Hope For New Jersey?

Robert Menendez probably thought after being appointed by New Jersey Governor John Corzine to his empty Senate seat that re-election would be a breeze in this blue state...Er....maybe not:

The son of former Governor Tom Kean (R) now has a seven percentage point advantage in New Jersey's U.S. Senate campaign. The latest Rasmussen Reports election poll in the Garden State shows Republican Tom Kean, Jr. leading Senator Robert Menendez (D) 43% to 36%.
Seven percent (7%) of voters say that they will vote for some other candidate and 14% remain undecided in this Democratic leaning state.
A month ago, Kean held a two-point advantage, 41% to 39%.

Kean has solidified support among Republicans since our last poll while Menendez has lost ground among Democrats. From an ideological perspective, Kean has improved his standing with conservative voters in the state.
Sixty-six percent (66%) of New Jersey voters believe that the U.S. should gain control of its borders and enforce existing laws before considering other immigration reform. Just 29% disagree.

Considering that folks like former Senator Bill Bradley would hold 20+ point leads this early out, only to win election by single digit margins, these numbers do not bode well for Menendez.
Nor do they bode well for the final analysis on Corzine's judgement skills...his controversial appointee for State Attorney General finds herself back in the news again (no, not for 13 speeding tickets, three license suspensions and a bench warrant for failing to pay a fine, nor for her appearance with illegal immigrants supporting their rights to New Jersey taxpayer dollars) for interfering with a police stop involving her live-in boyfriend. The Asbury Park Press does the story some justice:

There's something to be said for judging people by the company they keep. In state Attorney General Zulima Farber's case, it speaks volumes.

Farber, 62, lives with her 65-year-old boyfriend, Hamlet Goore. He is an attorney who has twice been disciplined by the state Supreme Court and whose driver's license has been suspended at least 11 times, Gannett New Jersey reported this week. Two companies Goore founded were shut down by the state treasurer for failure to pay corporate taxes.

Goore is one of the few people in the state whose driving record makes Farber's look good. Farber has racked up 14 traffic violations, three license suspensions and four bench warrants for failure to appear in court — a record that didn't seem to faze Gov. Corzine, who nominated her for the state's top law enforcement job.

If her lack of fitness for the job were ever in doubt, she proved it over the Memorial Day weekend, when she intervened on her boyfriend's behalf after he was stopped by police for failure to wear a seatbelt in Fairfield in Essex County. Apparently, Farber forgot to tell Goore about the state's Click-It or Ticket campaign — one highlighted on the home page of the Attorney General's Web site. Goore was subsequently ticketed for driving with a suspended license — again — and driving an uninsured vehicle — again. Farber's actions in rushing to the scene in a State Police car — even if one were to believe her version of the events — were indefensible.

Farber's "version of events" are here:

Farber said it didn't occur to her that the presence of the state's top law-enforcement officer could have prompted the police issuing the tickets to act differently. She said she attends all events in her unmarked SUV with a security detail.

And this is the Democrat's choice for Attorney General of the State of New Jersey???

If Kean just keeps tying Senator Menendez to folk like Farber and their mutual benefactor, Governor Corzine, we may see a rout of incumbant Jersey Democrats all the way down the ticket come November...