Franks more of a suprise than usual, however, I think 2002 can be explained due to "unforeseen circumstances"
Ridiculous. Torricelli was on very unstable ground going into 2001 as his ethics woes started surfacing, but a post 9/11 bounce kept the credible challengers out of the way. I did not see 2000 as a strong possibility for a GOP pick up, and I don't see 2008 a strong possibility for a GOP pick-up, but for the life of me, I couldn't understand why I was the only person in the state of New Jersey to think Bob Torricelli vulnerable in the slightest.
Why wouldn't Doherty become the nominee? The NJ GOP has given up on this race and rightfully so. Nobody cares who the nominee is.
Simply because I think Pennachio would be able to win over more primary voters with his more main stream conservatism. The NJ GOP as a whole isn't that conservative: I believe its still majority pro-choice.