EDITOR'S NOTE: Some odds and ends from the campaign trail two months before Election Day.

Joe Hathaway was quick to put together a social media video Wednesday afternoon condemning the Trump Administration for trying - again - to stop construction of the Gateway Tunnel.

It was headlined, "Finish the Damn Tunnel."

What may be surprising here to some - and in a good way - is that Hathaway is the Republican candidate in CD-11.

He certainly knows that the $16 billion Gateway project, which would construct a new rail tunnel under the Hudson and fix the 100-year-old tube there now, is critical for those traveling to Manhattan for work and recreation. Many of those people live in CD-11, which includes parts of Essex, Passaic and Morris counties.

Gateway had been around, at least in concept, for years, but is now under construction. The Trump Administration cut off funding earlier this year, but the courts resumed it after New Jersey and New York sued. The Trump Administration is now appealing that ruling, prompting the latest drama.

Hathaway says the Administration was wrong to cut off funds and is wrong again.

"I have no problem saying when a Republican Administration gets something wrong," he said.

That may not be a widespread view.

Republican Rep. Thomas Kean Jr., whose 7th District shares the same characteristics as the 11th in regard to the tunnel, so far has been silent on the appeal.

Kean is on record of supporting Gateway.

“I have made Gateway a top priority because it is indispensable to our state’s economy and the daily lives of thousands of commuters," he said a few weeks ago after meeting with federal transportation officials at the Westfield train station.

Still, Rebecca Bennett, the CD-7 Democratic candidate, condemned Kean for so far being silent on the appeal.

"Tom Kean Jr. has repeatedly shown that he will not fight for New Jersey when we need him the most. As the President once again works to withhold funding for the Gateway Tunnel, Tom Kean Jr. remains silent," is part of what she said in a statement.

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In a more upbeat note for the congressman, Kean is getting some campaign help from a popular, former governor.

That would be his father.

"You watch your children grow and wonder who will they become," the elder Kean says in the ad.

He adds that he "couldn't be prouder" of his son and praised him for working to protect Medicare and Medicaid.

The ad seeks to convey quite the homey touch. It was apparently filmed on a back porch and also features what appears to be a black lab walking by the two men.

The senior Kean left office with high approval ratings. Recall that he won reelection in 1985 by a tremendous landslide.

Then again, time moves on. One has to be around at least 60 to truly remember the eight years Kean was governor.

It's fair to wonder how significant his appearance in a campaign ad will be to most voters.

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It has not been a good week for Republican Senate candidate Justin Murphy, who was criticized by Democrats for comments at a town hall disparaging Muslims.

But one has to give Murphy credit for creativity.

Republicans acknowledge that a problem everywhere this election season is high gas prices because of the war in Iran.They have gone up about a dollar a gallon - roughly speaking.

Murphy, however, wants people to see things a different way.

His Facebook page compares the price of gas today with what it was in June, 2022 when inflation soared at the end of the pandemic. It was a shade above $5 a gallon back then.

Sure, it's cheaper today. But it seems much more logical to compare how gas prices have jumped considerably over the last six months.

But still. Murphy's approach is quite creative.