A poll indicates Republican Chris Myers and Democrat John Adler running about even in a race for an open seat in New Jersey's 3rd Congressional District.

The Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll, released today, is the first major independent poll on the race. Forty-four percent of likely voters said they favor Myers, 41 percent Adler. That's within the 4.7 percentage-point sampling error margin, meaning the race is very tight.

Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama

After closing to within six points of Democrat Barack Obama following the Republican National Convention, Republican John McCain has again fallen well behind in the presidential race in New Jersey, according to a poll.

A Fairleigh Dickinson University-PublicMind Poll out today has Obama with 50 percent to McCain's 37 percent among likely voters. An FDU poll a month ago had Obama with 47 percent to 41 percent for McCain.

With less than a month until the election, it is still uncertain when a crucial report on the reliability of New Jersey's 10,000 electronic voting machines will be made public.

The delay has outraged Andrew Appel, a Princeton University computer expert who led a team of analysts granted unprecedented access to the voting machines over the summer.

His team spent weeks testing two machines from Union County on behalf of the plaintiffs in a 4-year-old voting rights case before Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg in Trenton. The machines were manufactured by Sequoia Voting System, which objected to the testing, arguing it could put their trade secrets at risk.

Following Congress's passage last week of a $700 billion financial rescue plan, the New Jersey Assembly is scheduled to focus its attention today on all aspects of the economy, from mortgage foreclosures to rising energy costs.

Mel Evans/APThe New Jersey Assembly

Ten Assembly committees are scheduled to meet in Trenton to explore how the nation's economic crisis is affecting New Jersey residents and what can be done to help them.

Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama sound remarkably alike when they talk about health care for all.

Here's McCain: "We can and must provide access to health care for every American."

And Obama: "My plan begins by covering every American."

PHILADELPHIA - Bruce Springsteen told a voter registration rally today that Bush presidency has been "a disaster" and that many Americans have "justifiably lost faith" in the American dream.

The legendary rocker interrupted a seven-song acoustic set to praise Democrat Barack Obama and bemoan the crises facing the next president.

"After the disaster of the last eight years, we need somebody to lead us in an American reclamation project," the New Jersey rocker said.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) gave a rousing pro-labor speech today to a union of stagehands in Weehawken and never mentioned his opponent, former Republican Congressman Dick Zimmer.

The night before, a GOP-sponsored town hall meeting in Summit was all about Lautenberg. Zimmer stood next to a life-size cardboard cutout of the senator - who Zimmer accuses of dodging debates - and blamed Lautenberg for high gasoline prices, the nation's financial crisis and the fact New Jersey ranks last in how much federal spending it gets for every tax dollar it sends to Washington.

"He has not been an effective advocate for New Jersey," Zimmer, 64, told about 80 people at the Summit High School Library. "If anything, he has made these problems worse."

Don Emmert/PoolModerator Gwen Ifill looks on as Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware and Republican Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska take part in the vice presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS -- Under intense scrutiny, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin stood her ground Thursday night against a vastly more experienced Joe Biden, debating the economy, energy and global warming, then challenging him on Iraq, "especially with your son in the National Guard."

The Alaska governor also noted that Biden had once said Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama wasn't ready to be commander in chief, "and I know again that you opposed the move that he made to try to cut off funding for the troops and I respect you for that."

A record 5.1 million New Jerseyans are registered to vote and there are still 11 days left to sign up in time for this year's presidential election, the Secretary of State's office announced today.

As of Oct. 1, there were 5,127,790 registered voters in the Garden State, up 330,445 since last year's general election in November. The deadline to register to vote in this year's presidential election is Oct. 14.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dick Zimmer today criticized Democratic U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg's vote for the $700 billion bailout bill and blamed the four-term incumbent for the nation's financial crisis.

At a news conference at the Statehouse in Trenton, Zimmer said "urgent and decisive action is needed to keep the current financial crisis from triggering a wider economic downturn, but the bill passed by the Senate last night is the wrong remedy."

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and his Republican opponent, former Rep. Dick Zimmer, have agreed to debate on NJN, the state's public television network, at 8 p.m. Nov. 1.

The Zimmer campaign has been pressing Lautenberg to debate but protested the late timing of the showdown - on a Saturday evening three days before the election.

"New Jersey voters are not going to stand for that," Kristen Hainen, Zimmer's spokeswoman, said today.

Letters reminding New Jerseyan's that they may not be registered to vote are fueling a surge of applications in the state.

The Secretary of State's Office has sent the reminders to more than 800,000 people who were not believed to be registered.

