NJ-Sen: Momentum going Menendez's way

The New Jersey Senate race is neck and neck.  With less than four weeks to go, the Democrats may have caught a break.  In the latest Quinnipiac poll that was just released, Menendez leads Kean Jr by four points:

New Jersey U.S. Senate race

(D) Bob Menendez - 49%
(R) Thomas Kean Jr. - 45%

This is the only Democratic Senate seat in any kind of jeopardy.  The fact that it is even competitive is forcing the Democrats to divert resources.  Chuck Todd of the National Journal writes:

Menendez may still win, but a good $5 million of national Democraticresources will be drained to pull him over the finish line. That'smoney the party could have used in places like Arizona or Virginia .

Remember, if the Democrats come up short in New Jersey, they must win in Virginia, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee -- the other toss-up states -- in order to take back Senate majority.  But with a victory in New Jersey, they can afford to lose one of those other races.

The latest momentum shift in favor of Bob Menendez was spearheaded by his campaign's focus on Iraq.  Menendez stayed on message today by holding a news conference on Iraq, marking the four-year anniversary of the Senate giving President Bush military authorization to go to war.  Menendez favors the strategy of bringing all troops home within a year.  Illinois Senator and possible 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama joined Menendez on the campaign trail today to help keep the momentum going.

Money-wise, the Republican Party is in a wait-and-see mode with Thomas Kean Jr., and will determine within the next few days whether to divert resources away from other races in order to make a push for that Senate seat.  Today, to help reverse the negative momentum and help court swing voters, Kean called on Speaker Hastert to resign over his role in covering up the Foley emails.  Although, analysts are unsure whether this will have any impact on the race at all.