The polls all showed the tidal wave for "change" that carried
Barack Obama into the White House in 2008 had ebbed in 2012. The
question on Tuesday night was whether it had receded enough to break
for Mitt Romney.
Unemployment remained too high. Obama's stimulus law and health
insurance overhaul were toxic in some states. And his campaign went
from inspiring voters about the future in 2008 to targeting swing
state voters, warning about the future if Romney won.
But in New Jersey - a state coping with a higher unemployment
rate than the national average - Obama saw a slight boost over 2008.
It became the only state in the country where Obama won four years
ago and garnered even more support this year.
There were signs that superstorm Sandy played a key role in the
president's performance in the state, according to Monmouth
University pollster Patrick Murray.
"He was always going to win, it was just the margin," said
Murray, adding that polls before the storm showed Obama getting less
support than in 2008. "Now he's won by more than he did four years
ago. That's all due to Sandy."
According to exit polls, some 53 percent of New Jersey voters,
compared with 42 percent nationwide, said Obama's handling of the
storm was an important factor in their vote. And among those who
said it was important, 77 percent voted for Obama, who went to the
Jersey Shore two days after the storm and got high marks from
Governor Christie for the federal response.
Election returns on Tuesday night, which could change
significantly when tens of thousands of paper and electronic ballots
are counted, showed that Obama carried 14 of New Jersey's 21
counties -- the same counties he won in 2008.
While overall turnout was down, Obama received 58 percent of the
vote, up from 57 percent in 2008. This happened despite the
continued popularity of the Republican governor New Jersey elected
the year after going overwhelmingly for Obama. Christie was a top
Romney supporter, and traveled the country giving speeches slamming
Obama. But after Sandy hit, Christie praised the president's
response.
To be sure, New Jersey was always in Obama's corner, and exit
polls show some reasons why: 59 percent of voters want the health
insurance law that Romney promised to repeal to be left alone or
expanded; 57 percent support raising taxes on those making more than
$250,000; and 81 percent said most illegal immigrants should be
offered a chance to apply for legal status.
Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, who campaigned on all three issues,
also got 58 percent of the vote against Republican challenger Joe
Kyrillos. Menendez and Obama each carried 14 of the state's 21
counties, including the typical Republican strongholds of Somerset
and Burlington.
Obama may have focused his energies in swing states, and even
drafted New Jersey volunteers to go into Pennsylvania. But Menendez
also worked with the state Democratic Party to make sure a
coordinated ground game was running for his race, even though plans
had to be rewritten when Sandy hit.
"Bob Menendez campaigned the way I campaign: Assume you're down,
and keep slugging away until 8 o'clock comes," said John Wisniewski,
chairman of the Democratic State Committee and an assemblyman from
Sayreville. "He didn't leave any stone unturned, and he didn't give
up raising funds to get his message out until he got that Senate
