Rep. Kirk looks like a combination of Dubya and Dennis Kucinich...
Posted on 09/11/2008 5:37:25 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Former congressman Dick Zimmer, the Republican nominee for New Jersey’s U.S. Senate seat, continues to have difficulty gaining electoral traction. According to the latest poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind, 41% of voters say they haven’t heard of Zimmer and another third (33%) say they have no opinion of him.
Frank Lautenberg, the Democratic incumbent, leads Zimmer among likely voters by 46% to 35%.
(Excerpt) Read more at publicmind.fdu.edu ...
Given the circumstances, Lautenberg ought to be leading by a lot more than he is. Voters have major qualms about him. Zimmer’s problem is that many voters don’t remember him. He can fix that, but will require a lot of money.
Zimmer is a liberal scumbag on par with lautenberg. He has NO CHANCE of winning.
Brooklyn Joe PeNazio would have been at 28%. I voted for Sabrin, even though I realized he had ZERO chance of winning.
Lousenberg the corpse will be easily reelected.
An incumbent polling at 46% is not good. If this poll is indicative of others, I imagine the GOP is watching this one closely.
Well looks like the guy could use some support.
Maybe some ads.
Another one that could use our support is in Ill.
Zimmer has an empty warchest with less than two months to go. Don't see him winning, nor do I even see him campaigning.
As always Clemenza, you know your NJ politics.
There was a better candidate available to the NJ republicans, but they failed to get him.
The NJ ‘pubs are as out of touch with the people as the dems are.
Schundler was too good for this state. Really sad that he can’t run again in JC, as the machine (in the form of Jerry Red Nose Healey) is back in power.
Rep. Kirk looks like a combination of Dubya and Dennis Kucinich...
Anywhere else an incumbent polling at 46% is bad. You may think otherwise, and that's your prerogative.
I think that Dick Zimmer has a chance of pulling off the upset, just as McCain/Palin has a chance of carrying NJ. Sure, it’s more likely that McCain will end up at 48% and that Zimmer will end up at 47%, but Zimmer could get to 50% by winning liberal Republican votes without his candidacy resulting in a suppressed conservative turnout (since they’ll be going out to vote for Palin, so they might as well hold their nose and vote for Zimmer over Lautenberg).
Regarding the NJ GOP’s inability to elect a Republican Senator in over 35 years, that is certainly true, but we’ve come reasonably close a few times. Had Chuck Haytaian (sp?) not refused to go negative against Lautenberg in 1994, Lautenberg would have been yet another Democrat defeated that magical November evening (a JFK-shooting-type question for our generation is “where were *you* when you heard Frank Sesno announce on CNN that exit polls showed the Republicans winning huge victories across the nation”). And had the NJ Supreme Court followed the law, Doug Forrester would have defeated Torricelli and/or a Lautenberg write-in candidacy in 2002 (although Forrester would have been a one-termer, hopefully taken out at the 2008 primary).
I seem to remember (living across the water in Brooklyn at the time) that Torricelli was down in the polls by about 4 points (and falling) before he dropped out and SCONJ ruled his replacement by Frankenstein to be constitutional. Of course, the braindead voters in places like Woodbridge (the Rio Linda of New Jersey) saw Louse’s name and voted for him because they thought he WAS the incumbent.
Where I don't see Zimmer succeeding where McCain will is in Gloucester, Burlington, and the outer parts of Camden County. These are largely white, blue collar, Dem areas that have supported the Louse in the last few election cycles. Zimmer should also get creamed in the blue collar precincts in Middlesex County (Woodbridge, South River, South Amboy, etc.), while McCain may actually draw some votes there.
It is sad. Maybe if McCain wins he will appoint Brett to oversee what’s left of Fannie and Fred.
True, Zimmer won’t do as well as McCain/Palin in blue-collar areas, but he’ll do better than McCain among socially liberal and/or affluent RINOs. The top of the ticket gets him the conservative turnout that he could never get for himself, and he gets votes from RINOs that will vote for Obama because McCain is pro-life-—it might just be enough to get him over the finish line. This would be similar to how, over in PA, Arlen Specter benefited from President Bush turning out conservative voters in 2004 and how Bob Casey, Jr. benefited from Ed Rendell turning out liberal voters in 2006 (not that either race ended up being very close).
That's the problem, it's not anywhere else, it's here in NJ.
Zimmer is a liberal republican running against a liberal dem. In that scenerio the dem always wins.
The Lautenberg “win” in ‘94 was suspiciously odious. I still think Haytaian won. Too bad the Senate Republicans never investigated and refused to seat the likes of Lautenberg and Feinstein that year, nevermind Landrieu in ‘96.
There is no way that Lautenberg will be defeated .
You are correct.
For some anecdotal evidence: I am voting for McCain. I always will vote for the ‘pub candidate for house/senate even if they are not very conservative. (ie; I vote for Rodney, who replaced Chuck, even though he’s pro-abortion).
I am pretty sure I will NOT vote for Zimmer. I see him as as Lincoln Chaffee clone.
I think I might write in Clemenza instead.
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