The Chamber of Commerce's annual train ride to Washington, a rolling convoy of lobbyists, business leaders and politicians which often serves as a kick-off to primary campaign season, was rather tame this year, according to those who attended.

The trip was dampened by both the economy, which had business groups scaling back and attendance down, and protests by three Republican candidates who slammed the trip as an insider-only extravaganza that they wanted no part of. Former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan and Assemblyman Richard Merkt all, in one way or another, called the trip a symbol of what's wrong with Jersey politics. (Although plenty of other members of both parties rode).

Gov. Corzine was on board and said his presence doesn't mean the rest of the people on board will influence policy, according to The Star-Ledger's Josh Margolin and Claire Heininger.

The Record's Charlie Stile noted that attendance was down 20 percent.

Even if the train was short a few Republicans, it wasn't missing their talking points. Sen. Jennifer Beck teed off on Corzine's record, according to PolitickerNJ.com.

Will train attendance really matter in the long run? I guess Republicans, seizing on the "change" argument this year, may make the case that Corzine's participation ties him to the status quo. But to get much mileage on that argument, the general public would have to know what the Chamber trip is, and care. My guess is that they don't.

More likely, it's just some early jockeying and gamesmanship. As former Gov. Brendan Byrne told the Ledger:

"What happens in politics is you look for an issue . . . This guy says one thing, so you do the other."

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New Jersey ranks as the 17th least religious state in America, although it is close to the national average in terms of how many people here see religion as an important part of their daily lives, according to a Gallup poll snap shot.

The survey, part of Gallup's "State of the States" series, asked residents of all 50 states and the District of Columbia "Is religion an important part of your daily life?" In Jersey, 60 percent of those asked said yes. Overall, 65 percent of Americans said religion is an important part of their daily life, according to Gallup. In 23 of 50 states "yes" answers fell between 60 and 70 percent, placing New Jersey among the largest grouping in the poll.

The most religious state was Mississippi (where 85 percent of those asked said religion is an important part of daily life), followed by Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee and Louisiana . The least religious was Vermont, where only 42 percent responded to the question affirmatively, followed by New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Alaska. In all but four states half of the people or more said religion is an important part of daily life.

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New Jersey is widely considered a reliably blue state. After all, Democrats control every aspect of government, the state has voted Democratic in the last five presidential elections and no Republican has won statewide since Christie Whitman in 1997.

But according to this Gallup analysis, New Jersey barely made the top 10 most Democratic states in 2008. It was tied for 10th among states, along with Maine, California and West Virginia. The District of Columbia was more Democratic than any state, technically bumping New Jersey down to a tie for 11th, according to Gallup.

Gallup's political rankings are based on both the number of registered Democrats and Republicans in each state and the preferences of independents. The Democratic figures include both registered Dems plus independents who lean Democratic; same for the GOP.

The most Democratic states (including the District) were, in order, D.C., Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Vermont. The top Republican states were Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Alaska, Nebraska.

Ominously for Republicans, only five states (the ones listed above) were either solid or leaning Republican in 2008, meaning that the GOP had a five point edge or better. By contrast, 35 states and D.C. were either solid or leaning Democratic. The remaining 10 states were considered competitive - less than a four point edge for either side - though six of these also had slight Democratic bents. That didn't stop some of those supposedly Democratic states, notably West Virginia, which ranks up with New Jersey in terms of Democratic affiliation, from voting for John McCain in 2008.

The survey was one piece of a four-part Gallup "State of the States" analysis. We'll have more details on its other surveys - on the economy, religion and consumer confidence - later this week.

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Camden school officials and the state's School Development Authority agreed to a plan Tuesday night to preserve the iconic central tower at Camden High School while tearing down the rest to replace it with a new building.

The plan, according to the SDA, saves $18 million over the cost of refurbishing the entire facade of the aging school. Officials there say building new is also more efficient than trying to rehabilitate the entire structure from within.

The compromise is not a surprise - the elements of this deal have been on the table for a few weeks now - but what might be noteworthy is that this is the first tangible example of a new approach at the SDA, the successor of the much-maligned School Construction Corp., which was riddled with wasteful spending in its first go-round.

