Reed Gusciora

Cites views and lack of experience as cause for concern

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton): Politicker photo

DENVER - The deep freeze feelings Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) fiercest supporters have reserved for the Obama-Biden ticket simply contributes to the convention’s drama, acknowledged Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton), a member of the New Jersey delegation.

People have deep-seated feelings this year, and it’s not always that way.

"I wasn’t at the 2004 convention, but I can’t imagine people getting as excited then as they are now," said Gusciora. "I just can’t imagine what the mood would have been like for John Kerry."

Maybe not everyone is ready to run straight to the barricade for Obama-Biden, but there’s a thrill in the sense of the unknown at this Democratic National Convention; white-knuckle suspense over whether the party will emerge truly unified.

The selection of Sam Nunn as a vice presidential candidate could cost Barack Obama the support of gay voters: Getty Images Photo
The leader of the state’s largest gay rights organization and a Clinton delegate to next week’s Democratic National Convention says that the nomination of former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) for Vice President would stop him from voting for Barack Obama.

“If Barack Obama were to choose Sam Nunn as his running mate, the highest placed office on the ballot for which I would cast a vote would be U.S. Senate,” said Garden State Equality Chairman Steven Goldstein, who will attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver next week.

Nunn’s name has been floated as a potential running mate for Democratic candidates during most elections over the last two decades, and while this year is no exception, he’s not considered a likely pick. Still, some Democrats see the “moderate-to-conservative” Nunn, who left office in 1997, as a way to appeal to groups that traditionally vote Republican.

New Jersey Democrats have already begun a process of filling Assembly Deputy Speaker Neil Cohen’s position as a Barack Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver next month. Cohen, an early Obama supporter, is an At-Large Obama delegate. The logical choice to replace Cohen is Reed Gusciora, a veteran Assemblyman from Mercer County who is the first Alternate for Obama. Democratic National Committee rules require representation from Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) delegates, and Gusciora is one of two openly gay member of the Obama delegation. Hillary Clinton’s campaign has six LGBT delegates.

Makes District Office Drop-Off Site for Charity

PRINCETON - Shirley Kauffman, former president of the Princeton Community Democratic Organization, died Monday at 82 after a long battle with cancer.

"Shirley was an outstanding member of the community and will be greatly missed," PCDO President Jenny Crumiller said in an email to Democrats. "For many years she was the backbone of the PCDO."

Democrats in Princeton knew Kauffman as a hard-nosed veteran of political campaigns and activist for progressive causes.

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton) worked with Kauffman on the late Barbara Boggs Sigmund’s Democratic Primary race for governor in 1989, when Sigmund ran against Alan Karcher and eventual winner Jim Florio.

Anne Martindell (1914-2008) served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1974 to 1977.Former State Sen. Anne Clark Martindell, a Democrat who won an upset victory in a solidly Republican legislative district in 1973 and went on to become the United States Ambassador to New Zealand, passed away on Wednesday.  She was 93.

Martindell became involved in politics in 1968 when her brother, Blair Clark, was the campaign manager for Eugene McCarthy’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.  She ran for State Senator in a Hunterdon County-based district that included Princeton, Pennington and the Hopewells, and narrowly defeated incumbent Bill Schluter in 1973, when Watergate caused Republicans to lose ten State Senate seats. 

She left the Senate in 1977 when President Jimmy Carter appointed her to serve as an Ambassador.  Her Senate seat was won by Republican Walter Foran.

Cites California as Model for Legislative Initiative

CRUZ-PEREZ/MORIARTY/GUSCIORA/COHEN CONSUMER ELECTRONICS LEMON LAW ADVANCES

Measure Would Regulate Warranties, Extended Warranties, Service Contracts for Electronics

(TRENTON) - The Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee today released legislation Assembly members Nilsa Cruz-Perez, Paul D. Moriarty, Reed Gusciora, and Neil M. Cohen sponsored to extend the consumer protections of the state's stringent automotive lemon law to consumer-electronic products such as televisions, iPods, and home entertainment systems.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), right, campaigns in Princeton on Saturday with U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12). 

PRINCETON - The crowds flowed onto Nassau Street for Communiversity Day and in their midst at one time or another moved two politicians, intent on making contact with voters.

Cruising through the swarm of people at the blocked-off intersection of Nassau and Witherspoon, U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) projected the image of a relentless white-haired pavement-pounder and man of the people. Hailing him as their 84-year old wonder, the senator’s handlers say by contrast his underdog rival’s frequent public appearances belie desperate backroom and courtroom campaign machinations.

As U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1) faces a decision tomorrow in his challenge of statewide balloting procedure, Lautenberg shakes his head at his younger rival’s strategy.

“If he persists in staying in court, it tells you what he thinks about campaigning,” said the senator in between embraces and hand shakes on Nassau Street. “He’d rather campaign in the courtroom than on the streets.”