What the Election of 2007 Taught Me

In November, the state of New Jersey had an important election in which only 31% of registered voters cared to participate.  At the polls, I was struck by the symbolism of poll workers who could not figure out who was registered; some of them were individuals still talking about World War II; then the school site that would not let us use the gym or cafeteria to house the voting machines. So, we voted in near darkness which made it difficult to read the referenda language.  That situation itself struck me as a telling analogy for the state of New Jersey.

There is no leadership or dynamism.  One can see that phenomenon in how we voted on the referenda.  The voters refused to approve dedicating one percent of the sales tax to property tax relief.  After a Democratic civil war, Governor Jon Corzine bloodied Speaker John Roberts in forcing through the increase.  He insisted that it was needed to pay off the huge pension debt.  But then the Star Ledger informed readers that one third of that increase went to pork barrel projects.

So voters said-no changes until our finances are in order.  On the second issue, funding stem cell research, the voters rejected it too.  Actually the issue was presented incorrectly in public statements.  The state under Corzine had already pledged $150 million to the center in New Brunswick, $50 million for one in Newark, $ 50 million for a center in Camden, $ 10 million for a blood collection facilities operated by Elie Katz Umbilical Cord program, and $ 10 million for a research facility in the Garden State Cancer Center; the $450 was for $45 million for ten years to support the work of the scientists.  Thus we were in effect being asked to pay for operating expenses, a very bad use of bonding in the first place. Part of the opposition was led by Protestant fundamentalists and the Roman Catholic bishops who feared that stem cells would be harvested from embryos aborted from the womb.  The proponents of the bond issue never dealt with those objections seriously.  Taken together, those opponents coalesced into a 53% negative vote.  These two questions were only the first and second referenda defeated in 17 years in this state.

Even the politically correct referendum to change the language of the state Constitution to words less derogatory for the mentally retarded drew a 40% negative vote.  How did that happen?  People are just so frustrated with anything that comes from "Trenton."  Luckily the voters in this densely packed megalopolis voted to approve a $200 million bond issue to buy open lands.  But opposition centered on giving more money to pork projects and to the realization that land limitations would raise the property and land values in this state.

Still the party alignment barely moved in the legislature.  The people seemed to sense that there are two parties in Trenton: not Republican or Democrats, or liberal and conservative, but those at the trough and those wanting to get in line to be there.  That image does not inspire people seeking massive, genuine reform.  New Jerseyans are weary of big talk and big plans.  They oppose for example the leasing of the turnpike even before Governor Corzine has come out with a plan.  For they know it will mean higher tolls, more patronage jobs, bloated building and repair contracts, and more pensioners. Corzine has already pledged $ 30 million in state bonds for a $ 100 million rehabilitation of Rutgers Stadium. Despite his continuous warnings about state debt, the governor has never met a bond issue he didn't like.  As the reaction to Chris Christie's indictments has shown-there are genuine feelings of weariness and cynicism.  Even independent wealthy politicians are beholden to strong coalitions of interest groups which prevent a real reform agenda.

There is a lesson to be found in the election of 2007, and it is not just who won and who lost  or which referenda passed and by how much.  The really significant finding is that over two thirds of us chose to stay home on a nice balmy day. 

Lucent, pharmaceutical plants and other major manufacturers, especially the auto industry, are laying people off in this state in record numbers.  The technology expert, Robert Lucky, formerly of Bell Labs and Telecordia, has written on the Hall Institute website about the demise of the research labs which were once so important to New Jersey's economy.  Thomas Edison built his own labs and paid for his own staff, unlike our stem cell research labs which must be funded by your tax dollars and bonds in the hope of creating a new industry for the state.

So, what did I learn from the election of "07?  Elections are important, but they are too confusing to give leaders in our state a mandate for change. Some legacy for us all.