Garden State looking more like campaign battleground

YahooNews ^ | September 24, 2004 | Andrea Stone, USA TODAY

[crushelits]

New Jersey, whose 15 electoral votes were presumed to be safely in Kerry's column, has suddenly emerged as closer than either side expected. A Quinnipiac University poll this week showed President Bush tied with Kerry among likely voters; other polls also have shown the race tightening. Kerry had a 10-point lead before the Republican convention.

Pollsters cite several reasons for Bush's surge:

• The war on terrorism. Nearly 700 New Jerseyans died in the Sept. 11 attacks. Just last month, security was tightened at the Newark headquarters of Prudential Financial when it appeared on a possible al-Qaeda hit list. The new poll showed Bush ahead of Kerry, 55% to 38%, on who would do a better job handling terrorism.

• The Republican convention. Residents of northern New Jersey watched local TV coverage of the convention, held across the Hudson River in New York City. Pollsters found less movement in the southern part of the state, where New Jerseyans already are being bombarded with campaign ads on Philadelphia stations.

• Local politics. The recent scandal over Gov. James McGreevey's resignation following an affair with a man and related allegations of corruption in the statehouse have produced a "natural spillover" into the presidential race, says Rep. Bill Pascrell (news, bio, voting record), D-N.J., co-chairman of Kerry's campaign in the state.

[Unam Sanctam]

Here's hoping the corrupt "Gay American"'s shenanigans will help win the state for W!

[Publius]

Still, Kerry's drop in New Jersey is "flabbergasting,"...

43% of New Jersey's electorate is of Italian-American background. The first half of that combination takes a dim view of McGreevey's antics.

[Jersey Republican Biker Chick]

It would be nice to see NJ go Republican for a while.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

According to Dan rather & CBS standards, it does not matter who mailed them, the story is true.

[Clemenza]

Correct. I think only Rhode Island has Jersey beat in that category.

Too many of my relative up there simply take the position that "all parties are equally corrupt" (in Jersey this is true) and view McGreevey as one in a long line of crooked politician in the Garden State. I don't think linking the Dems to McGreevey as a way to get people to vote for Bush is going to have much of an effect on the most cynical electorate in the country.