Here’s some sobering Presidents Day trivia:
George H. W. Bush rocked Michael Dukakis in New Jersey in November 1988, Save Jerseyans, winning the Garden State 1,743,192 votes (56.24%) to 1,320,352 (42.60%). Bush carried every county that year except for Hudson, Essex, and Mercer.
–
Then Bill Clinton won a narrow 2-point victory here in 1992 and the state never looked back.
New Jersey hasn’t voted for a Republican for president in 34 years covering either consecutive presidential contests.
The closest any Republican has come since was George W. Bush in 2004. In the wake of 9/11 which obviously heavily impact the New York City metro area (including the North Jersey suburbs), “Dubya” pulled in 46.24% of the vote.
He even held a rally in Marlton, New Jersey (Burlington County) in the final weeks of the campaign signaling that the Bush-Cheney team thought the Garden State might’ve been within reach (and with the added benefit of reaching the politically potent Philadelphia media market):
–
