by Elaine Durbach
NJJN Bureau Chief/Central

September 18, 2008

Debating at the Jewish Community Center of Central New Jersey, candidates for the Seventh Congressional District seat appeared to agree on a number of issues but often differed sharply on how to achieve their goals.

State Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Dist. 23) and Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Dist. 22) took to the microphones at the JCC in Scotch Plains on Sept. 16 for the first debate in the hotly contested race for the seat being vacated by Republican Mike Ferguson.

The encounter drew around 400 people — more than the venue could hold.

On a number of issues, the two were in agreement. Both expressed emphatic support for Israel, the need for energy independence, ending the genocide in Darfur, and reforming health care. Both also supported sustaining funding for NORCs — Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities — an initiative of the Jewish community for which Ferguson fought to get federal grants.

Stender said she believed the war in Iraq has helped escalate the menace posed by Iran, putting Israel in greater danger. She said she was in favor of every diplomatic and economic tactic available to curb the Iranian threat and to bring about peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Lance said he favored diplomatic contact with Iran but at the foreign ministry or State Department level, not between heads of state. Such top-level contact, he said, would only serve to enhance the standing of a “thug” like President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

With regard to NORC funding, he said he would demand that it come through transparent procedures and not through earmarks — as it has in the past.

Lance focused most on the $10 trillion national debt. He described himself as a fiscal conservative with a proven track record of opposing irresponsible spending. Though a supporter of the American invasion of Iraq and of the 2007 surge, he distanced himself from the Bush administration. “I have always voted my conscience and will do so again in Washington,” he said.

He also placed heavy emphasis on the need for affordable health care.

Stender said that becoming a grandmother recently has sharpened her determination to do everything she can to ensure a better future for the country.

“The fact of the matter is that the party of my opponent has put us in this mess, and this so-called moderate has been part of it,” she said. She noted that President Bush was scheduled to attend private fund-raiser for Lance and District 3 congressional hopeful Chris Myers at a private home in Colts Neck on Sept. 22.

Stender said that the war in Iraq has been the major cause of the soaring debt and promised that she would champion the soonest possible safe and orderly withdrawal of American troops. Voters have a choice, she said, between “more of the same” or opting for change, to build a better future.

The debate, however, was considerably more civil than the television ads the two have been running. In a blitz heavily backed by the Democratic National Committee, Stender has portrayed Lance as a Bush ally. His somewhat sparser ads riff off the old rhyme used four years ago by Ferguson’s campaign, dubbing her a “spender.”

At the debate, they reiterated those themes, but in the politest terms.

The JCC event was sponsored by 15 synagogues and Jewish community organizations, drawn from a wide district that includes Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset, and Union counties.

Before the event, a group of banner-hoisting Stender supporters gathered on the lawn in front of the JCC. They were persuaded to move away from the premises by the police and center administrators. Lou Beckerman, cochair of the host group, the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Central NJ, explained afterward that both sides had been asked to avoid any such demonstrations.

With Rabbi Doug Sagal of Temple Emanu-El in Westfield serving as moderator, the debate featured questions put to the candidates by eight members of the local Jewish communities Dave Golush, June Fischer, Marcy Lazar, Jared Silverman, Eleanor Rubin, Rachel Lipschutz, Jon Ulanet, and Elyse Deutsch.

Jared Silverman of West Orange, one of the questioners, is public affairs chair for the Community Relations Committee of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ.

“Any such debate is productive,” he said. “If it helps educate the public, it’s a good thing. Whether minds were changed is a different thing.”

He had asked the question about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and what the United States should do to contain its support for terrorist groups like Hizbullah and Hamas.

Beckerman said he was pleased by the turnout and what it indicates about voter involvement. “There is so much interest this year, and I think it was very useful to see the contestants in person like this,” he said.

In the audience were a number of students from the Scotch Plains/Fanwood High School. Ashley De Shields, 17, was there with Melia Gorscak, a fellow student from her advanced placement government and politics class, and Michelle Carroll, a self-described political junkie who has worked for both candidates at different times.

The teens said they had leapt at the chance to hear a political debate in person and found it interesting, but not as lively as they expected.

“I expected to hear more about local issues.” Ashley said. “Almost everything they talked about was the same as we’re hearing from the presidential candidates. But then this district has such different communities, from pretty wealthy to poor, I suppose it’s hard to talk about specifics in such a short amount of time.

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