GOP control of the Senate not impossible

Paul Sarlo has $500,000 in the bank and is looking to have $700,000 by election time. Who of these possible candidates is willing to take that on when they have less than a year to raise the money?

Yeah, the the casual observer it appears that Kalafer and the Bergen Cliff Hawks will pay whatever it takes to keep Sarlo on their side.

Walt

I always chuckle when the premise not to run against someone is that they have all this money, and therefore cannot be defeated.

Donovan had a 5-1 dollar advantage and lost the primary to Caliguire.

Torricelli played that game and it got him the US Senate in 00. But his world kind of unraveled. Look at Bradley in 90, there are too many instances in where incumbents obsess about funraising versus acutally building some semblance of a legislative record.

The real issue is what have they done?

Given the current conditions in 36 as it relates to Xanadu, pay for play, overdevelopment, high property taxes and the imposition of COAH, this would be a very competitive race and the incumbent will need every dime to survive.

That's to say nothing about the increase of the Sales Tax and the general feeling this trio is invisble to the average voter.

Ask Gabe Ambrosio if his ridiculous money advantage helped him against John Scott?

Money doesn't gurantee anything when you're a virtual unknown...

Here we go again NJDEM, always talking about how the trio is invisible when you live in California and have no basis for your statements. Do you see the letters to the editor all the time in the weeklies? Do you go to the events the "trio" are at in the Bergen part of the district every weekend? Do you know the close contact the offices have with each town on a weekly basis? Do you attend the Democratic municipal club fundraisers that the "trio" always gets to? The "trio" is in fact very hard working and the 36th District is very much in strong Democratic control. How else do you get Republican mayors endorsing their candidacy?

The real question is whether Coniglio gets indicted for getting a $5,000 a month kickback from Bergen Pines in exchange for the line item they got in the state budget, or whether Sarlo gets indicted for getting a kickback from Carlstadt in terms of an Engineering Contract in exchange for additional state aid. Price to taxpayers for these bribes: 7% sales tax.

If my commentary is ridiculous, people will ignore what is said. Afterall, this is an OPINION page?

I simply tried to make the point that raising vast sums of money doesn't guarantee victory. The second point was these legislators are not well known no matter how many "club meetings" they attend.

The third point what have they accomplished? Raising the Sales Tax? Property Taxes continue to explode all over the district. There's an obvious discontent with all these mega developments and all you need to do is read the letters I see in the weeklies to comprehend that reality.

They might be popular in their own backyard, but that's about it.

Stop trying to manufacture this fantasy that this is somehow a safe Democratic district when it isn't. When George Bush easily carries Wood-Ridge over Kerry, the numbers don't lie.

You seem hyper sensitive for someone who claims to be this objective observer seeking truth, justice and the American way!

I see a former congressional candidate being the nominee vs. Sarlo, and it's not Donovan.

How does Sen. Vince Micco sound??????????

first he has to lose to win. If he runs strong in 36, he's got the inside lane for the nomination.