“We need to balance historic preservation with meeting the needs of the kids,” said SDA chief executive Kris Kolluri, who took over in December. The Camden project is the first major plan which he has stepped in to alter. “It is absolutely a different approach to school construction.”

Lawmakers, many of them skeptical, approved borrowing an additional $3.9 billion for school projects last year. This plan may be an attempt to show that it won't be wasted.

We'll have more details in Thursday's Inquirer.

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Click here for Philly.com's politics page.

Later this week hundreds of New Jersey's lobbying and political elite will take part in an annual schmooze-fest when they board the Chamber of Commerce's train ride to Washington.

But gubernatorial hopeful Chris Christie won't be there.

The web site In the Lobby wrote this morning that the former U.S. Attorney isn't going and we've confirmed it with a Christie adviser.

The trip, literally a ride to Washington in a train charted by the chamber followed by parties and dinners at night, is billed as the "premier networking event in the state." What that translates to is hundreds of lobbyists, business leaders and politicians jammed together in tight quarters for hours, with booze, to facilitate button-holing and exchanges of business cards and yes, networking. Participants say it's a great chance to meet people. Critics say it's a rolling special interest machine.

In years past candidates have used the train trip to hand out all manner of trinkets (pens, key chains) and pitch themselves. (In 2005 the campaign for failed Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert Schroeder gave out a first aid kit, which an aide explained was meant to help heal New Jersey, and included aspirin for the hang over riders would have the next day).

But Christie has a few reasons to skip out this year. From a practical perspective, he has not yet officially kicked off his campaign or announced any policy positions yet. For another, someone pitching himself as a force for change might worry about the appearances of participating in such an insider-heavy event. If this trip is any indication, it's a good bet that Christie will be playing up his status as a Trenton outsider throughout his candidacy.

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Click here for Philly.com's politics page.

State Republican chairman Tom Wilson is taking his battle over Gov. Corzine's e-mails to the state Supreme Court, re-inserting a political thorn in the governor's side.

Wilson has sued to force Corzine to release e-mails the governor exchanged with former labor leader Carla Katz, the governor's one-time girlfriend, during contract negotiations (The two dated before Corzine became governor). Corzine has said executive privilege allows him to keep the e-mails private and an appellate court recently ruled unanimously in his favor (an earlier court decision went Wilson's way).

"Executive privilege wasn't meant to be used to hide improper conduct, but that's exactly what he's doing," Wilson said in a statement today announcing his decision to appeal to the state's top court.

Corzine has said he is protecting executive privilege, which is aimed at letting some officials keep communications private to effectively govern.

"I want to make sure, as I have from the beginning, that the principle that private conversations of the governor - not just me, but future governors - are firmly established to be protected under executive privilege," Corzine recently told the Associated Press.

The Supreme Court will decide whether it takes up the case. Either way, the situation presents a political problem for Corzine because the story will live on well into this election year. With no information on what is actually in the e-mails, Wilson and other Corzine critics will try to spin a narrative of secret deals and a cover up.

Democrats argue that the public really doesn't care about the issue, though.

We'll see if they're right, because the Corzine-Katz stories, a volatile piece of the 2005 gubernatorial campaign, will continue to drag out. This cartoon in this morning's Star-Ledger captured the situation well: http://blog.nj.com/njv_shenemans_sketchpad/2009/01/the_katz_came_back_1.html#more

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New Jersey’s unemployment rate grew to 7.1 percent by the end of December, the highest level since 1994.

It had been 6.1 percent at the start of that month.

The figures, released today by the state Department of Labor, was the latest piece of bad economic news and means Gov. Corzine must plug another hole in the state's financial picture.

A low balance and high demand on New Jersey's unemployment insurance fund could trigger business tax increases of up to $640 million, unless the state can replenish the fund by March 31, Corzine said. He estimated it could take $200 million of new money to avoid the tax hike, and hopes it could come from a federal stimulus package. Corzine has stressed that he wants to avoid tax increases, which he believes would only worsen the economic downturn.

New Jersey’s unemployment fund was depleted even before the recession hit because previous governors raided for a combined $4.7 billion to balance past budgets.

We'll have more in Thursday's Inquirer.

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