Bruce Springsteen, Barack Obama and Billy Joel

Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel (the Springsteen of Long Island) will team up for a Barack Obama benefit, Oct. 16 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. Obama is also expected to attend.

Tickets are $500 to $10,000, with proceeds going to the Obama Victory Fund. Tickets are available at donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/Oct16concert. For information, call (212) 763-4850 or e-mail nyfinance@barackobama.com.

Springsteen endorsed Obama in April, posting a message on his Web site that read, in part, "Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest." He also wrote that Obama "speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years."

Investor's can't be blamed for being a bit manic about Mondays -- the past two combined saw the panicky stock market plunge by nearly 880 points -- but this week could be different as Congress prepares to vote on a bill to inject as much as $700 billion into the teetering U.S. financial system

More coverage in The Star-Ledger business blog.

"It shouldn't be a blue Monday. If it is, I'm going to be really concerned," Joel Naroff, chief economist at Commerce Bank, said today. "The issue isn't exactly how it's going to work. It is not 'Are there taxpayer safeguards?' The important thing for the markets is the $350 billion is there and the other $350 billion will be available."

J. Scott Applewhite/AP The Capitol is illuminated under stormy skies Sunday.

As the presidential election nears, voter registration drives on New Jersey's college campuses, along with social networking sites on the internet, have meant thousands of new, young, eligible voters in the state, according to a report in The Record.

"In the past three weeks, we've gotten thousands of new voters registered," said Brett Tinder, who heads the Democratic Club at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, told the paper.

Some say the youth vote -- generally defined as ballots cast by those under 30 -- could be a significant factor this year. That age group represents nearly 20 percent of the electorate, and is more likely to vote for Democrats, according to researchers.

Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain

With less than 10 hours until the debate was scheduled to start, the McCain campaign announced that the Arizona senator would travel to the University of Mississippi. The campaign said after the forum he will fly back to Washington to continue working on the financial crisis.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesWorkers prepare the stage set for the scheduled presidential debate at the Ford Center on the campus of the University of Mississippi.

The first presidential debate between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama remained in doubt today, the very day it was to be held, embroiled in the same partisan divisions that were holding up a Wall Street bailout plan.

Obama said he intended to travel to the University of Mississippi in Oxford, where the debate had long been scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. McCain, who had proposed delaying the contest so the two presidential hopefuls could help negotiate an economic rescue plan, wouldn't commit.

Getty ImagesPresident Bush speaks about the economic crisis Thursday during a meeting at the White House with members of Congress, including the two presidential nominees, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.

Getty ImagesPresident Bush speaks about the economic crisis today during a meeting at the White House with members of Congress, including the two presidential nominees, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.

WASHINGTON -- Urgent efforts to lash together a $700 billion rescue plan for the national economy appeared to be stalling Thursday night, hours after key lawmakers had declared they had reached a deal.

Weary congressional negotiators hurried back to work, joined by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in an effort to revive or rework the proposal that President Bush said must be quickly approved by Congress to stave off economic disaster. Congressional leaders said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke might come to Capitol Hill, too, if enough progress was made.

The meetings were to continue into the night.

Reena Rose Sibayan/The Jersey JournalAlaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin greets firefighters today during a campaign stop at Ladder Company 10 and Engine Company 10, a firehouse next to the World Trade Center site in New York.

Alaska governor and Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin spent about 40 minutes inside the WTC Tribute Center across the street from ground zero today with Lee Ielpi, chairman of the board of directors of the Sept. 11 Families Association.

As she left the Tribute Center, Palin paused to visit a memorial to firefighters who died on 9/11.

The content of a racially insensitive flier regarding presidential candidate Barack Obama, distributed in some Roxbury neighborhoods last weekend did not violate any criminal statutes and is speech protected by the First Amendment, according to a review by the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.

Prosecutor Robert Bianchi, in a formal statement, said he found the flier to be "reprehensible literature" but its distribution and con­tent was not illegal. He pledged, however, to carefully monitor the situation and "aggressively prosecute any person who crosses the line and commits a criminal offense or bias crime."

Star-Ledger File PhotoRepublican State Chairman Tom Wilson

Senator Frank Lautenberg

Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson today called on U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) to "come out of hiding" and prove he is not "too old to campaign."

At a news conference at the State House in Trenton, Wilson directly raised an issue that GOP Senate candidate Dick Zimmer had vowed to avoid: Lautenberg's age. The four-term incumbent senator is 84.

Some neighborhoods in Roxbury were blanketed over the weekend with campaign literature from a white-supremacist, anti-immigration group that bluntly raised the issue of race regarding presidential candidate Barack Obama, offending some recipients and angering Democratic leaders.

