New Jerseyans aren’t always civil, but it’s still possible for a liberal Democrat and a conservative Republican to have a rational and pleasant conversation about politics in the state. Dan Bryan is a former senior advisor to Gov. Phil Murphy and is now the owner of his own public affairs firm, and Alex Wilkes is an attorney and former executive director of America Rising PAC who advises Republican candidates in New Jersey and across the nation, including the New Jersey GOP. Dan and Alex are both experienced strategists who are currently in the room where high-level decisions are made. They will get together weekly with New Jersey Globe editor David Wildstein to discuss politics and issues. (Editor’s note: David Wildstein is on vacation, and this week’s questions come from New Jersey Globe Washington reporter Joey Fox.)
New Jersey Globe: Rep. Bill Pascrell died on Wednesday at the age of 87 after a scrappy and vibrant political career. Do they still make politicians like him anymore?
Dan Bryan: Bill Pascrell lived a full life. As a husband, father, grandfather, Mayor, Congressman, and Trump critic, he never half assed anything. He was a fighter, first and foremost. He didn’t seem happy unless he was standing up to someone, throwing punches on behalf of a person, group, or cause worth standing up for. Luckily for him, he never seemed to lack for targets.
Much has been said about Congressman Pascrell’s criticism of Donald Trump. To me, it was a natural extension of his personality. He wouldn’t have been able to stomach a man like Donald Trump in the White House without calling out his every lie, his every hypocrisy, with that trademark grit and perseverance. He called out a bully because he always called out bullies, plain and simple.
May we all live a long life filled with the passion, the authenticity, and the tenacity of Bill Pascrell. Rest in peace, Congressman, and may your family be comforted by knowing just how lucky they were to have you in their lives.
Alex Wilkes: I think what strikes me when reading about Bill Pascrell’s death is when I see the year of his birth: 1937.
Think for a moment about what he – and others of his generation – have seen in their lifetimes. American ingenuity, foreign conflicts, political upheaval, countercultural movements, technological advances – what a time to have lived. I marvel about the fact that my own grandfather, who passed last year, delivered milk by horse and cart as a child, but would later communicate with his grandchildren and great grandchildren on an Apple Watch.
My point is that we’re losing a whole generation and the institutional knowledge that comes with them. With public officials, we’re lucky to have a running record of their thoughts and opinions. I think with respect to family and friends the greatest service we could do for future generations is to have them record their memories in some way. I’ve sat with my grandparents and gone through Ancestry family trees to take notes (something I should do more). I’ll also give an unpaid plug for a service called Storyworth, which allows seniors to answer questions (some light, others more complex) using a very simple email format that the company then turns into a summary.
These conversations can be hard, but it’s important for our generation to start preserving these small, but meaningful parts of our history.
NJ Globe: It’s normally basic decency to wait a little while before launching a campaign for a deceased politician’s seat, but Democrats in Pascrell’s 9th district didn’t have that luxury, since the convention to decide on a new nominee has to take place by August 29. What’s your advice for the Democratic hopefuls navigating such a bizarre week-long campaign?
Alex: The Democrats clearly love rushed, improvised undemocratic means of selecting leaders, so I suspect this is going to be hashed out in yet another back room without the bother of seeking voters’ opinions!
Dan: It’s an incredibly difficult balance. I think everyone that has announced in the 9th District has done so out of basic political necessity, not out of disrespect or callousness. There’s six days to go, and a whole lot needs to happen over the next week. We can mourn the Congressman’s passing and go through this process at the same time – they are not incongruous.
NJ Globe: On Tuesday, disgraced Senator Bob Menendez officially resigned from the Senate, having ended his independent re-election campaign last week. Do you think history will look at all kindly on the senator and his accomplishments, or will this last humiliating year be the sum of Menendez’s legacy?
Dan: I started my career in Hudson County. Everyone knew Bob Menendez as an effective, hard nosed, fearsome individual who knew how to deliver for New Jersey. He was a “pothole Senator,” one that flew so close to the ground that he knew as much about local politics as the Mayors and County Commissioners.
