Steve Rothman

DENVER -- The reaction of the New Jersey delegation to Hillary Clinton’s speech tonight seemed almost uniformly positive. Most said she hit the right notes. All found her message a unifying one.

And perhaps the message that resonated most with the delegation was Clinton’s emphasis that her supporters weren’t just pulling for her, but a message that she said Barack Obama shares.

“I think Hillary Clinton really hit all the right notes. She did a magnificent job reminding everyone – she asked her supporters the right question: did you work so hard just for me or was it for all the causes that we believe in,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman, who was Barack Obama’s most prominent early backer in New Jersey. “If it was ‘not just for me,’ if it was for the causes we all believe in, then you must support Barack Obama as President.”

U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn): Politicker file photo

DENVER - It's not in his hands now, but U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn) would love to see Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Union city) receive a speaking role at the Democratic National Convention.

"It would be great for Obama, great for New Jersey and great for the party," said Rothman, Obama's Northeast Regional campaign co-chair, who is in attendance at a party in the Inverness Hotel in honor of Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden).

DENVER –  Seeking to shore up the full support of New Jersey’s Hillary Clinton supporters for Barack Obama, U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman used a line that sounded like it could have come from former President Bill Clinton.

“I hope this is not presumptuous,” he said.  “I think and feel your pain.”

The reception for Steve Rothman at today’s first delegate breakfast at the Inverness Hotel bore little resemblance to the one who, almost a year ago, drew a few boos and catcalls at the Democratic State Convention in Atlantic City when he advocated for Barack Obama, and made comments that some perceived as a knock on Hillary Clinton.

State Party Chairman Joseph Cryan operates at the Inverness.: Politicker photo

DENVER - It was one of those unlikely big event introductions: the governor of New Jersey revving up the crowd before he rolled out U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn).

Usually it’s one of the members of the congressional delegation warming up an audience for the governor, but this occasion was different, as onetime Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) stalwart Gov. Jon Corzine yielded to Rothman, a Northeast Regional co-chair of the Obama campaign.

Co-hosting a party with Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) at the Inverness Hotel on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, Rothman hit the two big power chords the Obama campaign hoped to sound with its pick this weekend of Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) as Obama’s vice presidential running mate.

"Joe Biden is going to be great at reaching out to working class voters, plus he has foreign policy experience," said the congressman, the only member of the New Jersey delegation to have endorsed Obama from the beginning.

There were scattered hand claps - and a little spark of happiness for Biden.

NJ for Obama organizers, from left: Peter Brown, Julie Diaz, and Keith Hovey.: Politicker photo 

DENVER - They were a scrappy, grassroots group of no-name organizers when Peter Brown and Julie Diaz sat in a diner bull-dozed up to the side of a Jersey highway months ago.

But anti-establishment candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Il) victory in the Democratic presidential Primary propelled them, and NJ for Obama director Keith Hovey, into the laps of New Jersey’s political establishment tonight as the three of them attended a dinner at the Inverness Hotel hosted by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn).

"I’m just happy to be here, I don’t care if I have to sit behind Guam," said Hovey.

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) at Sunday night's dinner at the Inverness Hotel.: Politicker Photo

DENVER - Members of the New Jersey delegation are button-holing hard the Obama campaign to get U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Union City) a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention this week.

"You don’t understand how important this guy is," a source told PolitickerNJ.com. "When Menendez won his Senate seat, it was a full banner, front page headline in Florida."

As he entered the Inverness Hotel tonight on his way in to a kickoff dinner hosted by U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) and U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn), Menendez fielded a question about whether or not he would speak at the convention.

U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn): Politicker photo 

TEANECK - Barack Obama may compromise on some issues, but John McCain is a straight-up foot soldier for the oil barons, according to U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn) and state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck).

In anticipation of McCain’s landing Tuesday in Bergen County, Rothman and Weinberg criticized the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for accepting 33 oil and gas industry lobbyists as campaign advisors, laying out an energy plan that gives Exxon Mobil $1.2 billion in tax breaks, and accepting $2 million in contributions from Big Oil.

"‘Exxon John’s’ energy policy includes nearly $4 billion in tax cuts to the top five oil corporations, complained Rothman, who stood in the Teaneck Marriott beside a super-sized $2 million check made out to "Exxon John" and signed by Big Oil.

The amount is seven times what Obama received from people connected to the industry, said Rothman, the only member of the New Jersey congressional delegation who supported the Illinois senator for president during the Democratic primary.

Bob Decheine, left, and U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman in Teaneck today.: Politicker photoTEANECK - Among those backing up U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn) at today’s press conference on the eve of Sen. John McCain’s (D-Ariz.) visit stood Bob Decheine, Rothman’s chief of staff.

Decheine was in the running to be Obama’s state director, a contest he ultimately lost to union leader Tricia Mueller.

But as chief of the only member of New Jersey’s congressional delegation who endorsed Obama in the Democratic Primary, Decheine landed a position with the campaign as senior advisor.

"This is a big job we have to get done," Decheine told PolitickerNJ.com.

He said he appreciated the opportunity to meet Mueller for the first time when the new state director went to Washington last month to meet with Decheine in person.

Obama State Director Tricia Mueller: Politicker photo

HAMILTON - Politics and union organizing weld into one for Tricia Mueller, the new state director for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

Granddaughter of a Local 19 sheet metal worker or "tin knocker" as they're called in building and trades, Mueller first started working campaigns for her father, a telephone installer who served as the youngest mayor of Oaklyn, New Jersey.

"I could read a ward map from the time I was very small," said the 34-year old Camden native and chief political operative for the 17,000-strong New Jersey Regional Council of Carpenters, as she sat in a Hamilton coffee shop on Thursday, three days into her tenure as Obama's state director.

"I come from the field," she told PolitickerNJ.com. "I believe voter contact, voter mobilization, and voter education represent civic duty at its finest."

Kimberly Allen, communications director for U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9), is relocating to Richmond, VA.. with her husband, who is beginning graduate studies.

She said she would continue to work for the congressman on a variety of projects, however, starting on July 28, Jean Roehrenbeck would be the day-to-day press contact.

"On a personal note, it has been a privilege to serve Congressman Rothman and to get to know the New Jersey press corps," said Allen. "I will truly miss working with you on a daily basis."