Like many others considering their choices in the Super Tuesday primaries, Noah Esterkin, visiting with his grandparents, Iris and Gene Esterkin, said he still needs to do more thinking. Photo by Elaine Durbach
January 31, 2008
In the middle of the hubbub of Super Sunday on Jan. 27, people were thinking ahead to another much publicized coming-together, so-called Super Tuesday, on Feb. 5.
The topic of the multi-state presidential primary came up much more often than that other “Super” — the Super Bowl, taking place two days before the primaries and surely with better advertisements.
But few of those participating in the major annual fund-raiser for the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey were clear about their choice for the intra-party showdown. Many agreed that it’s one of the most interesting political seasons in years, but asked about choices, most said, “I haven’t decided yet,” “I keep changing my mind,” or “I’ll see how I feel on the day.”
A number of self-described Democrats said the bickering between the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had muddied the water for them. Republicans joining the discussion nodded with evident pleasure at this division, but when asked about their own choices, admitted to being just as undecided.
One Democrat who wasn’t undecided was Lou Beckerman of Scotch Plains, cochair of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey.
“I’m for Hillary,” he said, speaking for himself. “It’s time we had a woman president.”
But as the discussion went on, he agreed with another speaker that Illinois’ Sen. Obama might prove a more unifying candidate.
Though some mentioned support for Israel as a defining factor, each speaker seemed comfortable that their favorite candidates are pro-Israel. The economy came up more than the issue of security, though a few people got intense talking about the danger posed by radical Islam.
“I’m a Giuliani fan — I always have been, ever since 9/11, but I don’t think he stands a chance,” said a woman who asked that her name not be mentioned. She said she had recently returned from her retirement home in Florida, where the Republican former mayor of New York had been campaigning all month. She added about two other Republican candidates, “I could never vote for Mitt Romney, but maybe John McCain wouldn’t be so bad.”
Noah Esterkin, 22, of Minnesota, is a student at New York University’s Stern School of Business; he was visiting his grandparents, Iris and Gene Esterkin, longtime Warren residents and federation activists. Noah said his younger sister is a passionate Obama supporter and worked on Obama’s successful Iowa campaign, but he and his father lean more to the Republicans.
“I still don’t know who I’d vote for,” he said. “I haven’t given it enough thought.”
Setting a welcome example of bipartisan good will, Democratic Assemblywoman Linda Stender (Dist. 22) and Republican Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (Dist. 21) got into an amiable discussion as they completed their respective calls to ask for Super Sunday pledges, but they sidestepped questions about their primary preferences, and those around them were too polite to push the subject.
At other places in the area, discussions about the primary seemed just as subject to flux and change. At the South Mountain Health Care and Rehabilitation Center in Vauxhall on Jan. 25, patients declared themselves undecided, though — understandably in that setting — health care came up as a defining issue, trumping the war in Iraq or the economy.
I haven’t decided yet who I want to vote for,” said Jackie Herships, a South Orange publicist currently staying at the center while she recovers from surgery on her ankle, “but having to deal with all these questions about insurance and coverage has been terrifying. It’s really made me wake up and appreciate how important it is that we have someone in the White House who will sort out this mess. I might go for [Democrat] John Edwards just because he’s the only one with a really clear health care plan.”