EDITOR'S NOTE: Some random thoughts two weeks -  minus one day - from the midterms.

Rebecca Bennett is certainly drawing big names.

Gabby Giffords was in CD-7 earlier this month. So was Hakeem Jeffries.

And last Friday was a rally with Pete Buttigieg and Jamie Raskin. That drew about 1,000 people to a theater at Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg.

Impressive to be sure. The CD-7 race is certainly on the national political map.

But will these visits by Mayor Pete and the like mean more votes for Bennett in a district that has about 16,000 more registered Republicans?

No one truly knows the answer, although it is reasonable to surmise that a large turnout on a Friday night is a sign of excitement. Those people will vote for Benentt, and perhaps urge others (those who don't follow politics every day) to do the same. That, at least, is the hope for Team Bennett.

Here is a comparison in regard to big events for congressional candidates.

Back in January, Bernie Sanders drew a huge crowd when he came to William Paterson College in Wayne on behalf of Analilia Mejia.

One observer (me) figured people came to see Bernie, and not Mejia, who at the time was just one of 11 people in a special CD-11 Democratic primary.

We know what happened. Mejia won and is now in Congress. Yes, that was a primary, and this is a general, but big crowds may mean something.

As for Rep. Tom Kean Jr., he seems to be relying on visits to street fairs and the like.

Last Saturday, he was at the Far Hills Race Meeting, an annual Somerset Hills tradition that combines a steeplechase with tailgating.
Some go just for the tailgating - like the woman who told me years ago, "I've been coming here for 10 years, and haven't seen a horse yet."
Back to the present.

Kean also has brought a big name to the district. That was Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, who has been in CD-7 at least twice.

But typically for the Kean campaign, those events were private.

* * *

Justin Murphy, the man running against Cory Booker, actually has gotten some attention of late.

And it has to do with his strong support for the Iran war at an Oct. 8 debate with Booker.

Not only did Murphy support the war, he did so in a way that cheered the hawkiest of hawks.

He urged the president to put on his "cowboy hat" and "kick some ass."

Hate to be a downer, but what precisely does that mean?

Should we do more bombing? Should we send in ground troops?

As noted, those comments have gotten Murphy some attention in conservative circles, but you can't ignore reality.

The war is unpopular with the general public, as are high gas prices.

* * *

As mentioned, Analilia Mejia is now in Congress. And she is running for a full-term.

Republican Joe Hathaway's main argument is this:

Mejia is a left wing radical and socialist.

And to make his point, Hathaway is channeling the mayor of San Francisco. That would be Daniel Lurie.

Hathaway's social media page presents a video of the mayor talking about how his city's devotion to progressive values led to drug overdoses and routine car break-ins.

Nothing progressive about that, the mayor says, adding that he is turning things around.

The 11th Congressional District is hardly San Francisco.

Still, Hathaway is trying to show, generally at least, the pitfalls of radical progressive thought.

* * *

And in the category of things never changing, let's look at the mail-in vote numbers.

According to one study by the Election Lab at the University of Florida, about 365,000 people have voted as of Oct. 19.

An estimated 241,000, or 66 percent, have been Democrats.

Par for the course.