It's Menendez

[nini2287]

Congratulations, Republicans on your pickup in 2006.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/07/senate.menendez/index.html

[Speed of Sound]

Comes as no surprise, though he may be harder to beat than you suggest.

[YRABNNRM]

Comes as no surprise, though he may be harder to beat than you suggest.

Why do you say that?

[TheresNoMoney]

Codey was my first choice and Rush Holt was my 2nd, but picking Menendez certainly doesn't doom us.

The race will certainly be competitive, though and may be Republicans best chance for a pickup. However, Menendez has a ton of money and Democrats have a much stronger campaign operation in place.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Comes as no surprise, though he may be harder to beat than you suggest.

Why do you say that?

You know what ballot box stuffing is?

[Jake]

As predicted. Congrats Senator Kean.

[YRABNNRM]

Comes as no surprise, though he may be harder to beat than you suggest.

Why do you say that?

You know what ballot box stuffing is?

Of course. I worked for the Naso campaign.

[memphis]

For those of us who don't know much about Menendez, please explain why he is supposedly so certain to lose next year.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

For those of us who don't know much about Menendez, please explain why he is supposedly so certain to lose next year.

Ever see the Godfather?

[TheresNoMoney]

Ever see the Godfather?

Can you give specifics instead of a movie reference?

[Jake]

For those of us who don't know much about Menendez, please explain why he is supposedly so certain to lose next year.

He is a liberal North Jersey hack. Think of it as if one of the scandal ridden Ford's ran for Senate against a moderate like Alexander.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Anderews and Pallone are both running in the primary.

[YRABNNRM]

Anderews and Pallone are both running in the primary.

They'll get offers they can't refuse.

[TheresNoMoney]

Can anyone give specific examples of Menendez corruption instead of vague generalities? I have heard numerous times that he is corrupt but have never heard any specific instances of this being true.

[Moooooo]

I think its a little pre-mature to assume the race is over.   Menendez is polling within the MOE of Kean, he has a huge cash advantage, and if NJ is willing to elect Corzine by 9 points I seriously doubt they've ruled out sending Menendez to the U.S. Senate.

Lean-Republican.

[TheresNoMoney]

I think its a little pre-mature to assume the race is over.   Menendez is polling within the MOE of Kean, he has a huge cash advantage, and if NJ is willing to elect Corzine by 9 points I seriously doubt they've ruled out sending Menendez to the U.S. Senate.

Lean-Republican.

Menendez ahead of Kean by 2% in last Quinnipiac poll:

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x11376.xml?ReleaseID=852

NJ hasn't elected a Republican to the Senate in 30 years. This one is probably a toss-up with slight edge to the Democrats because of the overall partisan bent of the state, as well as a very unpopular Republican president.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Ever see the Godfather?

Can you give specifics instead of a movie reference?

You know what organisation that movie was about, right?

[minionofmidas]

Can anyone give specific instances of Menendez corruption?

Btw - it does appear that "North Jersey Liberal Democrat" is quite enough to be deemed corrupt among a large minority of the NJ electorate ... plus of course Menendez is Puertorican (contradict me if I'm wrong) and as such "nonwhite" ... which will matter to many voters (no matter if you protest now. )
Yeah, bad pick. No, not an automatic pickup to the Republicans. Might well be lean Republican though - I hear Kean's more popular than Forrester?

Oh, on a related note - When will the by-election for Menendez' house seat be? Any potential candidates? (THis one's rock-solid Dem though). And doesn't Menendez have some sort of leadership position with the House Dems? Who'll get to fill that?

[Jake]

By-election should be a few months after Corzine is sworn in. Say April or May.

[nini2287]

I think Menendez is Cuban, not Puerto Rican.  For the general election, I would guess Kean wins by around 5 points.

[minionofmidas]

I think Menendez is Cuban, not Puerto Rican. 

That's better.

For his general election chances that is, not for anything else.

EDIT - Did a little google search on this. Yes, Cuban.

[TheresNoMoney]

You know what organisation that movie was about, right?

You're saying he's part of the mob.

Still nobody can give any concrete examples of corruption.

[Speed of Sound]

Comes as no surprise, though he may be harder to beat than you suggest.

Why do you say that?

Im simply suggesting that its a bit unfair to count him as a loser before the race has even begun. To say he has almost no chance seems to be a bit off to me.

[Keystone Phil]

I'll wait until the official announcement until I say it but it's looking good...

[Yates]

While I am not sure that this is official, if it is true, I would think even less of Corzine.