Bill Clinton is No Indian: A SHERRY COLUMN

Let me get this straight. Bill Clinton says that its O.K. to lie about sex. He's also
demonstrated that he also believes it is O.K. to lie about bombing a medicine factory in Sudan if you're doing it to distract the country from presidential lying about sex.

But suddenly, right in the middle of the Thanksgiving season, Clinton has introduced some new dishonesty into the pilgrims and leftover turkey scene. He has lied about being an Indian.

U.S. News & World Report reported yesterday that Clinton recently said that his
grandmother's grandmother was a Cherokee. "My grandmother was one-quarter Cherokee," the president claimed.

Long story short, its not true. The Cherokee's keep very good records and his ancestors are not on the tribal rolls and never have been.

If Clinton had really been a Cherokee, he would have known how careful the Cherokees are about the tribal rolls. They've always been sticklers for details and they have a long history of disappointments about presidential lies.

During the Civil War, Cherokee Chief Stand Watie was the last Confederate General to surrender. He kept fighting long after Lee had handed over his sword at Appomattox Courthouse, even though he abhorred the notion of black slavery. But he joined the south because he believed he might get a better deal from the Confederates than he had from the U.S. government who had reneged on all the treaties.

These days, the Cherokees are one of the most sophisticated Native American tribes around. Though they have never been reservation dwellers, they have created an impressive portfolio with their collective holdings and oversee the cradle to college education and social welfare of their children.

There have been some difficulties since Chief Wilma Mankiller stepped down three years ago, but nothing that would put them in such dire straits that they would become confused about who their members are.

Like most native Oklahomans with genuine native ancestry, I've learned to respect the Cherokees and revere their history. But respect and reverence continue to be difficult for Clinton.

Instead, he seems pathetically determined to put something over on people. News reports about the current censure and impeachment negotiations indicate that Clinton remains unwilling to admit that he lied under oath, even though the whole country saw him do it.

He'll probably stick to the "I'm an Indian story," too because its got the kind of spin that has worked very well for him in the past. Its sort of a combination of his old "I feel your pain"refrain and the classic liberal mantra, "some of my best friends are black."

Clinton's claims to a hyper-sensitivity to diversity worked so well for Toni Morrison, the award winning African-American novelist from Princeton, that she dubbed him "the first black president" in "The New Yorker" magazine a few weeks back.

Clinton made up the Indian story because some native Americans criticized his so-called "national race initiative." The Indians complained that Clinton had left them out of his year long panel discussions on racial differences that have accomplished almost nothing.

The race discussions were classic Clinton...all spin and no substance. Conservative experts on racial issues including quotas and affirmative action were barred from participating in the beginning and subjected to public putdowns by some of Clinton's appointees on the panel. Former governor, Tom Kean, was a member of the panel and repeatedly expressed his disappointment at its failure to address anything meaningful.

Clinton plans to trot out the "results" of his race initiative early next year. We can expect some fancy spin on his "I'm an Indian" story then too.

You've got to wonder why any Native American would care that the president failed to include them in his phony racial strategy. Clinton is clearly an example of a white guy who speaks with a forked tongue.

Fri., Nov. 27, 1998

DIGNITYOR DEATH: People split on euthanasia issue

On Sunday night while the videotape rolled featuring Dr. Jack Kevorkian killing another patient on "60 Minutes," I kept thinking about Jim McGreevey.

McGreevey is the Democrat who ran against Gov. Whitman last year. During campaign debates, each time he was asked about his position on partial-birth abortion, he responded with a statement stressing his strong opposition to euthanasia or "doctor-assisted suicide."

Many who know McGreevey, believed the Catholic was never wholly comfortable supporting the grisly, late-term abortion procedure, but was pressured to do so by the realities of Democratic politics. Drawing the line on euthanasia was a way for him to take a moral stand without paying any political price.

If the "right-to-die" crowd gets their way, things could be different next time around. Doctor-assisted suicide is legal, the state health-care system voted to pay for the lethal drugs and the required doctors' visits so that no poor person will be deprived of their state-sanctioned "right to die" just because they can't afford it.

It won't cost taxpayers much. State health officials estimate the costs of the lethal medications at only $45. The law requires a couple of visits to the doctor which the state would have to pay for too, but that's still under $200. Of course, if one of the doctors thought the person didn't really want to die but was only depressed, then the state would be required to pay for counseling.

Oregon's "death for dignity" law provides a clear and simple checkout plan. First, you find a doctor who says you have less than six months to live. Then you present him with a written request for the deadly pills. Next you must request them orally twice, 15 days apart.

Oregon Board of Medical Examiners spokesman, Kathleen Haley, told The Oregonian earlier this week that there is no evidence that the procedure isn't being done "appropriately."

But "death with dignity" critics say that, in fact, would-be suiciders and their families just shop around for a doctor that will give them the lethal medication if they're turned down for any reason the first time. About eight people officially killed themselves since it became legal in Oregon last year, including several whose conditions were "questionable" according to critics.

Assisted-suicide advocates from a group called "Compassion in Dying" say they've got six more folks to add to that list for the next reporting period.

You gotta wonder if Kevorkian would argue that his televised lethal injections of the poor guy with Lou Gehrig's disease was done "appropriately."

The Hemlock Society called Kevorkian's "60 Minutes'" act "courageous."

