will most definitely be a long list of Republicans interested in seeking the open seat in the 25th district. Possible candidates include: attorney Anthony Bucco, Jr., the son of the incumbent State ... >

One hesitates to quote Shakespeare to the Editors of The Record. The thought of all that dust rising from their library shelves is enough to make me sneeze. They do, however, "protest too much".

The Editors of the Record (known affectionately as the "Hacks on the Hackensack") ... >

Former U.S. Sen. Bob Torricelli says The Record is dead
The Record announced yesterday that it was closing its Hackensack offices and "reinventing"itself. It was actually announcing its own death without the ... >

Everything that I admire and fear about the Democratic Party was on display this week. The compassion for creating affordable housing and the insensitivity to economic growth were both reflected in the new COAH rules.

New Jersey needs affordable housing. Young workers and people on modest ... >

A Post columnist contends that New Jersey offers a cautionary tale to New York.  He's right. >

NJ, yet again, comes in dead last: the highest taxed state in the entire country.  >

NJ STARS, while failing in its intended purpose, nonetheless demonstrates the need for fundamental reform in NJ's high schools. >

Selecting the next NJN anchor will certainly be a different process than what happens at the major networks, local affiliates and other public community broadcast stations.

Aside from grappling with its talent loss - filling the shoes (um, heels) of Emmy award winning anchor Kent Manahan - ... >

Despite all the recent downsizing news at The Record and Star Ledger, similar economic pressures at New Jersey's only statewide television station have virtually been ignored by the media. Aside from the headliner early retirements announced and the station's budget proposal to wean ... >

Plagiarism is a bit like pornography - you know it when you see it, to paraphrase US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart. 

But is the standard the same for bloggers? Given most blogs informal and causal tones, should bloggers be held to the same ethical standards of ... >

Tibet – the broad, high plateau between India and China – is bigger than Western Europe and the source of the great rivers of Asia: the Indus, the Yangtze, the Yarlung Tsangpol, and the Salween. Mysterious and exotic, the “Roof of the World” is the place of Tantric Buddhism, seers, and ... >

On behalf of the thousands of taxpayers and investors who are members of Americans for Prosperity-New Jersey, I’m writing to express grave concern over your company’s ratings practices regarding bonds issued by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority under contract with the State of New ... >

“Capitalism is responsible for the current food crisis and starvation around the world,” the voice on the radio said. “Attend our Introduction to Marxism conference this Friday and learn about the merits of Marxism.” Driving up the New Jersey Turnpike, I was shocked to hear this commercial ... >

For the past few weeks, I've watched with fascination as politician after politician have appeared on a beach or a boardwalk and declared their opposition to off-shore drilling.  It is a classic example of the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) phenomenon.  In New Jersey, opposing off-shore drilling ... >

The budget proposed by Gov. Jon Corzine has produced myriad negative reactions, featuring various interests seeking to limit the impact of the cuts he has identified. Lost in the minutia of how much money will be saved by eliminating various executive departments and agencies, or how small towns ... >

In preparing for a presentation I gave at the New Jersey Political Science Association meeting last week, I spent some time reviewing the exit poll data compiled by the New York Times. In assessing whether or not moving the New Jersey presidential primary from June to February was worth the ... >

Check back tomorrow morning to view my sketchpad for day three of the Democratic National Convention, and go to my national blog to follow convention coverage by cartoonists from around the country. >

Check back tomorrow morning to view my sketchpad for day two of the Democratic National Convention, and go to my national blog to follow convention coverage by cartoonists from around the country. >

To view more cartoons by Politicker.com editorial cartoonist Rob Tornoe, click here. >

Some time ago, I analyzed the Catholic vote and noted in passing how some members of the Church hierarchy, in places such as St. Louis and Colorado Springs, have gone on record as insisting that Catholic politicians who support the right to choose (on the abortion issue) must be denied the ... >

We have been told that the ancient Olympic Games were founded by the son of Zeus, Heracles, but the first written records we have go back to 776 BC.  Then a cook from Ellis, Coroebus, won the one event being featured-- running 210 yards.  The games were played every four years for about 1200 ... >

As Senators McCain and Obama move toward their party’s respective nominations, one should lay out a questionnaire for those men—a questionnaire that can inform the debate this fall. If one waits for intelligent television ads, we will be in the next generation. >

As labor is burning, our National union leaders are fiddling. Some of them are simply arsonists. While the labor movement has made tremendous progress in the past, every working American knows that we are facing exceptionally challenging economic times and a union movement that continues to ... >

As the Presidential election draws closer and closer, we tend to focus our attention on the daily horse race between the candidates and lose sight of one key question recently raised in the Washington Post: What can our elected officials actually do for us?

As a union leader, I ... >

A hugely misguided attempt to eliminate the Department of Agriculture is the spark which has lit an angry fire which took over West State street recently as an unlikely combination of farmers with goats, pigs, tractors, ... >

During a gubernatorial debate in 2005, then-U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine was asked if he supported lowering the drinking age to 18.

"I think it is 18, isn't it?", he answered. Once told that it's actually 21, he added, perhaps recalling the Vietnam-era-type argument that succeeded ... >

Last Thursday around 1 p.m., I began my dissertation defense -- a 45-minute talk for the final stage of the Ph.D. process. At almost exactly the time I was wrapping up, Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Washington) issued a press release titled "New Scientific Data Justifies Repealing Global ... >

What do 42 state attorneys general, U.S. Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) and New Jersey's entire congressional delegation have in common?

Apparently, they all disagree with state Attorney General Anne Milgram on the Free Flow of Information Act, S. 2035, which ... >