Peter Feldman

One week after scoring major Democratic endorsements from former Secretary of State Joan Haberle and her daughter, John McCain now has the support of Alfredo Gutierrez, the owner of Xtra Supermarket in Newark. “He sits on the board of United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce," said spokesman Peter Feldman.  "He is the first Dominican to ever hold a seat on the board.”   Gutierrez was the only New Jerseyan on a list of fifty Latino endorsements announced by the McCain campaign nationally.

If the McCain campaign’s decision to end operations in Michigan doesn’t exactly produce a rush of new resource opportunities in New Jersey, McCain at least does not intend to fold up his Garden State headquarters, according to spokesman Peter Feldman.

"Obviously as we move closer to Election Day, the campaign is making strategic decisions about limited resources and taking a closer look at the electoral map," said the Woodbridge-based Feldman. "The McCain campaign continues to fight for New Jersey’s 15 electoral votes, which are still up for grabs.

"With resources coming out of Michigan, we expect more attention on the traditional battleground states like Pennsylvania and Ohio, but also other states like Maine and New Jersey," the spokesman added.

This weekend, McCain campaign volunteers focused their phone-banking efforts on the town of Bayonne, where a fiercely contested mayoral election features two Democratic candidates who repeatedly remind people it’s a nonpartisan municipal election, after all, and who won’t publicly endorse Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.).

McCain State Chair Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Mercer): Politicker file photo

DENVER - New Jersey Republicans jeered Barack Obama’s choice for vice president in a Saturday afternoon conference call today, with state Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Mercer) describing as "historic," presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Il.) decision to name Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) as his running mate.

"Yesterday, Sen. Obama picked someone who does not believe his own running mate is ready to be president of the United States," said Baroni, chair of the McCain campaign in New Jersey.

Citing a Democratic Primary debate exchange between ABC moderator George Stephanopoulos and then-presidential candidate Biden in which the latter said he does not believe the presidency is the proper venue for on-the-job training, Baroni focused on the freshman Senator Obama’s lack of experience.

"That’s not me saying it, it’s Joe Biden," said Baroni, echoing a McCain television ad that is now up and running in South Jersey.