Mark Alexander

Caren Turner, a Democratic fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, could back John McCain for President
Lifelong Democrat Caren Turner doesn’t plan to vote for Democrats out of a sense of nostalgia. In fact, she’s not sure she’s going to vote Democratic in the coming presidential election.

Turner, a Hillraiser who worked as part of the powerhouse New Jersey fundraising arm called the Group, was among those Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) holdouts who yesterday took part in a feel-out session with a surrogate of Sen. John McCain’s (D-AZ).

Of the group formerly known as "The Group," Michael Kempner last month indicated his absolute adherence to the Obama campaign, as did the Rev. Reginald Jackson; John Graham and others last week sat down with Mark Alexander, senior policy advisor to Obama.

When it comes to presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.), Graham and others are getting there, and they plan a unity bash for State Party Chairman Joseph Cryan next Thursday.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, backing up Senate President Richard Codey's endorsement of Obama.

Obama Campaign State Director Mark Alexander knew it would be hard to pry Sen. Hillary Clinton’s supporters loose in New Jersey after her victory in New Hampshire.

This was a fight now, and Clinton’s people were solid.

"We have an opportunity here in Hudson - Hudson, Hispanics, Hillary and history," Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) cried to a North Bergen audience of mostly Latinos with Clinton on stage.

The response was near to deafening with Clinton standing on stage with Menendez, U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-13) and state Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex).

But that didn’t mean there weren’t other opportunities for Obama; in fact, one big opportunity, in the form of Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex), who was at the moment glumly serving as state director for the foundering campaign of John Edwards.

Alexander knew Codey. He also knew Codey was close to former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley (D-NJ), who had come onto the Obama campaign as an advisor.

Obama Campaign State Director Mark Alexander. 

The campaign was about to change.

On Oct, 9, 2007, an announcement came down from Chicago regarding New Jersey operations. 

Mark Alexander, a Seton Hall University law professor and Obama’s senior policy advisor, would be the campaign’s official state director.

"I am grateful that he is going to carry the fight forward to and through the Feb. 5 contests," Obama said of Alexander. "He is a valued and trusted advisor, and at the same time has deep ties in his home of New Jersey that will be invaluable to our efforts. 

"I am proud of the policy work we have done on this campaign and through Mark’s leadership we have built a team of key advisors from the ground up that will continue to offer new and innovative approaches to the challenges this country faces," added the presidential candidate.

A personal friend of Barack and Michelle Obama’s going back a dozen years, Alexander as a child worked on the 1974 Washington, D.C. mayoral campaign of his father, Clifford Alexander, former chairman of the Equal Opportunity Commission. Later, he ran Sen. Bill Bradley’s 2000 presidential campaign and served as counsel to Cory Booker.

U.S. Rep. Steve RothmanWhen most of his Democratic colleagues endorsed backyard darling Hillary Clinton for president over a year ago, U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9) cut from the pack and picked Illinoisan underdog Barack Obama.

The Obama campaign rewarded Rothman with a position as northeast regional co-chair and through a long-slog primary he played a leading and aggressive role on behalf of his presidential candidate.

Now that Obama has beaten Clinton, Rothman enjoys a point position in the general election campaign here in New Jersey as former Clinton travelers realign behind Obama and acknowledge Rothman’s win.

"To the victor go the spoils," a congressional staffer said with a shrug in his voice.

In that vein, the Bergen lawmaker told Obama’s people in Chicago that he wants his chief of staff, Bob Decheine, running the New Jersey-based campaign headquarters in advance of the Nov. 4th showdown with presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

As news stations projected Sen. Hillary Clinton beating Sen. Barack Obama in New Jersey, Obama supporters at the Wilshire Grand Hotel in West Orange tried to fight off their disappointment.

U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman praised Obama's gutsy performance and reminded the candidate's supporters that few gave the Illinois senator a chance when he began his campaign.

"We had a huge turnout in Jersey City," said Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who questioned the performance of new voting machines in his city.

On the eve of the New Jersey presidential primary and with most polls showing his rival trying to maintain a slight lead here, Sen. Barack Obama made a last stop in the Garden State today, telling voters that his message of hope is not one of naivete but of common purpose.

Sen. Barack Obama is scheduled to headline a rally at noon on Monday, Feb. 4, one day before New Jersey's presidential primary, according to Mark Alexander, state director of the Obama for president campaign.

The free event will be held at the Izod Center - the arena at the Meadowlands. Doors will open at 10 a.m. 

Naomi Michaelis grew up in Codey country, but it was her immersion in the West Wing TV show, more than West Orange politics, that taught her about the hazards of celebrating a campaign victory too early.

"I was in eighth grade and I was hooked after the teacher mentioned it on the first day of class," said Michaelis. "I would watch that show and continuously hit pause just to pick up on the details."

For more Rutgers University student reaction to the Democratic Party primary results in South Carolina, please see Max Pizarro's video blog.

Barack Obama at a Jersey City campaign rally
More than 3,000 people packed a gym at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City on Wednesday to hear Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

"My voice is a little hoarse, my eyes are a little bleary, my back is a little sore, but my spirit is strong," he told the crowd. "And I am ready to bring about change in America, how about you?"

Obama reveled in his Jersey City audience, and his campaign staff urged the impassioned crowd to take a more active role in the February 5 primary in a state where Hillary Clinton has won most of the party establishment endorsements and maintains a double digit lead in independent polls.

John F.X. GrahamIt looked like the second coming of Edmund Muskie in New Hampshire as an emotionally glistening-eyed Sen. Hillary Clinton experienced what John Graham said was a "minor meltdown" Monday on her way into the New Hampshire primary.

But in what a redeemed and jubilant Graham a day later called "the greatest comeback in American primary history," Clinton beat Sen. Barack Obama by two percentage points.

"She was down by double digits and written off," said the New Jersey Clinton fund-raising co-chair who stormed New Hampshire over the weekend with a contingent of New Jerseyans that included U.S. representatives Frank Pallone and Bill Pascrell Jr.

At the end of his efforts, Graham was for 48 hours left exhausted and morose over Clinton’s prospects for victory only to rebound in euphoria with the presidential candidate on Tuesday night.