Steve Oroho

Senate Minority Leader Ton Kean, Jr. (R-Union), and Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon).: Politicker photo 

State Sen. Thomas Kean, Jr., (R-Union) became minority leader just as a new band of hungry Republican legislators came up from the General Assembly to assume their state Senate seats.

Another under 40 state senator with statewide aspirations might send out at least back channel messages of panic in the face of a baseball roster's worth of new GOP talent.

And indeed there have been some nose-to-nose moments in the last few months since Kean made caucus boss, notably between the patrician leader and the headstrong state Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex).

But according to his colleagues, the stoic Kean has generally met the onrush by embracing it; and has assumed a statesmanlike stance while tapping the scrappy skills honed by his freshmen senators in the lower house.

Assemblywoman Alison McHose and Assemblyman David Rible today in Trenton. 

TRENTON - A day after Gov. Jon Corzine and the Democrats launched what had the vibe of a pre "overwhelming victory" party, Republicans attempted a low-key, state-level counter-offensive here this afternoon at the height of the budget season.

While Democrats may be in the throes of Obama fever, "Jon Corzine is not terribly popular now," said Assembly Whip Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), referring to the governor’s 38% job approval rating, according to Quinnipiac University.

Battling for some GOP respect, Bramnick announced the formation of the New Republican Policy Committee, which he hopes will be one of the features of a new-face Republican party. The move comes in an atmosphere in which the departing Republican president’s job approval rating is 22% and Obama leads presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain by six points.