Ok, so this is my first video shoot/editing job with the new nifty video camera. Be gentle. It's the labor rally in Paramus, New Jersey, with Bob Menendez, Frank Lautenberg, Paul Arohnson, and the gamut of Bergen County political figures.
Bergen County is in the North of the state, an industrialized area that was hard-hit by 9/11. The key local issue is property taxes and regionalization. While New Jersey is considered corrupt, it's actually just in a constitutional straight-jacket in that there are too many localities that don't share resources. There could be four towns in an area that is a few square miles, all with their own police department, fire department, etc. This makes property taxes really expensive, causes underinvestment in infrastructure, and allows for an incredibly complicated political system (complexity often encourages corruption).
The economy of north Jersey is tied to New York City, so it's a fairly bluish region, though there are wealthy rural areas that trend to the right. The race between Menendez and Kean is a genuine American archetype. Kean, an aristocratic and wealthy Republican, is facing Menendez, a bookish second-generation Hispanic who grew up poor and made good. Republicans have dumped $7 million into this race, with the emphasis on corruption. Non-white politicians find charges like this fairly common when running for statewide offices, and while not always untrue they are difficult to rebut. The Kean's are a legend in the state, the moderate patrician Republicans who rise above the slime to govern with a sense of noblesse oblige.
The polls show Menendez pulling away from Kean, and if I had to guess, it's mostly because Kean screwed up in distancing himself from the war and from Bush. Menendez voted against the war in Iraq, and he's been using that vote as a clear demonstration that he is principled and right on the big things. In a year where the independents want Bush put in check, that is a big deal, and when you consider the millions flooding in from out of state, it's a very very big deal. Kean effectively failed to land a real punch on Menendez, and it's driving him crazy.
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