A flier left on driveways in a neatly packaged plastic envelope questioned, "Do You Want A Black President?" and stated, "Black Ruled Nations most unstable and violent in the world."

The material was distributed by a group called the League of American Patriots, which has a Butler mailing address.

Deeply unpopular in New Jersey but still able to rake in big bucks from donors, President Bush appeared at a private fundraiser today in Monmouth County on behalf of two Republican congressional candidates.

The event, which was closed to the media, was held to raise money for state Sen. Leonard Lance, who is seeking the 7th District seat (in Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties), and Chris Myers, the mayor of Medford who hopes to win the 3rd District seat (in Burlington, Ocean and Camden counties).

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerPresident George W. Bush walks back to Marine One today after he attended a political fundraiser at a private home in nearby Colts Neck.

Senator Leonard Lance, President George W. Bush, Mayor Chris Myers

The event may prove to be the biggest political gamble Lance has ever taken, say campaign observers, who look back at Rep. Mike Ferguson's slimmest of victories over Assemblywoman Linda Stender two years ago when a swing by moderate voters angry with the Bush administration nearly gave the district to Democrats.

Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerGov. Jon Corzine

Gov. Jon Corzine campaigned for Barack Obama in Florida today, a visit Republicans called "outrageous" given the severe economic troubles facing New Jersey and the country.

But Corzine said the crisis was precisely the point of his trip to the Sunshine State.

"I'll tell you what we're doing in Florida -- trying to get a president in office who actually will do something about fixing our economy and dealing with the financial crisis," Corzine said. "We need to make sure that we have a change in policy, and that's exactly what we're working to have done by electing Barack Obama."

Two polls released today have New Jersey incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg maintaining a comfortable lead over his Republican challenger in New Jersey's U.S. Senate race.

A Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters has Lautenberg leading former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer by 9 percent. A Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll has Lautenberg up by 10 percent among likely voters, a margin basically unchanged from a previous poll in July.

A Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters has Lautenberg leading former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer by 9 percent. A Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll has Lautenberg up by 10 percent among likely voters, a margin basically unchanged from a previous poll in July.

State Sen. Leonard Lance and Assemblywoman Linda Stender debated a range of domestic and international issues tonight as they battled to represent the 7th Congressional District, with American foreign policy toward Israel and the Middle East emerging as a major concern for their standing-room-only audience.

Hosted by the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, Lance, a Hunterdon County Republican, and Stender, a Union County Democrat, affirmed their support for the Jewish state and expressed concern for the emerging threat from Iran and its growing nuclear capabilities.

The pair, speaking at the Jewish Community Campus of Central New Jersey in Scotch Plains, also supported a "two-state" solution to provide a Palestinian homeland and agreed on the need for more attention to the situation in Darfur.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker is headlining the Middlesex County Democratic Organization's campaign kickoff tonight in Edison, where more than 1,000 party faithful are expected to rally.

Booker is appearing as a surrogate for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrat presidential nominee. As an early Obama supporter and a popular mayor, Booker was recruited for campaign stops across the state.

Two presidential race polls out today indicate Republican John McCain has cut into Barack Obama's lead in New Jersey.

According to a Quinnipiac University poll, McCain has narrowed his 10-point gap of a month ago to just 3 percentage points among likely voters, with 48 percent saying they favor Obama to 45 percent supporting McCain.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie could give Jon Corzine a close race for governor next year, a poll shows.

Frank Conlon/The Star-LedgerU.S. Attorney Christopher Christie

Corzine leads Christie 43 percent to 41 in a poll by The Record. That's well within the poll's 4 point margin of error.

Continental Airlines has suspended operations at its Houston hub at Bush Intercontinental Airport through Saturday in anticipation of severe weather conditions caused by Hurricane Ike. Normal operations are planned at the Newark Liberty and Cleveland hubs.

The airline will not operate mainline flights at Houston through Saturday night but has plans to reactivate the hub Sunday morning. Some Sunday flights will remain subject to cancellation, the airline said.

Continental Express and Continental Connection regional airline operations have also been suspended at Houston through Saturday. Employees from other domestic locations are positioned to fly into Houston to assist their co-workers in resuming operations at the hub after the storm.

PHOTOS: IKE APPROACHES TEXAS

NEW YORK -- Forgoing partisanship Thursday night, presidential contenders Barack Obama and John McCain recalled their own service to community and country on the anniversary of 9/11, saying they would urge Americans to help lift their neighbors and nation.

Speaking apart at a Columbia University forum titled "ServiceNation," the U.S. senators and Democratic and Republican nominees both supported providing new incentives for Americans to volunteer, but neither called for making service compulsory.

