New Jersey's gubernatorial race, between Democratic Sen. Jon Corzine and Republican Doug Forrester, has gotten close enough that reporters are ready to call it a bellwether for 2006.

(I apologize for the lack of hyperlinks here - my word processor has started crashing when I try to save documents, and I didn't want to re-find all my links after re-writing this. But trust me, my facts are 100% facticious.) How is Forrester, a businessman who lost New Jersey's 2002 Senate race by 10 points, staying in the race with Corzine? Less than 20% of voters are registered Republicans, Democrats control both houses of the state legislature, and President Bush's approval rating here is a rotten 34%.