Today could be a turning point in the New Jersey's governor's race. A new poll out this morning shows the power of money and the danger of not giving the people what they want.

With property taxes that are the highest in the nation, New Jersey voters want to hear a responsible and reasonable plan for getting that under control. They haven't heard one yet from Republican nominee Chris Christie and his lead is shrinking.

With 34 days to go in New Jersey, Christie's lead over incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine has been cut from 10 points to four, according to a new survey from the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Christie now leads Corzine by just 43-39 percent, with 12 percent of the vote going to Independent candidate Chris Daggett.

On September 1, Christie led Corzine and Daggett by 47-37-7 percent.

Creigh Deeds can't possibly be a happy camper today.

Virginia's Democratic gubernatorial nominee hoped this week to be basking in the warm afterglow of a major endorsement by a popular and successful former governor of the Commonwealth.

And while it is true that Deeds spent part of his morning basking in the warmth of an endorsement by a popular former governor of the Commonwealth, it was not the right former governor.

Instead, this morning he was standing at the Clarendon Metro stop, glad-handing commuters as they brushed past him on their way to work, standing there with ... with ... with the father-in-law of the Democratic National Committee chairman.

Barack Obama, meet Dick Lamm.

Lamm, as you may recall, was the three-term governor of Colorado who made a name for himself as a somewhat quirky political leader -- he named the singer-songwriter John Denver as Colorado's "Poet Laureate," (despite Denver's having been born and raised in New Mexico), he suggested that elderly Americans "have a duty to die," he contested Ross Perot for the Reform Party's 1996 presidential nomination (as if someone could steal the presidential nomination of the party Perot founded and funded).

What fewer remember about Lamm, though, is exactly how this slightly odd man became Colorado's governor -- that is, how did he get elected in the first place?

Answer: He led the statewide opposition to Denver's hosting the 1976 Winter Olympics, and made a name for himself in the process.

If RedState is to be believed, conservative pundit Larry Elder -- "The Sage from South Central" -- is in immediate need of a spine transplant.

One can arrive at no other conclusion after reading this piece, posted this morning from the California Republican Convention.

But is RedState to be believed?

According to "RS Insider" -- the anonymous blogger about whom all we know is that he/she registered on the site two years and seven months ago -- a story moving around the state confab over the weekend says that the black conservative talk-radio host/author met with officials of the National Republican Senatorial Committee several months ago to discuss a possible run against Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, and was told three things:

If he chose to run, the NRSC would not support him; the NRSC was already committed to backing former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina's expected bid; and the NRSC expected Fiorina to lose to incumbent Boxer, but believed her candidacy could be helpful to the larger cause, by forcing national Democrats to put tens of millions into Boxer's campaign that could have better been spent elsewhere.

Members of the NOVABizPAC -- the official political action committee of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce -- must get their Washington Posts delivered at oh-dark-thirty.

I assume this, because no sooner had this morning's Post been delivered than the NOVABizPAC released this statement endorsing Republican nominee Bob McDonnell for Governor.

Said NOVABizPAC Chair Fran Fisher in the release: "Mr. McDonnell earned the support of NOVABizPAC because of his overall stronger support for the Fairfax County Chamber's priorities, specifically for identifying a plan for transportation." (emphasis added)

So much for Democratic gubernatoril nominee Creigh Deeds' Washington Post op-ed, in which he laid out his plan to raise taxes to provide funding for transportation needs.

Virginia's Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Creigh Deeds, must be color blind -- he apparently cannot tell the difference between lavender and royal blue.

I just read his suicidal op-ed in this morning's Washington Post, in which, Walter Mondale-like, he acknowledges his desire to raise taxes. That kind of bold play may once have worked in deep blue states where liberal electorates prefer their liberal candidates to campaign on who's going to raise taxes higher ... but in a reddish-bluish-lavender state in play?

Not so much.

Responsibility without authority is a recipe for frustration. But popularity without power is a recipe for aggravation.

Consider Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, a man who, by dint of his title, is deemed by the great majority of the population to have "responsibility" for the economy.

To any intelligent person, the notion of one man having "responsibility" over an economy the size of America's is a joke; and yet, a stunningly large percentage of the population will, nevertheless, grade Obama's performance as President largely on the basis of the performance of the economy over the coming months and years.

"Politicians' Tweets Are Mostly Self-Promotional, Researchers Say.

In other breaking news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

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This is one of the most awkward, painful, and funny candidate encounters with a press gaggle I've ever seen.

It's awkward, because it takes so long to figure out why the candidate insists on engaging in a virtual Abbott and Costello routine with the reporters; painful, because you know as you watch that it's just going to end badly; and funny, because, well ... watch it yourself, and see what I mean.

Captured immediately following Thursday's Virginia gubernatorial debate before the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, the video clip is going to be used in candidate training schools for years to come -- as an example of how not to deal with the press.

Normally, when a member of the minority offers an amendment to a spending bill, it's routine for his fellow minority party members to support the amendment, while the members of the majority party vote it down.

What's fun is to examine the rebels -- the members who cross party lines to cast votes against their fellow party members -- to see if you can figure out why.

This afternoon, on the Transportation-HUD appropriations bill, the Senate voted on an amendment by conservative South Carolina Republican Jim DeMint "to limit the use of funds for the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria Airport."

That, you may recall, is the airport where there are more federally funded employees and buildings than there are daily passengers -- which isn't difficult, given that it has only three regularly scheduled flights per day.

In other words, DeMint forced the Senate to vote whether the Murtha Airport would receive more government funds (at least from the Transportation-HUD appropriation bill) than the $800,000 in stimulus package funds it received earlier this year.

