District 39 debate recap...

I wasn't planning on writing about the District 39 debate as per one of my other articles, we must vote for Republicans this year. Whether or not one of the Democrats has a different view independently, it is the party that cannot retain control of our Assembly or we will never fix the broken Affordable Housing laws.

I must quickly note one point...I haven't a clue why these are labeled as being 'debates.' Even on the national stage, these events wind up being nothing more than communal interviews, which is fine...but I believe debates would be beneficial.

The candidates-

State Senator-

• Democrat Linda Schwager
• Republican Gerald Cardinale (Incumbent)

Assembly-

• Democratic Annie Hausmann
• Democratic Jannie Chung
• Republican Robert Auth (Incumbent)
• Republican Holly Schepisi (Incumbent)

Democratic Annie Hausmann has a certain passion in her voice where you can tell she has a genuine interest in helping her community. Democratic Jannie Chung also has a clear passion for her community, as well. However, both of these candidates, in my view, presented themselves as ill-prepared to represent the 39th District at the state level. Passion is one thing and is of the utmost importance...but being prepared to fight is another. By reading their opening statements and canned responses to other questions off of a piece of paper, they demonstrated a lack of leadership ability and strength as an orator or debater- which is baffling as they are both lawyers. These opening statements were 30-seconds...30-SECONDS!!! And they needed to read them??? With Candidate Chung, specifically, I was trying to come up with an analogy to describe how she came across...the best I could come up with is that in her opening statement, she sounded like she was reading a speech in front of a class of college graduates.

Democrat Linda Schwager was, BY FAR, the worst performer of the night. She was a walking cliché. Here are some of her one-liners that lack substance, meaning, originality, or any amount of thought behind them. She must be friends with Cory Booker. Schwager‘s one-liners included trigger words that are supposed to make you feel comfortable and buy into her rhetoric-

"I want our voices heard in Trenton." Then get a bullhorn and stand just inside the city's border and start speaking. This means, nothing. She continued by stating "I will be an advocate for all residents in our district." An advocate for what? And exactly how can someone advocate for everyone? If everyone agreed to the same things, we wouldnt need advocates.

Let's also remember that disagreeing with others is a vital component of a democracy. I am not a fan of Gerald Cardinale's, nor was I last night...but of the two, I'd rather have him given the fact he has decent relationships with representatives in both of the major parties.

Robert Auth almost seemed like the odd man out, which I actually mean as a positive. Based on the context of the event, it was clear that Hausmann, Chung, and Schwager had it in for Holly Schepisi.

Total transparency here...I have spoken with Schepisi more than any of the other candidates but rarely about her opponents. As the incumbent, my conversations with her have typically centered on current legislation/events. Noting that, I do not understand how anyone, with even the slightest sense of objectivity, could even attempt to disagree that Schepisi won the debate, single-handily, and by far! She was the most prepared, didn't rely on reading anything and knew her facts. She also stood out as a leader. Her opponents tried to call her out for "doing nothing" about the affordable housing concerns and then proceeded to cite legislation their side has supported...which were created/proposed by Schepisi initially! You get that? They state she's done nothing but agree with what their own party has done...which is what Schepisi proposed. Is your head spinning yet? Mine is. :-)

Over the past few weeks, I have watched as the Democratic candidates for our State Legislature have proceeded to lie and attempt to discredit Schepisi. For example, Schepisi's opponents were very vocal about her missing a vote. They neglected to mention, however, that she was in the Neuro-ICU at the time, having a brain aneurysm removed. But after last night, I started wondering if the Dems were lying or if they (just) never bothered to read more than only headlines.

When discussing gun laws, the Democrats were quick to miscategorize Schepisi's stance. But when discussing current licensing and processing requirements, the Democrats looked ill-informed.

In my view, Schepisi proved herself as being ready for the national stage.