Ronald Reagan

Would Ronald Reagan, the former movie actor who had been Governor of California for just two years, have beaten Hubert Humphrey in the 1968 presidential election – if Republicans had nominated him?   The Reagan of the late 1960’s was perceived differently than he was when he was elected President in 1980 – he was viewed as Barry Goldwater’s guy, a conservative that was not necessarily in line with the Clifford Case wing of the New Jersey GOP.  In 1969, Reagan came to Millburn to headline a fundraiser for GOP gubernatorial candidate William Cahill on the same day the campaign announced key Democratic endorsements in Hudson County.  Cahill made only a brief appearance at the Reagan event, and headed instead for Democrats for Cahill events in North Bergen and Jersey.  The endorsements overshadowed Reagan’s visit.

A quick look at several old New Jersey presidential polls taken (mostly) in September:

DENVER - Republicans who feel that New Jersey just might be winnable for John McCain sometimes look back to 1984, when Ronald Reagan carried Elizabeth over Walter Mondale.

Back then, Elizabeth Mayor Thomas Dunn endorsed Reagan. J. Christian Bollwage, then a Councilman, was there when Reagan held a rally in town - his first public appearance since being shot, he said.

"I said to him 'President Reagan, we're all Democrats here!' He said 'You should jump in. The water's fine."

But since Reagan's visit the demographics of this town have shifted significantly, with a huge influx of Hispanic immigrants. Its black vote, expected to go heavily for Obama, remains unchanged, while the working-class white "Reagan Democrats" are fewer.

During a gubernatorial debate in 2005, then-U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine was asked if he supported lowering the drinking age to 18.

"I think it is 18, isn't it?", he answered. Once told that it's actually 21, he added, perhaps recalling the Vietnam-era-type argument that succeeded in lowering the drinking age: "It's good enough to go and put your life on the line in the United States Army in Iraq or Afghanistan ... I don't have a problem with the 18-year-old (unintelligible)."

It was a moment of honesty from a politician, erased minutes after the debate when his handlers made him correct the "gaffe." Of course, he actually opposed -- no, really opposed -- a drinking age of 18.

Though almost as politically unpopular as self-serve gas, Corzine had it right the first time. Our current policy is rife with contradictions.

Linden Mayor Richard Gerbounka has endorsed John McCain for President, but declined to say who he would support for Congress in the hotly contested seventh district race between Democrat Linda Stender and Republican Leonard Lance.  Part of Linden is in the seventh.  Gerbounka was a Democratic Councilman until launching an Independent bid to unseat longtime Mayor John Gregorio in 2006.

Back in 1984, another Democratic Mayor from Union County endorsed a GOP presidential candidate.  In a much heralded announcement, Ronald Reagan won the backing of Thomas Dunn, who spent 28 years as the Mayor of Elizabeth.  That year, Reagan beat Walter Mondale in Elizabeth by nearly 4,000 votes, 56%-44%.  Reagan carried Linden by slightly less than 2,000 votes, also 56%-44%.  In other Democratic Union County strongholds, Reagan won Rahway by almost 2,000 votes (58%-42%), but lost Plainfield by almost 7,000 votes, 72%-28%.  But Reagan had no coattails: Democrat Bill Bradley, seeking a second term in the United States Senate, carried Elizabeth, Linden, Rahway and Plainfield by wide margins.

In New Jersey, incumbent United States Senators have rarely faced competitive primary challenges, and the only incumbent Senator to lose a primary was Clifford Case, a four-term Republican who lost 50.7%-49.3% to conservative Jeffrey Bell, a former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan’s 1976 presidential campaign.  Case had faced primary challenges from the right before: Robert Morris, who had been Chief Counsel for Senate Internal Security Subcommittee headed by Joseph McCarthy, won 33% in 1960; and James Walter Ralph, a Bergen County physician, received 30% in 1972.

Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson doesn’t like where the Republican U.S. Senate primary appears to be going.

Noting the attacks lobbed against Anne Evans Estabrook by the rival campaigns of Murray Sabrin and State Sen. Joseph Pennacchio, Wilson said that the campaigns so far are very close to violating Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment: "Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican."

“I’m Switzerland here, and I’m beginning to think I need to do what I did in 2005 with all the gubernatorial candidates: invite them to have a discussion about this campaign,” he said. “It’s ok to point out differences, but there’s no reason to get personal about it or ascribe motivations to people. Fight as hard as you can, but fight fairly.”