Two elements of good news are in a new poll out on the NJ senate: The first is Republican Keane is leading incumbent Menendez by four points (which given the MoE of the poll makes it a ‘statistical’ tie). Second, Keane will race ahead once he deals with the Iraq war issue or it is eclipsed by other issues, like national security against terrorist attacks here in the US.:

A portion of Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind Poll designed to test the impact of national issues on the race indicated that if the war were not a factor, Kean could be leading Menendez by 47-36 percent. As it stands, however, 43 percent of voters polled said they favor Kean to 39 percent for Menendez, a difference that matches the poll’s sampling error margin and makes the race a virtual tie.

The fact people are ready to flock to Keane is important. The fact Menendez, being the quasi incumbent is well below 40% and way behind is huge. I would put this in the leans Rep column – but I already had it there! All Keane needs to do is listen to Dick Morris and he wins.