Not surprisingly, the amendment was defeated, 43-53.

Also not surprisingly, almost every Republican voted for the amendment, and almost every Democrat voted against it.

So the fun part is figuring out the motivation behind the Republicans who voted against it and the Democrats who voted for it.

Last night, by a vote of 83-7, the Senate voted to deny funding to ACORN through the annual appropriations bill for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In the wake of recent investigations -- notwithstanding the fact that ABC's Charlie Gibson appears never to have heard of them -- Nebraska Republican Sen. Mike Johanns' amendment was, as we say in the business, a no-brainer.

The roll call is quite illuminating -- the seven who voted against the amendment (in effect, voting to allow ACORN to continue receiving taxpayer funds through HUD) were, not surprisingly, all Democrats: Roland W. Burris and Richard J. Durbin of Illinois; Pat Leahy and Bernie Sanders of Vermont; Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.

Is New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine quietly encouraging state and national Democratic donors to fund his Independent challenger, Chris Daggett?

If not, he should be.

Recent polls -- including this one, released today by Public Policy Polling, a polling outfit that polls mostly for Democrats -- make clear that Daggett, running as an Independent candidate, has very little chance of winning the election on November 3.

Daggett won't be able to win because in New Jersey's current media environment, he won't be well enough known to capture the votes of the 650,000-750,000 people he'd need to win a split three-way race.

President Obama and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd owe Rep. Joe Wilson an apology.

All three made news for what they had to say during, or in regard to, Obama’s remarks Sept. 9 to a joint session of Congress.

All three said things that were either demonstrably untrue — or at the least, impossible to prove.

Yet only the South Carolina Republican has offered an apology — and, ironically, only Wilson faces further discipline.

Kathryn Jean Lopez at National Review Online suggests well-informed conservatives (and those who wish to be better-informed) are reading this today.

An instant classic when it was first published 15 months ago, it has aged well, and looks even better upon reflection. Combine it with this, and you've got your day's education ... and entertainment.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney -- who was governor in 2004 when the Massachusetts Democrats who controlled the state legislature changed the law to remove the power to make an interim appointment to the U.S. Senate in the event of a vacancy -- has been conspicuously silent since the passing of Sen. Edward Kennedy.

I can understand why Romney would not want to do the right thing, the "right thing" being defined as announcing his own candidacy for the open seat.

It would be a risky move, more likely than not to end in defeat and embarrassment, and, therefore, a hindrance rather than a help to whatever plans he may have for himself and pursuit of the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.

This should worry national Republican leaders.

According to last week's release by Rasmussen Reports, 74 percent of Republican voters believe the Republicans elected to represent them in the Congress have "lost touch" with GOP voters nationwide over the last several years, while just 18 percent of GOP voters believe Republicans in Congress have done a good job representing them.

And three times as many Republican voters -- 55 percent, vs. 17 percent -- believe the average Republican in Congress is more liberal than the average Republican voter, as believe the average Republican in Congress is more conservative than the average Republican voter.

To the uninitiated observer, the announcement last week by New Jersey Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts that he would forego reelection and give up his leadership of the state assembly seemingly would be virtually guaranteed to create distress in the camp of incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine.

After all, leadership vacancies tend to create leadership fights, and leadership fights in the middle of general elections typically drain time and attention from the larger campaigns going on around them.

In this case, in particular, Roberts' announcement will most definitely cause disturbance -- it has already created a chain reaction leading to contested leadership fights in not one, but both bodies of the state legislature.

But, ironically, the Roberts announcement may well end up helping, rather than hurting, Corzine ... precisely because it sets in motion that chain reaction of contested leadership fights.

Even more ironic is the fact that Corzine -- who was never able to form good relationships with his own party's leaders in either chamber of the state legislature -- could, should he emerge victorious on November 3, end up owing his reelection to men with whom he never got along, and for whom his reelection was never anything more than a byproduct of a larger and more important political struggle.

One week ago this morning, Roberts -- a Democrat from Camden County, and a close ally of former Camden County Democratic Party chairman George Norcross -- surprised local, state, and national Democratic Party leaders with his retirement announcement, and set tongues a-wagging.

In New Jersey, independent gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett is up with his first television ad of the general election campaign — a humorous spot that uses two look-alikes to make its point about Republican challenger Chris Christie and Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine.

The ad was produced by Bill Hillsman of North Woods Advertising, who famously produced ads for Jesse Ventura’s successful 1998 independent campaign for Minnesota governor and Paul Wellstone’s campaigns for U.S. Senate.

There’s just one question — did Daggett pay Hillsman full price for creative on the spot? Because it sure looks an awful lot like another spot, seen here on YouTube.

Hmmm.

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Jack Bonner can't catch a break.

When last we left Bonner, he was getting ready to be roasted on a rotating spit before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, as the result of forged letters sent by a temporary employee of his firm to three Members of Congress.

Since then, three things have occurred, two of which conspire to make Bonner's future even rougher:

First, Bonner hired Steve Ross, a partner at Akin Gump who specializes in representing people who get hauled before Congressional committees doing investigations.

According to Ross's bio on the Akin Gump web site, prior to joining the firm he worked as General Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983-93.

Two things of import happened today in New Jersey's contest to choose its next governor:

First, a new survey by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute shows GOP challenger Chris Christie has widened his lead over incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine from six points to 10 in the last three weeks.

Second, the Christie campaign rolled out the biggest endorsement gun in its arsenal -- former Governor Tom Kean, who ruled New Jersey from 1982-1990, and who is still revered as an old school gentleman in a state where at least some voters still think manners matter.