As astonishing as it is to see a potential Republican Senate seat pick up in the very blue state of New Jersey, especially amidst the current political climate for Republicans, I don’t think Tom Kean, Jr. is much to get excited about.

The Senate candidate in New Jersey challenging the incumbent constantly reinforces the same point: his opponent is corrupt, so voters need to dump him and pick someone with a higher sense of ethics. Increased funding for stem cell research, a ban on offshore oil drilling in Alaska and outlawing gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers are major planks in his campaign platform. He’s also been sharply critical of the Bush Administration handling of the war in Iraq, and is pro-choice and liberal on environmental issues. Now, in the wake of the Mark Foley scandal, he’s called on House Speaker Dennis Hastert to step down.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1545459,00.html

I’m not certain if Kean is just running to the left because he thinks he has too in order to win or if he actually holds these positions sternly in his heart. In either case, one thing is clear. It looks like New Jersey keeps a “Democrat” Senator no matter who wins.

Raj, of “Apprentice” fame, has effectively demonstrated the joke that our southern border has become. He may be too clever by half, I don’t think he’s going to win in November.

I studied international development as an undergraduate, and I ended up studying Bangladesh pretty often since it’s such a unique, and tragic, case. Therefore I’m really happy to find that this year’s Nobel Peace Prize has gone to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. Grameen pioneered the micro-credit individual responsibility model of jump starting cottage industries in an economy ravaged by decades of marxist dictatorship and mismanagement. Unlike those for the TVA style projects preferred by major development organs like the World Bank, these loans get paid back. And as a friend of mine who worked for NDI in Bangladesh for a year said: “They piss the hell out of the Muslim fundamentalists here, so they must be doing something right.”