Did You Know the NJ Gubernatorial Debate Took Place at My College?

A couple of weeks ago the New Jersey Gubernatorial Debate took place. It happened to be at my school. I had no idea it had ended until my last class finished and as I walked outside and saw the massive amounts of people around as well as a myriad of media members I started to piece together what was going on. It was either that or when I saw people wearing T-shirts supporting Corzine. They were also chanting his name. I didn't have tickets, since I didn't know about it, so I headed home. I decided that since I had no idea of what was happening in this particular Gubernatorial election and I planned on voting on Election Day I should probably listen to the debate on my drive home.

Even as I was thinking about listening to the debate, I knew that I was not going to be able to get much out of it. I knew that the candidates would dance around issues, jab at each other, politely highlight their idealist views of where they will state will be after four years of their governorship.

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Sidebar
In 4th grade I made it to the finals of the school spelling bee. I was up first in the 4th-6th grade division. I stepped up to the mic and the moderator informed me the word I would be spelling. She said, "Guv-uh-na." I was incredibly nervous and anxious as I stood at the mic with all eyes on me and proceeded to spell the intended word. "G....O.....V....E...NOR"
End Sidebar

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I knew that the candidates would not really give me any information on what they actually planned on doing in office. However, I had no idea what any of their stances were and wanted to at least have something to consider when I decided who I would cast my vote for.

I flicked on the radio and switched to my college radio station to listen to the broadcast. To my delight, there were two candidates who were not of the main political parties. I knew that would mix things up a little bit, but I will go into that more later. The main players in this debate were Jon Corzine (Democrat) and Doug Forrester (Republican). There was also a Libertarian (Jeffery Pawlowski) and an Independent who I can't remember his name.

The debate started up with Corzine and Forrester doing exactly what I expected for the most part. Forrester was especially vicious, in a subtle way, in his attacks of Corzine. It seemed like every other question Forrester would use the phrase, "Jon Corzine and that cast of characters he has supported in Trenton," he would then disparage their actions. Corzine generally avoided the mud slinging with one exception. The Independent candidates did their best to compete with Corzine and Forrester however, it is of course an uphill battle against the two main parties' candidates.
The first highlight of the night for me was the third question, which began with a lovely qualifier, "Without mentioning any of the other candidates, Mention a time in your life where you have made a mistake, and looking back what would you do differently if you could?" Forrester was up first and he responded with this gem of a runaround, "I regret spending so much time in politics because I haven't had the time to spend with my family, I wish I could have some of that time back." That isn't exactly what he said, but it was very close. The next three candidates proceeded to paraphrase Forrester's sentiment by informing everyone how important their family is and how much they love their wife.
It was an excellent question in my opinion, and I thought maybe something interesting would come out of it, but I should have known better as the candidates just shot it down to the ground.

It kind of highlights one of the main problems I have with the political process. You end up in these situations where everything a candidate does, says, has done in the past, has said in the past is heavily criticized and scrutinized. This has led to a situation where we get these candidates who offer nothing to the public. They make promises they know they can't keep and refuse to reveal what their actual plans are. John Kerry took this stance towards the end of the last presidential election. He was criticized for flip-flopping on a variety of topics so during the presidential debates he talked about his plans for increasing spending and institute all these different programs but never talked about how he would fund these. It was very obvious that he couldn't fund them and would either raise taxes greatly or scrap all these great plans he talked about.

Candidates who are in the running are essentially gagged from providing anything with substance or else the media circus will bury them before they even finish talking. The irony is the candidates with little chance of competing in the actual election or the only ones who provide any honesty. They tell us exactly what they plan to do, where they stand on social issues. They will speak honestly on their past. They have nothing to lose and offer anything they can that might possibly help them get more votes. However, since they won't win, we as the public are left to choose between Republican A and Democrat B who have been putting their best face on for the past couple months.

It is very much like dating. You meet someone (a woman, for pronoun simplicity)at a bar. You go out with her a couple times. She always has her best face on and is extremely nice. After a couple of months you take the plunge and move in together. Now, she isn't so nice all the time. You see her in the morning, afternoon, and evening, all the time, at her best and at her worst. You realize she isn't the same person you met so many months ago. Sometimes it works out in the end and sometimes it doesn't.

Politics is the same way. You meet a candidate, you date for a couple months where they always put on their best face. Eventually you elect that candidate. Now you have to see all of them, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and you realize this isn't the person you thought you were electing. Unfortunately, that is how things are in the political world, and I really don't see things changing anytime soon.

Upcoming political topics: Corruption and Pay to Play, and Free Speech in the Digital World