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

Sure I've changed with them, ... I know them very well, and they know me. It's just a product of the opportunity we've had to work together. It gets better.

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.