I do not think NJ votes Republican in an all-economics elections. Democrats have been winning here due to large in part union support in the state. Combine that with the huge margins they recieve in Essex, Hudson, and Camden counties (they would go Dem no matter what) and I don't see a GOP canidate winning.
I'd disagree...but you're more of an expert on NJ than I am...I'd say the primary reason NJ has gone away from the Republican fold (see 1968-1988) is the GOP's batsh**t crazy position on social issues. And if the GOP were as socially liberal as the democrats, (thus holding the social factor constant)...Republicans would likely win NJ...but given how far out the GOP is from the social mainstream in NJ...we really can't tell how the state would vote solely on economics.
New Jersey's changed a little bit as well with the rest of the suburban population in the US. I think suburbans voters are more open to liberal economic stances than they were in the past. How do you explain the massive shift to the Dems on the state level? Our Republican canidates recently have always been more towards the NJ mainstream on social issues, yet they still lose time and time again. Certainly there has been a change in the voter makeup in the state. I think the one issue that can get NJ voters to support the GOP is security, and even that wasn't enough to get it close in 2004.
