Posted on 07/28/2004 8:58:25 AM PDT by freeperfromnj
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — As the state's top Democrats gather in Boston to nominate John Kerry as the party's candidate, a poll indicates the Democratic challenger is in a virtual dead heat with President George W. Bush among New Jersey voters.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Hard to believe. I hope so however because that would be very bad news for the challenger.
I've lived in The Garden State for 25 years. If Bush wins NJ, it would augur for a landslide of historic proportions. Sadly, I don't see that happening here.
Another example of how September 11th is the factor in this election.
LOL. If Kerry can't win NJ, he's toast....
I agree, I doubt if Bush takes it. If on election night a dejected Dan Rather comes on the air and says..."CBS News projects,in New Jersey, the winner President George W. Bush", then we can all go to bed early cause it is over.
Go, New Jersey! Make him fight hard, spend LOTS of time and dough there if he wants to keep the state blue...
Forcing Kerry to spend money in NJ would be HUGE!!!!
Even if Bush loses in NJ all is not lost. Lurch will have to put resources in the state tha he thought he had wrapped up. This means less resources in Ohio, Florida or PA.
Dan Rather will project New Jersey for Bush only after Hawaii polls have been closed for four hours and the made to stay open late polls in Saint Louis have closed.
They called Florida for Gore 52 minutes before the polls closed but would not call states won by Bush for hours after the polls closed.
Deliberate attempt to monkey with the election.
I imagine Rather would be a bit more than dejected. I'm picturing furious and sneering...
NJ is close. While it was historically R, in recent decades it has been heavily D. It is close this time. I think Kerry will most likely still win, but he will have to fight for it. 9/11 hit close to home; about a third of the casualities were Garden Staters. And issues like security weigh heavily here...for example, Port Elizabeth.
The deep urban areas (NYC, Philly) are never in contention. But NJ is mostly a state of suburbs. At least some are reachable.
The polls have been consistent. Several weeks back Kerry was ahead 5 points, it later narrowed to 3 and now it's a dead heat. Bush is clearly gaining ground in NJ. September 11 makes national security very much an issue with NJ voters, the NJ economy is doing quite well, residents are upset with new McGreevey taxes and there is a lot of support for the military here as well. I predict Bush will pull an upset in NJ.
This state may well be in play. While it still seems improbable that Bush will win New Jersey, it is possible and the Bush campaign should not completely write it off as they would Rhode Island or Hawaii.
Is Bush visiting or spending any money there? That's the true measure of whether it's in play.
Can McGreevey have enraged enough Jersey voters to bring a quarter million people to the polls for Bush?
Perhaps, but not likely. Maybe if McGreevey aggressively campaigned for Kerry it might happen. If it snowed heavily in Trenton, Newark and Camden on election day it might happen too.
I heard that the Kerry campaign was "going dark" after the convention until November 3 when they plan to challenge the results in court.
Bush came in 2000. I tried to get into the event at FDU, but more than twice as many people came as the FDU staff anticipated, so I was turned away.
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