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Green Party of
New Jersey |
| www.politicsnj.com September 6, 2001 OpEd By Greg Laynor |
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Unless
the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC)
miraculously extends the matching funds filing deadline,
Bill Schluter has failed in his quixotic effort to raise
$260,000 and subsequently "qualify" for the
two state-mandated gubernatorial debates. But even with
Senator Schluter in the two official debates, New Jersey
would still be at a loss. While McGreevey and Schundler parade around the state calling each other names and Schluter prays for an ELEC miracle, there is a candidate for governor who is actually talking about real issues that real people care about. His historic candidacy is not ashamed to threaten the two party stranglehold on Trenton. Unfortunately yet unsurprisingly, the Democrats, Republicans, and their news media friends do not want to acknowledge his campaign. The man McGreevey, Schundler, and even Schluter probably don’t want New Jersey voters to know is Jerry Coleman, the former Rahway city council president. Coleman is the candidate of the Green Party, which without any media fanfare has become the third largest political party in New Jersey. Green Party of New Jersey candidates for President, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House all placed third in last year’s election, and the Green Party has strong grassroots organizations in every New Jersey county. According to PoliticsNJ.com, Jerry Coleman is the first African-American to ever run for New Jersey governor as the candidate of an organized independent party. Coleman has over 20 years of government experience and community service. Does he not "qualify" to debate the other candidates for governor? Or are the other candidates afraid of debating the one candidate with a truly progressive message for New Jersey? As the Montclair Time reported, "Coleman’s vision for New Jersey is unique, at times blending nuances of Republican and Democratic ideals or rejecting them flat out." [link: http://njpcgreens.org/colemannews.html] Coleman advocates community-based initiatives for important community concerns that other candidates give only token attention at best. For example, all of the candidates occasionally talk about racial profiling, but only Jerry Coleman is actually working with community activists to bring about the citizen review boards needed to hold police accountable and finally end racial profiling in New Jersey. If Jim McGreevey, Bret Schundler, and Bill Schluter are afraid to participate in a debate with Jerry Coleman, then it is unlikely that New Jersey voters will have the opportunity during this election to hear much-needed serious debate on such critical issues as civil liberties protection, affordable housing, universal health care, workers rights, environmental justice, and election reform. New Jersey news media can set a higher standard for New Jersey politics by working with community groups and educational institutions to organize several public debates in addition to the two official private debates. If media outlets are truly independent and in support of the democratic process, there is no legitimate excuse for them to not challenge Schundler and McGreevey to participate in debates that include not only Bill Schluter but also Jerry Coleman. Greg Laynor is a student and activist in Cherry Hill. |
