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The five finalists are: "New Jersey: Expect the Unexpected," "New Jersey: Love at First Sight," "New Jersey: Come See for Yourself," "New Jersey: The Real Deal" and "New Jersey: The Best Kept Secret."

I've written a lot of ad copy in my day and I can say that these suck. Bad. They're so vague and meaningless, you could slap these slogans on any state. Just stick with "Garden State" until you come up with something better.

I too used to think Jersey was a cesspool, but after spending a week near Princeton, I fell in love with the place. I'm not about to leave Arizona, but NJ has some beautiful spaces.

[Alberta's Child]

Oddly enough, New Jersey -- for all of its reputation as a liberal state -- has some of the most reliably Republican Congressional districts in the U.S. today.

There's one area out in Morris/Somerset/Hunterdon Counties (a little ways north of Princeton) that is dominated by some very old, very quiet money -- and where Steven Forbes is one of the poorest residents in his neighborhood.

[Alberta's Child]

New Jersey -- and the New Jersey / downstate New York / eastern Pennsylvania region in general -- has one very appealing characteristic that I haven't seen anywhere else in my travels across the U.S. As far as I know, it's the only place in North America that has four distinct seasons that are all roughly three months long.

And there isn't a prettier place in autumn than northern New Jersey or downstate New York, either.