June 5, 2005 .O.P. Voters in New Jersey Do Not Relish Fight to Come
By David Chen
NEW YORK TIMES
DENVILLE, N.J. - Joanne Palzer describes herself as the quintessential "red person in a blue state." And as someone who feels as if she is living under the thumb of a "politburo" in the "People's Republic of New Jersey," she shares the same electoral blood type as Bret D. Schundler, the conservative former mayor of Jersey City.
But on Tuesday, she may vote not for Mr. Schundler, but for Douglas R. Forrester, the former mayor of West Windsor, in the Republican primary for governor. Not because she is enthusiastic about him - she is not. Not because she thinks that his proposal to reduce property taxes represents a magic bullet - she does not think it does. Instead, she believes that Mr. Forrester will work better with the Republican establishment to fight the good uphill fight against Senator Jon S. Corzine, a Democrat who faces token opposition in the primary.
"He doesn't have any charisma, but Corzine has even less," said Ms. Palzer, who runs an executive recruiting company in Morris Plains. "So between Mr. Bland and Mr. Bland, I think Forrester has more of a chance, if anybody does."
Given the ethical problems that have plagued New Jersey's Democrats for the last few years, it may seem odd that enthusiasm for Mr. Forrester or the six other Republican candidates appears to be lukewarm, even in the Republican stronghold of Morris County.
But if interviews with more than two dozen independents and Republicans here are any indication, the lack of passion can be explained, in part, by the prospect of facing of Mr. Corzine and his personal fortune in the general election. It also does not help, these voters say, that a Republican governor would, in all likelihood, be playing shorthanded against the Democratic-controlled Legislature.
These voters want a governor with enough integrity and vision to reduce property taxes, root out corruption and maybe alleviate the crush of traffic and development.
All without doing anything embarrassing or illegal, of course.
"Trust is a big thing," said Mark Patscher, an advertising executive with an auto sales Web site, who was getting a cup of coffee at a Starbucks here. A registered independent, he voted for James E. McGreevey in 2001 and is leaning toward Mr. Forrester on Tuesday, but will also consider Mr. Corzine in November. "You don't want to be embarrassed. Jersey gets enough fun poked at it."
In terms of politics, Denville, an upper-middle-class township with a population of 16,000, could function as a Republican laboratory.
It has not elected a Democrat to the Township Council since 1980. It has backed Republicans running for state and national office by huge margins: two to one for former Representative Bob Franks over Mr. Corzine in the 2000 Senate race; and three to two, for President Bush in 2004, Mr. Forrester in the 2002 Senate race and Mr. Schundler in the 2001 governor's race.
Those who said that they like Mr. Forrester say that they have been impressed by his proposal - promoted in a steady stream of television advertisements - to cut property taxes by 30 percent over three years. A few also said that they thought that Mr. Forrester's business experience would be a plus, too, both in trying to tame a budget that they said was spiraling out of control and in asserting political independence.
"He seems to be not tied to politics as the other guys, and I like that he wants to focus on the issues that I care about most: property taxes and the budget," said Bryan Sifert, a financial analyst from Parsippany who was with his 14-month-old daughter, Sara, outside the Denville Dairy, a popular ice cream shop downtown.
When asked about Mr. Forrester's chances of beating Mr. Corzine, Mr. Sifert said: "Forrester is a mini-Corzine, to some extent, and I think it's going to be almost impossible to beat Corzine in the end. But the one way a Republican might have a chance of winning is if people are so fed up with the corruption."
Those who said that they prefer Mr. Schundler like his mayoral experience, especially as a Republican in a heavily Democratic city. They also support his proposal to impose constitutional limits on government spending as the best way to control property taxes. They say that he would bring a maverick's temperament to Trenton, and shake up both Democrats and Republicans alike.
"Any Republican that can get elected in Jersey City had to do something right," said Charles Nestor, a painting contractor who was practicing soccer with his son at Gardner Field, where baseball diamonds and soccer fields abound.
Hardly anyone mentioned Mr. Schundler's credentials as a social conservative as a motivating factor. But one factor that may hurt Mr. Schundler is the way he confronted Mr. Forrester during a Memorial Day event in Bergenfield, where he accused Mr. Forrester of distorting Mr. Schundler's record.
"It was very uncool," said Deborah Clewell, a health care consultant from Flemington, who was so turned off by the confrontation that she might switch her vote from Mr. Schundler to Todd R. Caliguire, a former Bergen County freeholder. Ms. Clewell said Mr. Caliguire's past as a policy adviser to former Gov. Thomas H. Kean was a point in his favor.
Other than Mr. Caliguire, the only other candidate who was mentioned by those interviewed was John J. Murphy, a Morris County freeholder. And while nearly everyone had a favorable opinion of Mr. Murphy, citing what they called his dynamism and charisma, most did not believe that he had enough seasoning for the job.
But at every turn, the name, money and record of Mr. Corzine loomed. Some people, like Matthew Dreisbach, a pressman who was watching two of his five sons play in the Little League playoffs here on Thursday, said that Mr. Corzine was too "elite" and too "liberal" and that he had bought his Senate seat.
Others, like Jim and Carol Geffken, of Sandyston, N.J., said that while they were leaning toward Mr. Forrester in the primary, they would not rule out Mr. Corzine in November, in part because Mr. Corzine served in the Marine Corps Reserve.
But given their preferences, they would have liked to have seen someone else be in the mix. Mr. Geffken, a former marine and a retired police officer, said that the state needed "a fresh face" who "doesn't seem to be as polluted or tampered as the others."
He said that fresh face would be the man now running the state, acting Gov. Richard B. Codey.