Both candidates said they would have asked Americans to do much more after 9/11, calling that dark time a rare opportunity to increase volunteerism to help protect and improve communities and the nation.

Democrats say two Republican congressional candidates have intentionally tried to downplay an upcoming fundraising visit to New Jersey by President Bush.

Republicans denied the charge.

Bush is scheduled to be in Colts Neck Sept. 22 for a private fundraiser for state Sen. Leonard Lance and Chris Myers.

A poll shows incumbent U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg enjoys a comfortable lead over Republican challenger Dick Zimmer heading into the fall election season.

The Fairleigh Dickinson-PublicMind poll has Lautenberg up by 11 percent, with the low-key Zimmer still struggling to get his name known to the electorate.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg

Dick Zimmer

A poll shows Sen. John McCain gaining ground but still trailing his Democratic rival in the presidential race in New Jersey.

A Fairleigh Dickinson-PublicMind poll out today shows Sen. Barack Obama apparently leading by 6 points in New Jersey, 47-41 percent. That's down from the 16-point lead Obama enjoyed here in an FDU poll taken in June.

A state effort to register every eligible voter has backfired, resulting in hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of persons being erroneously told they are not on the voting rolls, county and state officials said today.

"Since I came in about 8 this morning, the phones haven't stopped," said Carmine Casciano, superintendent of elections in Essex County. He said the bulk of those calls were from people who have "been voting for years" but received a letter over the weekend telling them they are not currently registered.

The letters urge the recipients to fill out an enclosed voter registration form and mail it in by the Oct. 14 deadline.

A cocktail reception followed by dinner at rocker Jon Bon Jovi's house netted a hefty $4.1 million for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign, one of the organizers confirmed today.

Attorney William Harla, a former Hillary Clinton fund-raiser who helped arrange the two private events in Middletown Friday night, called them a major success. The combined amount surpassed the $1.5 million that McCain raised at his last New Jersey fund-raiser, in Teaneck nearly a month ago.

file photosPresidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama.

These battlegrounds, many of them in either the Rust Belt or the West, would hold the key to whether Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. John McCain becomes the nation's 44th president. And the outcomes there could turn in part on the impact of the campaign's two female superstars: Sen. Hillary Clinton, who narrowly lost the Democratic nomination to Obama, and Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain's surprise Republican running mate.

WASHINGTON - The nation's unemployment rate jumped above 6 percent last month -- the highest level in five years -- offering stark evidence of a troubled economy that is steadily shedding jobs and facing continued problems in the housing, financial and credit markets.

It is also sure to add fire to a debate over the best approach to fix an ailing economy that can't seem to turn a corner.

The loss of 84,000 jobs last month boosted the unemployment rate from 5.7 percent in July to 6.1 percent in August, the Labor Department reported. At the same time, the government said the economy lost more jobs in June and July than previously reported.

Photos by Saed Hindash/The Star-LedgerWillow Martin, 7, of Little Silver, waits Friday for Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama to drive by on his way to a a private fundraiser hosted by Phil Murphy.

Like John McCain last month, Barack Obama visited New Jersey tonight not to seek votes but to reap cash.

After a public campaign event in Pennsylvania, the Democratic presidential nominee slipped into Monmouth County for two private fund-raisers -- including dinner at the home of rock star Jon Bon Jovi.

More than 100 people joined Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, on the lawn of their mansion by the Navesink River in Middletown.

"When I look at Barack, I see an old man," Bon Jovi said in introducing his guest. Obama is 47, Bon Jovi is 46.

Saed Hindash/The Star-LedgerDemocratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama drives by approximately 50 parents and their children in Middletown Friday as he heads to a private fundraiser hosted by Phil Murphy, the financial chair for the Democratic National Committee.

Photo by Justin Sullivan/ Getty ImagesRepublican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain stands with wife Cindy McCain on stage during a walk through before tonight's speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.
PHOTOS: REPUBLICAN CONVENTION WRAPS UP

Here are live headlines from Day 4 in St. Paul, where Star-Ledger reporters and columnists are following the New Jersey delegation at the Republican National Convention .

Check out nj.com/elections for complete convention coverage.

Members of N.J. delegation react to John McCain's speech

It took just two days to raise McCain

Protesters disrupt John McCain's acceptance speech

John McCain accepts GOP nomination, vows "change is coming"

Thirty-eight years later, Wall Twp. woman celebrates "her" POW

Who moved my chair?

ST. PAUL, Minn.-- Two former Republican governors who know what it's like to ask New Jersey voters for a second term said Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine will have a tough time getting re-elected next year.

"The Republicans are going to have a very good case to present