January 15, 2014 - A just released poll shows that the Bridgegate scandal is having  an impact on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as he now trails former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by 13 points.

In the new poll Clinton has the supports of 50% compared to 37% for Christie. Last month the same poll showed Clinton only leading Christie by three points , 48% to 45%.

The new poll was not all bad news for Christie though, as nearly 70% of those polled say the intense media coverage has not changed their opinion of the New Jersey Governor. Also a plurality of those polled, 44%, say they believed Christie when he said that he had nothing to do with the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge compared with 33% who don't believe the Governor and 23% who are not sure.

January 14, 2014 – The remembrance of the 50th anniversary of historical events from the 1960s will continue this year with a now half century since 1964 when President Lyndon Johnson was elected in his own right.

After becoming the 36^th President of the United States following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963, Johnson moved swiftly on a number of legislative fronts.

On January 8, 1964, President Johnson delivered his State of The Union address which since has become known as the “War on Poverty” speech.

In response to the speech, the United Sates Congress would go on to pass the Economic Opportunity Act that created the Office of Economic Opportunity whose responsibility it would be to oversee the local use of federal monies against poverty.

Later that year Congress would pass the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, which Johnson would sign into law on July 2, 1964.

Why there was little doubt that Johnson would be nominated at the Democratic Convention  held in Atlantic City , New Jersey it was still unknown in the weeks leading us to the convention who he would pick to be his vice presidential running mate.

A famous issue of Life Magazine from 1964 features a picture of 9 different Lyndon Johnson campaign buttons each picturing him with a different running mate.

There was a Lyndon Johnson Adlai Stevenson campaign button, a Lyndon Johnson Robert F. Kennedy campaign button, a Lyndon Johnson Eugene McCarthy campaign button, a Lyndon Johnson Robert McNamara campaign button and even a campaign button for the eventual winning ticket of 1964 a Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey campaign button.

Johnson’s opponent on the Republican side would be Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater. There would be an abundance of campaign buttons produced for both Johnson and Goldwater.

1964 Johnson Humphrey campaign buttons can be found with both pictures and word only pinbacks. Many Johnson presidential campaign buttons would features the slogan “All The Way With LBJ.”

Barry Goldwater campaign button would feature him with his vice presidential running Congressman Bill Miller. In addition to Goldwater Miller campaign buttons, many Goldwater campaign buttons would feature his trademark dark black glasses.

Johnson would go on to easily defeat Goldwater in the November election winning 44 states to only 6 for the man from Arizona.

While Goldwater was crushed in the Johnson landslide of 1964, Goldwater’s campaign has since become known as the moment that the modern Republican Party conservative movement was born.

January 9, 2014 - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie apologized today for the September 2013 lane closures on the the George Washington Bridge after his aide is linked through text and emails to the scandal which has become know as Bridgegate.

At a packed news conference  in Trenton, Christie stated that “I come out here to apologize to the people of New Jersey. I apologize to the people of Fort Lee and I apologize to the members of the state Legislature. I am embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team."

The Bridgegate scandal exploded on January 8, 2014 , when text and e-mails appeared to reveal that a senior aide to Christie, Bridget Anne Kelly and a Christie appointee to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey David Wildstein , orchestrated the lane closures at the  Fort Lee, NJ approach to the George Washington Bridge in September of 2013.

In a electonic message three weeks before the lane closues, Kelly wrote "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee." Wildstein messaged back "Got it."
The alleged cause for the lane closures was retribution againt the Democratic Mayor of Fort Lee Mark Sokolich who had refused to endorse the Republican Christie's reelection bid. Wildstein had already resigned from his post at the Port Authority. Christie fired Kelly this morning for her participation.

At his press conference, Christie said "I take this action today because it’s my job. I am responsible for what happened. I am sad to report to the people of New Jersey that we fell short. We fell short of the expectations that we’ve created over the last four years for the type of excellence in government that they should expect from this office."

Governor Christie added "I had no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning or its execution, and I am stunned by the abject stupidity that was shown here. Regardless of what the facts ultimately uncover, this was handled in a callous and indifferent way and it is not the way this administration has conducted itself over the last four years, and not the way it will conduct itself over the next four."

In further trying to put this scandal behind him Christie  said that he would travel to For Lee today to apologize in person to the Mayor and the people of the community for the turmoil and traffic jams caused by the lane closures. “I also need to apologize to them for my failure of the governor of this state to understand the true nature of this problem sooner than I did," Christie said. "I believe I have an understanding of the true nature of the problem," Christie said.

Political pundits could only speculate as to what the long term damage would be to any presidential campaign that Christie  might mount in 2016. One political guru stated that should Christie run he could expect to see negative adds run against him featuring the Bridgegate scandal. Furthermore there will probably be a run of Chris Christie campaign button lampooning him for the Bridgegate scandal. Expect to see Chris Christie a Bridge to  No Where campaign buttons and Chris Christie a Bridge to Far appearing soon.

While  Christie made an all out effort today to put the scandal behind him, both federal and state investigations will probably keep this issue in the news for months to come.

January 2, 2013 - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was sworn into office yesterday by former President Bill Clinton. Mayor de Blasio became the first Democratic Mayor of New York City in 20 years.

Clinton and de Blasio have known each other for many years. In 1997 de Blasio was appointed   as the Regional Director of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for New York and New Jersey during the Clinton administration. In 2000 , de Blasio served as campaign manager for Hillary Clinton's successful run for U.S. Senate from the state of New York.

Also on hand for the inauguration of de Basilio was former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and fellow 2016 presidential hopeful New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.