Not For Nothin'

The Coaster September 21, 2017

Nothing says New Jersey better than our beloved pork roll. But it seems to me that running a very close second is our unofficial state motto - Not For Nothin’. The Urban Dictionary defines Not for Nothin’ as being used to soften the blow of something that would normally be offensive or come on too strong”. So here goes folks, Not for Nothin’, but there is an election coming up and we better get on the ball – becoming familiar with the candidates and knowing the issues. Because whether we think so or not, the next four years are going to matter a whole lot more than we realize.

While the party faithful remain intently engaged, the general public’s attention seems to be elsewhere at the moment. A sizeable portion of likely voters (estimated at 40%) indicate that they know very little about the top two candidates. Factor in that there are actually seven candidates that will appear on the ballot for NJ Governor and that’s a problem. Could it be that the electorate is suffering from post-presidential election fatigue? After all, we had to endure close to 16 months of a full sensory barrage from all sides with every kind of twist and turn (un)imaginable. One local coffee shop connoisseur said that they “would rather have their teeth pulled out with pliers than face that circus again” and the person they voted for actually won.

So we have seven candidates running for Governor/Lt. Governor (eight if you count the write-in option) representing a variety of political parties and unique points of view. There are the Big 2 Parties: The Democrats Phil Murphy & Sheila Oliver are pledging to bring a “different kind of Governor…who has your back” to Trenton. The Republicans Kim Guadagno & Carlos Rendo are promising “A Better New Jersey” than the current one. Interestingly, the Democrat is reminiscent of a previous Goldman Sachs Governor and the Republican is part of the team that created the current New Jersey that isn’t better. Hmmm?

But hold on to your hats! There are 5 other candidates orbiting the political landscape. The Green Party is fielding Seth Kaper-Dale & Lisa Durben who are campaigning on the theme “The Last Are First”. They promise to focus on the forgotten majority that always seems to get the short end of the stick after every election. The Libertarian Party has put forth Peter Rohrman & Karese Laguerre who are “Committed To Change”. They focus on “maximizing personal freedom” and making sure that government does its job of protecting those freedoms. The Independent Candidate is Gina Genovese who believes that both the “Republicans and Democrats have let us down [and it’s] time for an Independent Governor who cares about reducing your taxes.” The Constitution Party candidate is Matt Riccardi who is offering a signed contract with voters, stating “I don’t make campaign promises, I make campaign guarantees”. He touts “Liberty, Integrity and Prosperity for New Jersey” and putting an end to the failed system of corruption that has plagued the state. The We The People Party candidates are Vincent Ross & April Johnson who state that “as far as memory serve’s the working People of New Jersey [have] not been represented by no Governor to date”. They plan to “stop the bleeding and do what our constitution says”. Finally, let’s not forget the write-in option which rounds off our list to a nice even number. It seems that there are plenty of choices and a menu of unique platforms being offered this gubernatorial election cycle.

Come January 2018, one of these candidates will take office and be expected to deal with a myriad of challenges and problems that have been hounding us for years. You know, the ones that every candidate swears they have the answer for, every election. But is it me or do things feel like they just keep getting worse? As the late Mayor of Chicago Harold Washington once said “they’re like gnats. You keep swatting them away and they keep coming back at you”. Granted he was talking about his political opponents, but we can apply the same logic to the list of problems that we talk about every election. Our leaders swat at them, try to backroom deal them away or reach deeper into our pockets to tax them away, but they just keep coming back at us.

Here we are with less than seven weeks before we go to the polls to elect a new Governor, Lt. Governor and an entire State Legislature – 40 Senators and 80 Assembly Members. According to the August 31, 2017 Statewide Voter Registration Summary, there are 5,720,144 registered voters in New Jersey. Of those, 2,111,874 are registered democrats and 1,237,586 are registered republicans. However, most interesting is that there are 2,370,684 voters registered to either a third party or unaffiliated. They are the majority and imagine the power they could wield if they decided enough is enough and moved in a common direction or for a unique candidate on election day? That would definitely be an event of historical proportions in New Jersey Politics. But, Not for Nothin’, haven’t we seen election night surprises before?

Classic Politics is a project of Ed JohnsonAP