http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/…

Mr. Warner, 80, who hails from a Virginia farm, told a story about traveling to Bayonne, N.J., in 1945 to board a ship bound for Japan, only to be turned around when news came that the war ended. He spoke into a wall of more than 20 signs for Mr. Paul, held aloft by the Texas congressman’s dozens of vociferous supporters.

“New Jersey is the industrial heart of America, and you served us in that time of crisis like no other,” he said.

In a straw vote taken on two electronic voting machines after the forum Mr. Paul won handily, capturing 52 of 120 votes cast. Mr. McCain got 40 votes, Mitt Romney scored 27 and Mike Huckabee got a single vote, claimed by Wojciech Siemaszkiewicz, a librarian and Republican activist who gave a stump speech for Mr. Huckabee.

“I like Mike!” he bellowed when Mr. Huckabee’s single vote was announced.

The dress of the more than 150 people at the event ranged from a long-haired man in a tie-dye shirt and flip-flops wearing a Ron Paul sticker, to 10 men in suits and ties, five sporting McCain stickers and five sporting Romney stickers. An infant wore a bib that read, “Mac is Back!”

Many in attendance were impressed by Mr. Warner’s appearance. Gary Berner, 55, the municipal chair of Lyndhurst, said that the senator’s appearance “enlivened the party in the county.”

Mr. Berner, who supported Rudolph W. Giuliani until the former mayor dropped out of the race, said he was persuaded by Mr. Giuiliani’s endorsement of Mr. McCain.

bile, 27, a Fort Lee resident with a Ron Paul sticker affixed to his black T-shirt with a yellow skull that read, “Don’t Tread On Me,” said that he believes the McCain campaign sent Mr. Warner to New Jersey because, “he was probably free and able to do it and they don’t have anyone in the area well known enough.”

It was still Mr. Paul and his supporters who some viewed as the biggest pariahs, despite Mr. Warner’s praise of everyone in the room who took part in the straw poll, which he called a “grassroots effort that lays the foundation block for America’s political system.”

Clara Nibot, 62, who supports Mr. Romney, said she felt Mr. Paul’s supporters poisoned that grass.

“This is a sabotage of the straw poll,” she huffed after the forum, “Because of Ron Paul’s organized, grassroots effort.”

I did effectively say that… but what else are you going to say when someone asks: “Why do you think the McCain camp sent up a southern Senator?” I mean really… plenty of NJ pols have endorsed McCain I’m sure so why Warner? I doubt the fact he was shipped out of Bayonne had anything to do with it… that’s fairly obscure.

That last quote is great though. As I said… many of the people there weren’t happy that we were so organized. Sure Paul won’t win NJ… I know that… but it’s good to get out there and show them we mean business and we won’t be going away quietly. We may be polling 4th of 4 at 5%-8% but that’s enough to get things done. Especially at the local level.

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