On the other hand, McCain as a moderate Republican and an independent politician and an advocate of campaign finance and ethics reform can help Forrester boost his claims to be the candidate of change in...

Coming after Peter Harvey and at a time citizens are so skeptical of government, to appoint a political operative is dreadful.

What this practice does is really put candidates on guard wherever they are, and make delivering speeches even to groups of supporters even harder.

He is in trouble. It’s been a summer that’s been squandered. Can Doug Forrester in the next week or two rebound and refocus his campaign and start generating some favorable attention?

These are millionaire candidates who we thought would run above traditional politics, and instead they have super-sized their negative campaigns. What citizens have gotten is a very conventional campaign dominated by name calling and exaggerated...

It seems this term would have been the crowning glory with the opening of the new arena. I think it’s a surprise if he does not run.

Yeah, it could be. Interestingly, some national polls show that John McCain would beat Hillary Clinton.

Both candidates were running as agents of change, but instead of using their wealth to sell their agendas, these multimillionaires have squandered money on attacks. It’s not that the charges are scandalous; this is the...

Cory Booker wins handily. Booker has grass-roots support.

Kean will have a difficult time talking about policies coming out of Washington. So he’ll talk about New Jersey taxes. And Menendez has made it about President Bush.

In a situation where the state is facing budget problems, it’s hard to convince voters that you can do a lot. If it was so easy to provide property-tax relief, surely they would have already...

He’s within striking distance. It looks like a competitive race.

Citizens are not happy about the sales tax. They will not be happy about their property taxes going up, but people do indeed seem to understand the state is having hard fiscal times and solutions...

I wonder, with a couple days to go, if the ad cuts through, or if people look at it and say, ‘Aren’t you the guy whose ex-wife says he shouldn’t be governor?

Clearly, Democrats were saying we’re not rubber-stamping this.

His criticisms of Washington, of the Bush administration for being too ideologically conservative, and its policies in Iraq and its failures in dealing with Hurricane Katrina, are likely to resonate with many New Jersey unaffiliated...

It’s important for Forrester to stand up and speak for himself. He needs to put a face and voice to his campaign theme.

It was a castor oil budget. We were told, ‘Take this medicine and you’ll feel better in a few years.

He’s worked very hard to try to overcome that … (but) as a minority member of the Senate, of course, accomplishments are thin. There’s not a policy record there. There’s not successes to point to.

Menendez has the experience and leadership positions in Washington already. Menendez in the Senate is also helpful to the national Democratic Party, who want someone strong in there.

Is he a cheerleader for the Bush White House or does he have some alternatives to the situation in Iraq?

Forrester wanted to be seen as the candidate of ethics reform. I think that’s slipped away.

When people look at local government, they’re not looking at party affiliation or ideology. They’re looking at the character of their local officials and the quality of services they receive. I guess we could throw...

There is typically a lot of turnover in school board elections. But especially when voters are angry and frustrated they’ll throw the incumbents out of a school board.

Young people will typically show up in larger numbers in national elections, when they perceive the stakes to be higher.

I think he wants to de-emphasize money and to draw attention away from the fact he is so wealthy. He perceives himself to have a populist administration.

It’s playing on a familiar theme, a familiar theme for Republicans, that no matter what Democrats say, they are going to tax you.

He’s giving us a mixed message. Is this really a new beginning, or is this the same old talk?