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Michael Bloomberg has run NYC like a failed bank or brokerage firm. We need Thompson to drive Bloomie's sorry rear end out of office.

What surprises me is that none of the candidates for Governor in NJ has clearly articulated how he'll solve the problem of lowering our exorbitant property taxes while maintaining the excellence of the public schools here in NJ. We all sense here that the state, county, and local governments are full of waste: meanwhile, the schools are constantly pressured to make cuts, which affects the education of our children. Whoever can tell us clearly how they'll do this would win big: so far, no one has.

I know that this is far from NYC but after talking with my daughter in upstate, st. lawrence county, ny it seems that the socially liberal, republican who withdrew because so much outside MONEY was going towards the CONSERVATIVE candidate did so because she was pressured by the republican party to get out. She did not throw her support to the conservative but rather it was the REPUBLICAN party upstate that did so. The news is saying that she threw her support to the conservative. She didn't; the republican party did.

Every time a commentator says "NJ voters only care about taxes" -- which has happened, I would guess, thousands of times in the 25 years I have listened to WNYC (including the past 5 as a NJ resident), it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, encouraging state-wide corruption when politicians believe the voters are only watching their own bottom lines, and voter apathy among the growing segment of NJ voters who care about a LOT more than taxes. Both commentators repeated this, but you'll note Mayor Booker did not.

If Bloomberg wins, it will be because of Dems like me--I probably won't vote tomorrow.

I don't want Bloomberg to get another term, but I can't get too enthusiastic about Thompson--he's uninspiring.

I'm more excited about Liu and De Blasio. In fact, any of the 4 public advocate candidates would've been better mayoral candidates than Thompson.

Taxes are the only thing we are concerned about in NJ? I am offended at that!! I am not that shallow. I AM concerned with the general well being of the state and am willing to pay a price to see it happen. I am a human being -- and here is a shocker -- so are a number of other Jersey residents that I know.

About Westchester county - Surely the district attorney race is worthy of comment. The incumbent and now former Republican lost the Republican primary but won the Democratic one. The Dem from 4 yrs ago and loser of primary is running on the Working Familties line. How did the Republican defeat an incumbent generally seen as effective?
I will admit I have not searched the Journal News or my local weeklies for the answers to the above.

Please excuse my multiple typos. I was impassioned as I was typing my earlier post. I meant "Ethnic Heritage", and "None" instead of "Non" and Dan's name is O'Halloran. I misspelled it.

Dan O Halleran is a known Theodist which is an Asatru affiliated group. Asatru religious people are those who worship the gods of the Aesir (A Scandinavian pantheon) (Odin, Frigga and in Dan's case Tyr). Dan has been a practicing Theodist for 15+ years. THEODISTS ARE NOT CHRISTIANS. They are pagans, that practice a heathenism found in pre-Christian Scandinavia.

DAN IS NOT A RACIST. Some members of Normanii (his group)have not been White.

His group is part of a movement for heritage based heathenism. Its no different than being Native American and practicing pow wow or Native American Shamanism. Non of Dan's group have ever been affiliated with Stormfront or any other racist organization. Although Asatru people, are apt to look at their historical ethic heritage, they are open to many other groups of people who wish to join their ranks.

Its like calling Jews racist for wanting to explore their Jewish heritage, but still being open to converts.

PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH!

Its offensive that Pagan's constantly have to defend themselves against he ignorance of prejudiced people.

Religious beliefs not relevant to a voter's decision in a political election? Do you really think that NY doesn't have their share of religious right?

BTW, the race in the 23rd is a no-brainer and it's not any referendum on the local scene. A Dem hasn't won up there in decades.

Brian - you say things like, "Is Suozzi a shoe-in?" and you don't even mention the opponents name. I'm a Suozzi supporter, but the one-sided coverage of New York politics doesn't help the process.

I think those q's like when are you planning to vote are pretty standard get out the vote techniques. When i canvassed for Obama we got the instruction that if someone said they were going to vote, we should ask when and how they were getting to the poll. We were told that if we made them get more specific about when they were going to vote, and how, they would then be more likely to follow through.

After a Bloomberg rep. came to my door and asked what my concerns were, I received TWO HANDWRITTEN letters from Bloomberg rep's addressing those concerns and detailing how Bloomberg might help.

I was impressed.

I got a robo call for Bloomberg from NARAL. NARAL??? Gosh, who isn't behind him?

I got a live call too from a guy asking if I was voting for him. I said, Yes, but make sure it's the last time.

antonio
popular vote of course

Aside from the never-ending amount of mail from Bloomberg, the most annoying contact is when someone rings our door buzzer (which triggers hysteria with our dog) to talk to us about Bloomberg. It just takes it to a more invasive level.

I got a robocall from George Pataki for Bloomberg. I'm still an enrolled Reublican, though George W Bush cured me
of that. I'm voting for Thompson.

Mecifully, the flood of oversize postcards has subsided. Since the primary, I've received two or three from Bloomberg and one or two from Thompson. Most of the effort has been in robo calls -- many many from Bloomberg for the past week. No calls for Thompson.

I voted for term limits. Twice. I'd vote for a lump of coal before I'd vote for someone who disrespected my votes.

For a mayor who has done a lot for the environment, he has sent a TON of paper mailings! But at least he doesn't break his own law and actually pays the postage instead of dropping them off.

Hey Brian,

How is the governor's race in New Jersey determined? Is it popular vote..Or county by county, kind of like a mini electoral college?

and in NY-23 is this another nail in the coffin for the GOP?

Finally, no more phone calls from the Bloomberg campaign even though we asked them to remove our name and number from their lists)