Pindell Report: 7th district House race changed from Leans Democratic to Leans Republican
By Alex Isenstadt, Politicker.com Reporter
With just four days left in the 2008 campaign, Republican Leonard Lance is poised to eke out an upset victory against Democrati Linda Stender, according to James Pindell, the editor of Politicker.com's The Pindell Report, which offers independent analysis of federal- and state-level races. Pindell today moved New Jersey's 7th district seat from Leans Democratic to Leans Republican.
Pindell says that the decision of Democrats to dispatch their highest profile surrogate, former President Bill Clinton, to campaign for Stender is not something a campaign does when its ahead going into the final hours of a race. PolitickerNJ.com reported this week that the Stender campaign has an internal poll showing her trailing Lance by four points.
"How did we get to this point?," Pindell asked. "After a year of national Democrats and aligned organizations dumping millions of dollars behind Stender, the Democrat missed when she spent part of the last stretch of the campaign talking about abortion. If there is anything we learned from this cycle, it’s that social issues didn’t matter much. Other Democrats across the country gained traction by focusing on the economy. Should Stender indeed fall short, it would be a disappointing end to a race that Democrats had invested heavily in."
Stender, a four-term Assemblywoman from Union County, came within one percentage point of unseating U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson in 2006. After the 38-year-old Ferguson backed off a bid for a fifth term, Republicans nominated Lance, a State Senator from Hunterdon County and the former Senate Minority Leader.
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Great News
Its time we spike a little reality on to Linda Spender and her failed Corzine policies.
While we can never replace Mike, Sen. Lance will certainly try his best to represent NJ fairly and do all he can to actually help NJ, unlike linda Spender...i mean stender.
ashcroft, gonzalez, mukasey, goodling,sampson,rove.....
In all of my years of working on elections from local to national, as well as teaching about state, federal, and local government, I have never been more concerned about what our next president and the Justice Department might find out about the past 7+ years at this White House and this Justice Department. Case closed.
Clinton always ready to help
I heard that Clinton immediately put Linda Stender on his schedule, as soon as he got word that she might be going down.
Pindell sounds bummed about the prospect of a Stender loss.
Democrats must shed corrupt ties
Having Joe Cryan and Ray Lesniak appear at a campaign rally is no way to convince independent voters to support someone!
America needs to break away from crooked politicians just as hard as we are breaking away from the ignorance, incompetence and greed represented by the Bush Republicans.
Who is going to challenge Governor Jon S. Corzine in the 2009 Democratic primary?
Lance is the best choice
If Linda Stender falls short, it will be because she came up against a better candidate in Leonard Lance. He is my state senator, but since I am in Lambertville, I am not in the 7th Congressional Distrist. I am very disappointed that I will not be able to vote for him for Congress. In the 17 years since he has been representing District 23, he has distinguished himself in many ways -- on the environment, the budget, ethics reform, and the arts, to name a few.
I have never felt anything but pride when I read the paper about his work in Trenton. I used to work in state government, and many democrats have approached me and quietly whispered that they are pulling for the good Senator from Hunterdon County. All who know him know he is a thoughtful and moderate legislator and a true gentlemen.
Good luck on Tuesday, Senator Lance!
Let's go Lance!
Fearing an upset, Clinton was demanded to elevate Stender's news coverage. Will it be enough?--with rapid lead fluctuations, we won't know till Tuesday night.
I cheer for Lance. He's brilliant, moderate, educated, and issues-focused. I can't say the same for Stender's unimpressive presence and trite "plans for change."