President

The media, which loves headlines and knows little history, is trying to sell President Elect Obama as another Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But that jump is really a bit premature and perhaps out of sync. Obama was the child of a racially mixed marriage, between an African man, who quickly abandoned the family, and a hippy anthropologist mother who left her child with her parents while she roamed the earth. If one reads his autobiographies one senses very clearly a young man desperately trying to come to grips with his identity in life. FDR was, on the other hand, from a wealthy patrician family with an extremely devoted mother, and a much older father who came from a group of financiers and shippers often making the China run in the ninetieth century. He knew who he was and relished to recount his background.

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President Bush now has lower approval ratings in New Jersey than Richard Nixon did in May 1974, three months before he resigned the presidency

George W. Bush’s job approval ratings among New Jersey voters is at the lowest point in his presidency.  A new Quinnipiac University poll has Bush at an upside-down 18%-78%, worse than his 22%-75% numbers in a June poll.  Bush is now upside-down among Republicans, 45%-48%.  And in heavily Republican northwestern New Jersey, which includes Morris, Hunterdon, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties, the 43rd president is at an upside-down 24%-71%.  Among African Americans, Bush's positive job approval does not register; his negative is at 95%.

In New Jersey, Bush is now less popular than Richard Nixon was three months before his 1974 resignation.  An Eagleton-Rutgers poll had Nixon’s job approval at 19%-76%.

Assembly Minority Whip Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), left, campaigns last year in Atlantic County with Assemblyman John Amodeo (R-Margate) and Assemblyman Vince Polistina (R-Egg Harbor).

Raging moderate state Sen. Leonard Lance’s (R-Hunterdon) victory should serve as a lesson to every downtrodden member of the GOP as the party tries to shake off tough losses from the Nov. 4th election, argues Assembly Minority Whip Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield). 

The pro-choice Republican believes his party gets into trouble when it tries to use the chambers of government to lecture taxpayers about how to behave in their personal lives. 

“The minute you preach morality, you’re done,” Bramnick said. “That sold after Monica Lewinsky, but frankly, I’m offended by it.” 

Bramnick, who’s flirted with going statewide in recent years and emerged as an early favorite to pursue the 7th District Congressional seat Lance just won before standing down, said regardless of the national party's strategies, Republicans in New Jersey shouldn’t run on family values.  

The Wall Street Journal yesterday reported on increased buzz about Gov. Corzine being tapped by president-elect Barack Obama to become Secretary of the Treasury.

The article cited Service International Employees Union President Andy Stern’s praise of Corzine, and noted that “other handicappers are following Corzine because he has such a range of experience in both the public and private sectors.”

Gov. Jon Corzine appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe this morning and talked up Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) for the job of secretary of state in an Obama administration. 

"First of all she probably knows every major foreign leader," Corzine said. "She already has relationships where she can sit and talk directly about the problems that exist either on a bilateral or multilateral basis. She has a full grasp of the issues. She has studied it, and been as effective as any senator about articulating a point of view.

"She will bring instant credibility to those efforts," Corzine added. "She is smart. She works as hard as anybody ever has that I have ever been around. So, I think she could be a great partner with Barack Obama."

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U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), convicted of criminal charges a few weeks ago, is trailing in his bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate seat he's held since 1968

If Republican Ted Stevens loses he'll become the fifth incumbent U.S. Senator to lose re-election in a year when a home state candidate is on the national ticket.  It happened twice in 1916, and again in 1964 and 1980.

Despite Gov. Sarah Palin's presence on the GOP ticket in Alaska, Stevens -- convicted on federal corruption charges last month -- trails Democrat Mark Begich by 814 votes, with 35,000 ballots still to be counted --

The first time that happened was in 1916, when Democrat Woodrow Wilson was re-elected to a second term as President.  But in Wilson's home state of New Jersey, Republican Joseph Frelinghuysen, a cousin of U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, ousted Democratic U.S. Sen. James Martine by a 56%-39% margin. And in Indiana, the home state of Wilson's vice president, Thomas Marshall, Republican Harry New unseated incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. John Kern by a 48%-46% margin.

Ted Wells

Following a recommendation by former Gov. Brendan Byrne that the incoming Obama administration consider criminal attorney Joe Hayden for the office of U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, one of Hayden’s best-known peers this week also endorsed Hayden.

Criminal attorney Ted Wells said he believes the Hoboken-based Hayden would be an excellent choice – the question at this stage is whether the veteran attorney would take the job.

“I think Joe would bring a stature to the office because for a long time he has been viewed as one of the top lawyers in the state,” said Wells. “He has served as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney, everyone knows him and everyone respects him.”

North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos

NEWARK – Among Newark elected officials, the election of Barack Obama last week sparked hope for healthcare reform, more federal aid, a re-invigorated sense of American leadership - and a special place on the president’s to-do list for the Brick City.

Inevitably, the Democratic victory also opened up questions about the future of Mayor Cory Booker, a supporter of Obama’s from the beginning of his campaign, who now serves on the president-elect’s transition team as it relates specifically to urban affairs.

As mayor of one of New Jersey’s biggest and one of America’s oldest cities with a battered infrastructure, Booker will join over 20 other New Jersey mayors in Newark on Wednesday for a conference to redefine urban needs for the new administration.

Jon Corzine may not be a serious candidate for U.S. Secretary of the Treasury -- few people missed the sign last Friday when the Governor was not part on an Obama economic policy meeting and news conference in Chicago -- but his incoming Chief of Staff may be.  Lisa Jackson, the state Commissioner of Environmental Protection who is about to move to the front office, is short-listed for U.S. Environmental Protection Agnecy administrator in Barack Obama's administration, according to an Associated Press report of possible cabinet picks.