NJ Monday News Roundup

Happy Monday everyone and welcome to a (mostly) election day themed news roundup today, September 25, 2006. There's a whole lot going on this week, so let's get right to it!

The lastest poll suggests that the hotly contested NJ Senate race is (still) a dead heat. This poll makes one thing clear: the indepentent voter will decide the day. On the one hand we have Senator Bob Menendez, who's running on his record and a better future in America than what we've seen the past six years. On the other hand, there is Tom Kean Junior who's running on his daddy's name.

Speaking of names (and irony) there's this gem in the Philly Inquirer. The GOP is pissing and moaning about the Sexton/Saxton election in NJ's 3rd congressional district. Can you believe the party that's putting Daddy's Boy Kean Junior at the top of the ticket is shilling the notion that the dems are trying to confuse voters in NJ-3 with the name similarity? Are you kidding me? Given the fact that Jim Saxton has voted with the Bush Administration nearly 90% of the time, “I should be the one worrying about who's confusing who,” Sexton quipped at yesterday's Moorestown rally.

Women running for office in the Garden State have a harder time getting elected to public office than their male counterparts. The lastest issue of Forbes examines this phenomenon in some detail.

"You don't play golf or drink beer with a woman," said former Gov. Christie Whitman. "You tend to gravitate toward people who look like you."

The ex-Gov. has a good point, but there's more to the story than that. So consider the job facing candidates like Linda Stender, Carol Gay and Viola Thomas Hughes: not only do they have to do battle with entrenched incumbents, but they're also working against history. In our state's history, only five women have ever gone to Congress. Additionally NJ has never elected a female Senator. Sad but true.

Governor Corzine is getting better feedback from NJ residents. Aparently, the state doesn't see a whole lot getting done (yet) but seem pleased that the Governor is trying, which is more than we can say about his predecessors (McGreevy, Whitman, et al.) who were long on smoke and mirrors and short on results. The poll results are a "reaction to a strong leader," Seton Hall polysci Prof. Joseph Marbach said. "You can disagree with the policies of a leader, but if someone acts decisively, you respect that." I know I sure do.

It's deja vu all over again for Wayne Bryant. The Turd of Trenton is a wart on the face of Camden County and he should be in jail. The Trentonian is a bit more succinct:

Actually, Bryant is more disgusting than a pig..... more of a Jabba the Hut of Star Wars fame--a creepy, slimy corrupt slug. Sen. Wayne Bryant is a slug in the New Jersey political landscape and somebody needs to pour some salt on this guy.

No argument here. If we don't stand up to guys like Wayne Bryant, then we don't deserve to hold onto our majority in Trenton. If Senate President Dick Codey won't take Byrant to task then surely the voters will. (Note to Sen Codey: NJ voters respond well to "cleaning house" and Gov. Corzine's actions with Zulima Farber underscore this notion!!)

Finally, we look at the needle exchange compromise in Trenton. Times:

That New Jersey, which we here like to think of as enlightened and progressive, trails the rest of the country in this initiative is shocking -- and has led to statistics that are as sad as they are predictable. We have the fifth highest number of adult HIV cases in the nation. Forty-five percent of our AIDS virus caseload comes from shared drug syringes, compared with about 20 percent in other states.

The nay sayers need to get off their high horse, suspend their judgements surrounding AIDS and addiction and enact needle exchange in this state so that more people don't have to die.