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The ‘Elitist’ and the ‘Exremist.’ Pallone and Little converse at News 12
EDISON – Last night, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone reduced his opponent, Mayor Anna Little of Highlands, to an extremist, based on her environmental and economic policies. In turn, she dubbed the congressman an elitist for his vote on health care and corporate bailouts. (Carroll, PolitickerNJ)
Pallone and Holt blitz 101.5 FM; Sweeney in Bergen; and McNerney on television
A very brief weekend look at some of the key Nov. 2nd races around the state… (Pizarro, PolitickerNJ)
Expecting a shift
They are always waves, tsunamis, earthquakes, landslides. Or hurricanes. Whenever U.S. voters move en masse toward either party in an election, it’s time for a metaphor alert. (Fitzgerald, The Philadelphia Inquirer)
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Challengers point to economy as reason to dump incumbents
From Union City on the Hudson River to Belmar at the Jersey Shore, challengers are pointing to the state’s high unemployment rate as the reason voters should boot Washington incumbents from their own jobs in Congress. (Bichao, Asbury Park Press)
Republicans target House races
Washington handicappers are predicting North Jersey Democrats in Congress will survive the Republican wave expected to sweep the country, but state GOP leaders hope to fare better in county-level battles in Bergen and Passaic. (Jackson, The Record)
Central Jersey congressional incumbents try to hang on against GOP assault
As in 2006 and 1994, the midterm elections Tuesday are being framed as a referendum on the direction of the nation.
With “change you can believe in” having not come fast enough, not epic enough or just not their cup of something for the many who will be waiting on the arrival of the Tea Party Express in Toms River tonight, Tuesday is being couched by some observers as a potential watershed moment in the making. (Larsen, Asbury Park Press)
Party fates drive focus on Adler, Runyan
As the campaigns of U.S. Rep. John Adler and Jon Runyan enter their final days, New Jersey’s Third Congressional District race looks to be less about two men than it is about two parties. (Burton, The Philadelphia Inquirer)
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Incumbents LoBiondo, Adler go low-key in two very different races for House
The area’s two incumbent congressmen spent the last few days in low-key local campaigning as they strive to win very different House races. (Fletcher, Press of Atlantic City)
Holt, Sipprelle trade barbs over ad
TRENTON — Health care and the economy took center stage yesterday during the final joint appearance of Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell Township) and Scott Sipprelle, his Republican rival in the race for New Jersey’s 12th District congressional seat. (Fair, The Times)
McNerney leads campaign contribution race
Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney holds a significant advantage in the run-up to next week’s election — at least in terms of campaign contributions — according to the most recent state records. (Gartland, The Record)
N.J. voters to decide fate of money taken from paychecks, deposited into unemployment
TRENTON — With the election just a few days away, the leader of one of the state’s most influential business organizations worries few voters know there is far more at stake than who controls Congress or runs town hall. (Livio, The Star-Ledger)
NJ Republicans add more new registered voters than Democrats
TRENTON — Republicans have the voter registration momentum heading into Tuesday’s General Election, state records show.
The GOP has added 18,241 voters to the rolls since the June primary, a 1.7 percent increase, according to figures at the state Division of Elections. The number of Democratic voters has increased by 3,199. (Method, Asbury Park Press)
Election results to show if national Republican movement sweeps up in New Jersey
CENTRAL JERSEY — With pundits and polls predicting a national Republican victory, Tuesday’s election results will show whether the expected GOP tide will reach Central Jersey.
Because there are no statewide races on the ballot, the focus of the election will be the Congressional races. (Deak, Home News Tribune)
NJ attorney general announces election safeguards
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow says 225 deputy attorneys general will be on duty throughout the state on Election Day to help resolve voting-related legal issues. (The Associated Press)
Swing voters are flocking to GOP
The Democrats’ final push to woo undecided voters appears to have fizzled, potentially putting dozens of competitive House races beyond reach and undermining the party’s chances in at least four toss-up Senate seats, according to party strategists and officials. (Wallsten and King, The Wall Street Journal)
Democrats fight to keep Senate from GOP gains
PHILADELPHIA — The battle for control of Congress rolled into a frenetic final weekend as Democrats fought to preserve the Senate as their power center on Capitol Hill, trying to hold off a Republican surge that could reshape the political order in Washington. (Zeleny and Hulse, The New York Times)
From the Back Room
Menendez in the 7th
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Hoboken) is doing a robocall this weekend for 7th Congressional District challenger Ed Potosnak of North Plainfield, urging voters to back the longshot former teacher in his bid to oust U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Lebanon). (Staff, PolitickerNJ)
Palin to trick-or-treat elsewhere
It looks like former Vice Presidential candidate and Tea Party icon Sarah Palin will not be spending her Halloween in Tom River as has been reported. (Isherwood, PolitickerNJ)
Opinion
Paul Moriarty panders to the unemployed constituency he created
Normally I wouldn’t bother replying to silly sarcasm and personal attacks from the likes of Paul Moriarty. But here a response to his clumsy and admittedly “disrespectful” opinion piece is simply too irresistible to pass up. (Assemblyman Jay Webber, guest columnist for PolitickerNJ)
More weirdness in the 3rd
There is a campaign flyer, apparently from third-party U.S. House candidate Peter DeStefano, being distributed to 3rd District Republicans that attacks Republican Jon Runyan’s on the federal Wall Street bailout. There is no information on who paid for it as the law requires. According to campaign reports, DeStefano has raised no money. (Ingle, Asbury Park Press)
The grand old plot against the Tea Party
ONE dirty little secret of the 2010 election is that it won’t be a political tragedy for Democrats if a Tea Party icon like Sharron Angle or Joe Miller ends up in the United States Senate. Angle, now synonymous with racist ads sliming Hispanics, and Miller, already on record threatening a government shutdown, are fired up and ready to go as symbols of G.O.P. extremism for 2012 and beyond. (Rich, The New York Times)