by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

October 9, 2008

A local coordinator for Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign met with students at the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston this week, emphasizing the Republican candidate’s allegiance to Israel and his years of experience in Washington.

“Sen. McCain is the kind of guy who’s going to get into office in a time that is very difficult,” said Leslie Lombardy, an attorney who serves as Essex County coordinator for McCain-Palin 2008. “He’s going to pick it up and he’s going run with it and he’s going to take care of us.”

Lombardy spoke to about 225 students at the school on Oct. 6. The event was the second in a series of talks there by candidates’ surrogates. Last May, Mark Alexander of Montclair, an adviser to Sen. Barack Obama and a professor at Seton Hall Law School, addressed the students.

With broad strokes, Lombardy covered McCain’s basic positions on the economy, the war in Iraq, Israel, energy, and health care.

‘These are very well informed and thoughtful young adults.... They know what’s going on and they’re going to be prepared when they come out into the real world.’

She also discussed her own experience working with McCain. She served twice as staff assistant in the Office of the Majority Staff Director of the Senate Commerce Committee, both times while McCain was chairing the committee. Her latest stint was January-May 2000.

“He’s kind, caring, and supportive of his staff,” she said. “If you have an image in your mind of what a campaign staffer looks like — with the cell phone and the Blackberry and feeding the ego and taking care of your candidate — we didn’t have any of that back then. It just was not like that in Sen. McCain’s office. You were down-to-earth, you were low-key, you were there to serve the country, and that was it.”

She also offered glimpses into McCain’s personality.

“He’s actually a very funny guy; he has a really good sense of humor. He likes to tease people.”

Lombardy then turned to policies, explaining McCain’s calls for tax cuts in terms relevant to the young people in the audience.

“When you get your first apartment and you don’t have the money you thought you did because the government took it, it will wake you up,” Lombardy said. “You get so much taken out of your pocket. It goes to Washington and you never see it again and that’s not really fair. And Sen. McCain wants to cut down on that.”

In the question-and-answer session following her talk, students demonstrated their knowledge and interest in the issues at the heart of the election. Most of the questioners appeared to challenge McCain, similar to the cross-examination Alexander faced when he took questions in the spring.

Jesse Marcus, 17, of West Orange asked, “How does John McCain expect to pay back the national debt from the war and the economic crisis without raising taxes?”

Other students challenged Lombardy on the huge costs of the Iraq war, asked for McCain’s views on the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, and noted the presence of lobbyists in McCain’s campaign despite his pledge to change the culture of politics-as-usual in Washington.

Rudy Pollack, 17, of Passaic asked, “We spent billions of dollars to destroy [Iraq] and now we’re spending billions of dollars to rebuild it. And that’s money we can’t afford. We can’t even build schools, and so many people in this country are poor and we’re not helping them out. What do you think of that?”

Jonathan Pascheles, 14, of Livingston, asked, “Congress just passed a $700 billion bailout. Does John McCain think that’s going to cause inflation, and if he does, what is he going to do about it?”

Michael Kinel, 16, of Tenafly commented, “You said before that John McCain is a straight shooter. I find it hard to believe when he says he vows to fight the special interests and the lobbyists, when he has 59 lobbyists on his campaign raising money.”

Lombardy welcomed the challenging questions, responding with answers reflecting the Republican Party platform.

For example, in response to Pollack, she said, “I would disagree with your assessment that we spent billions of dollars to destroy the country. That was never our goal. We went in there to liberate Iraq and to keep stability and freedom and peace in the Middle East.

“I know it’s a lot of money,” she said. “It’s very difficult to stomach that and to see the images of people dying and innocent people who didn’t deserve that.”

Referring to McCain’s military history, she said, “He understands the price of war certainly better than any candidate. He knows how bad it is. As president he would come in and somehow rein in spending in the Defense Department and get rid of extra stuff we don’t need while making sure people who have fought for us are taken care of.

“Unfortunately,” Lombardy continued, “we do have to make sure we spend money in Iraq to make sure it’s stable. Because what’s good down there is good for the rest of the world…. And when we come back, we’re going to go ahead and take care of the people in this country.”

Rabbi Eliezer Rubin, Kushner’s rosh yeshiva and high school principal, was impressed with the students’ questions. “These kids are so incredibly versed in this campaign,” he said.

“These are very well informed and thoughtful young adults,” agreed Lombardy. “I think it bodes well for this country and the future of this country when you come in on a Monday morning and still get some great questions from them. That means they know what’s going on and they’re going to be prepared when they come out into the real world.”

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