We need to defeat Chris Smith.

Anyone from his district know the details?

But I know he's a moron.

But for a real moron that has to go, you cannot do any better than Scott Garrett. Brain Dead? You cannot kill that which never lived.

On edit: He comes from an area that has a lot of rural areas, a lot of landowners and is a bedroom community area for Philly. Put it all together and as long as he chants "taxes, taxes" he's gonna be tough.

because he was too compassionate on foreign aid. I can't remember the details, but he lost his chairmanship of some committee. I used to live in his district and also consider him a moron, but he is more consistent on his "pro-life" positions than the RW leadership. His treatment by the RW could be used to show the outlandish hypocrisy of our "Christian" leader. (Who I consider neither Christian nor my leader.)

Our candidate this past November, Amy Vazquez, got virtually no publicity. If we run somebody with something of a name recognition (which would be tough, as this part of New Jersey is heavily Repuke) and give them the proper publicity, we could stand a chance. Smith is a one issue candidate, IMO (he is staunchly pro-life).

and the major areas of his district are NOT Repuke, trust me. We just need a candidate with name recognition. I always wished that Doug Palmer (very popular mayor of Trenton) would run. He's a great guy and does and does a lot for the Democratic party. But I guess he doesn't want to give up a good thing (being mayor since 1990).

Mercer county: Hamilton, Trenton (part), East Windsor, Washington Township(ok that's red), Hightstown.

Burlington County: Bordentown Township, Bordentown City, Burlington City, Burlington Township (part), Chesterfield, Fieldsboro, Florence, Mansfield, Springfield.

Ocean County: Brick, Bay Head, Jackson, Lakewood, Lakehurst, Mantoloking, Manchester, Point Pleasant Beach, Point Pleasant Borough, Plumsted

Monmouth County: Allentown, Brielle, Colts Neck, Farmingdale, Freehold Township (part), Freehold Borough, Howell, Manasquan, Millstone Township, Upper Freehold, Wall, Roosevelt, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, Sea Girt.

on edit:
here are the 2004 election results for the 4th
http://www.njvoterinfo.org/congress/congressdist04.htm not bad considering Vasquez only raised about 10,000

blue. Trust me, Ocean County is blood red. I live in Brick, and even though we have a Dem mayor, the Republicans recently took control of the council, and I still see a lot of Bush/Cheney crap. Ocean County gets quite redneck once you go south of Dover Township. And the majority of Monmouth towns in Smith's district are upper-class (Brielle, Colts Neck, Manasquan, Millstone, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, and Sea Girt are quite rich), so they naturally voted Bush for the juicy tax cuts they get from him. We would definitely need our candidate to do some heavy-duty campaining in Ocean County (and to a lesser extent, Monmouth) if we want to reclaim the 4th. Smith's held the seat since 1980, so I think it's time for a change.

I also live in the 4th. I agree that we can take Smith's seat, but it won't be easy. The 12th next door was also a longtime republican seat, but we were able to get Rush Holt in with a lot of hard work. Every two years we have to battle to keep him there, but as one of the best progressives in Congress, Rush is worth the effort.

Theoretically, Amy Vasquez ran one for Smith's seat in 2004. I say of 'theoretically', because she was for all intents and purposes invisible. It was one of the worst campaigns I can remember. I occasionally hear it said that the media ignored her, which makes me shake my head. This is district of neighborhoods, personal contact, local papers, town and county fairs, etc. Especially for local races. I have walked local towns with Rush a few times and have seen him meet his constituents and listen to their issues. A call to the local paper in advance gets some coverage. Having the volunteers with him helps stir interest. That type of grass roots campaigning costs next to nothing, is very effective in this district, and yet there seemed to be almost none of it from Amy Vasquez.

We can win the 4th, but we need a solid candidate with local roots, who knows and speaks to local issues.

% of Dems , Repubs, indies

Get that then I can start to help you