We're all out there in August beating the bushes, and the voters are still at the beach.

I'm sure that was among the factors that changed the margin in this.

Sen. Menendez has a 6-point lead in his race for re-election mainly because New Jersey is a Democratic state more fed up with the Bush administration and the war in Iraq than it is with high taxes and the budget crisis at home.

I wouldn't be surprised if as many as 25 percent of New Jersey voters said they are supporting Kean because of his father's record, or because they like his father.

The bottom line is that even when things are equal in New Jersey, the Democrats win.

For a governor who signed the despised legislative pay raise and saw his plan to use gambling money to lower property taxes go down in flames, Ed Rendell ought to be called Teflon Ed.