After Superstorm Sandy, Senator Menendez rose to the occasion and delivered billions of dollars in funding for New Jersey. When Hoboken Mayor Zimmer and I went to DC to advocate for hundreds of millions of dollars in resiliency funding, the first thing everyone asked, from other electeds to Obama administration officials, was “Where’s Bob on this?”
Unfortunately, this will all be lost to history given the Senator’s personal demons. I do think he’ll largely be remembered for gold bars, private jets, and five star hotels in Paris rather than his accomplishments in the Senate.
Alex: Bob will be remembered in the immediate future for exchanging gold bars and BarcaLoungers for state secrets, but history always tells a more complex story. I think it’s incumbent upon Dan to secure the rights for the Netflix biopic of the one-time King of Hudson County. Do it for us, Dan.
NJ Globe: With the Democratic National Convention now over, give me your reviews of the three convention addresses we’ve gotten from New Jersey electeds over the past month: Andy Kim and Cory Booker at the DNC, and Jeff Van Drew at the RNC. (Bonus points if you say something positive about one of the speakers who isn’t from your party.)
Alex: Ok, so I’m going to rank Rep. Jeff Van Drew first, and not just because I’m a Republican. I picked him because Van Drew had a story to tell that was consonant with many of the RNC Convention themes: expanding the GOP, giving voice to the forgotten men and women (like the kind who live in a congressional district between the turnpike and a bridge), etc. Many of the DNC speakers, by contrast, seemed to have been chosen to check a political box. Who else gave ordinary victims of crime and addiction as a result of our open border the stage in prime time? The DNC featured more millionaires and billionaires shamelessly asking us to pay more than average voters!
Second, I’ll go with Andy Kim, whose own mythology has become so ridiculous and out-of-control that if we had a press corps with a pulse, he would’ve been run out of office years ago. First, he often speaks of his “service” to the country. When he says that, he means civil service, but the average voter would be forgiven for thinking he means time spent in the military. He and Tim Walz have apparently fought as comrades in arms on the battlefields of their own imaginations! January 6th was a despicable day, but I would be absolutely mortified trying to make myself the symbol of the event for holding a garbage bag and then donating my suit to the Smithsonian. I mean for the love of God, they projected the image on the screens at the DNC like it was the Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima. It is unwatchable.
And ah, Cory. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride of the Democratic Party. Old Sparty’s speech felt like what would come out if you input “sunshine,” “butterflies,” “rainbows,” and “democracy” into Chat GPT. It feels like most of the Party has caught onto the fact that Cory is a silly, unserious, and completely vacuous messenger, but that he can be pacified with a national stage for one brief moment every four years.
Dan: To state the obvious, Jeff Van Drew’s strength is not public speaking. His delivery was stiff and unnatural, and it felt very much like he was reading to the audience rather than having a conversation with them. He’s a strong politician in many ways, and I understand the appeal of giving a former Democrat a speaking role, but that didn’t make his five minutes any easier to watch.
Cory Booker simply did what Cory Booker always does – he dazzled millions of American with his proprietary blend of charisma, rhetorical flourish, passion, and joy. Although he’s been doing this for over two decades in New Jersey, he still inspires and excites in these moments. New Jersey is incredibly lucky to have him representing our state.
Andy Kim did what many Democrats in Chicago weren’t able to achieve: he kept his remarks short and sweet. He played his greatest hits, which went over well in the room. If the idea was to get him more exposure with the Democratic base ahead of November’s general election, it’s safe to say that mission was accomplished.
The New Jersey moment of the DNC, though, may have been Governor Murphy’s viral roll call. It’s been blanketing the social media apps that people twenty years younger than I use, and it will likely have garnered more eyeballs when all is said and done than any of the speeches above. We are living in a totally new media ecosphere, one in which you can thrive by finding smart opportunities to sacrifice poll-tested messaging for authenticity.