The County Prosecutor called it an apparent homicide and arrested him on a first-degree murder charge.

Newark Archbishop Theodore McCarrick called it "a breach of the public trust."

Nationally, the country is split right down the middle on the legalization of doctor-assisted suicide, but the issue has drawn little support in New Jersey where almost 40 percent of residents identify themselves as being Catholic.

When the Catholic Conference in Oregon tried to protest state payment for doctor-assisted suicide, Oregon Health Dept. spokesman, Dr. Alan Bates said they were trying to "impose moral feelings on the public."

Like that's a bad thing.

Whitman was in Washington and had no immediate response to Kevorkian on "60 Minutes," but there's no reason to believe that McGreevey has changed his mind. If Kevorkian keeps killing people on TV, his strong stand may get him more points with New Jersey voters next time around.

Friday Nov. 29, 1998

New Jersey's Far Behind in School Choice

Republicans across the country are betting on educational choice as their best chance to restore the public's faith in them. But the New Jersey GOP continues to throw the issue away.

Instead of leading the fight for popular education reforms including school choice and school vouchers, New Jersey Republicans cowtow to the school boards association and the teachers unions to make sure that nothing really changes in New Jersey schools.

They have blocked almost every education reform proposed by the governor of their own party, including such relatively inocuous items as principal tenure, local budget review and moving school related ballots to regular election days. In the current dispute over what is being
called "school choice" in New Jersey, Republicans have been willing to blame their own laziness and the Education Commissioner (a Republican appointee) rather than do anything that might upset
education's special interests. Klagholz has put forth three different sets of school choice plans but they've all been shot down by the legislature.

Last year, when Education Commissioner Leo Klagholz put a laughably modest school plank in the budget which would have allowed a small percentage of students to transfer from one public school
district to another and to have most of their state aid follow them.

This seems like a fairly simple approach to allowing parents to pull their child out of a bad public school and enroll him in a better one without having to move. For low-income parents stuck in urban area where school performance is particularly bad, this seemed like a reasonable option given the lack of any prospects for school vouchers in the state.

Of course, the school boards went ballistic when they saw it because it could mean that bad schools would get less money. Then, demonstrating a spinelessness that is rare even for elected officials, the the Republicans who control education in the legislature denied they had anything to do with the school choice changes.

Most said they hadn't read the legislation they had passed which empowered Klagholz to put a school choice program in place even though it was only a sentence long. Many said privately that it was Klagholz and not the issue of school choice that was the problem. They accused him of being dictatorial and unwilling to work closely enough with school officials to bring change.

The administration says there were over twenty meetings held on school choice in the last year which involved the legislature and that Klagholz changed his program three times to accomodate them.
But the legislators wouldn't go forward with any plan that might upset the educational establishment. Instead, Senate Education Committee Chairman Robert Martin, R-Morris, has come up with something they're calling school choice, but which is obviously misnamed. It should be the New Jersey No-Choice Education Program.
A few students will be allowed to transfer out of their home district to another public school if both districts agree. The state will continue to provide three years continued funding to the schools that students leave even though they have fewer students. Since transfers out will almost always be because school programs are inadequate, this new state funding assures that no school will be held accountable for failing to perform.

The three year funding formula circumvents one of the basic principles of school choice...holding schools responsible for their own successes and failures. It supports the persistant myth that New Jersey's poorly performing schools don't do well because they lack money, despite the
fact that Garden State school leaders have demonstrated repeatedly that bad schools will continue to be bad no matter how much money they're given.

Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler has been the leading voice for school choice and school vouchers for New Jersey. It is one of the issues that helps him repeatedly be re-elected even though he's a Republican, running in an urban and traditionally Democratic area. Schundler is well aware that his constituents, particularly minority and low-income parents, favor school choice programs by about three to one.

Schundler believes that part of the problems with school choice in New Jersey is that it hasn't been sold properly. He envisions a public information campaign that would focus on school choice within districts.

"What if one of your children does well in the local public school and the other does not," Schundler said. "Shouldn't the parent have the option to move that child to a school where he or she has a better chance of succeeding?"

Schundler declines to take side in the current war between the legislature and the governor over schoool choice but he is also frustrated the New Jersey Republicans are failing to embrace the
issue which is seen nationally as his party's strongest message.

"About 70 percent support vouchers in urban areas. That goes down to 50 percent or so in suburuban areas," Schundler says. "But in politics, anything over 50 percent is a win."

Schundler seems to be the only New Jersey Republican that can do the math.

Mon., Nov. 16, 1998

OUT OF SCHOOL: Seton Hall gives Gov cold shoulder

Gov. Whitman is due to be back on the job today after her Friday night appendectomy. She plans to travel to Newark this evening to receive the Sandra Day O'Connor Medal of Honor from students at Seton Hall Law School.

Such ceremonies aren't usually notable on the governor's schedule. As the state's first woman governor and one of the leading female politicians in the country, she is frequently honored for her glass-ceiling-breaking leadership.

But this evening's award has managed to get the governor caught up again in one of those pingpong battles between political conservatives and feminists who seem to attack her no matter which path she takes.

The O'Connor Medal of Honor has also been awarded to Hillary Rodham Clinton, former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan and children's advocate Marianne Wright Edelman, all of whom supported abortion rights for women.

But now that it's Whitman's turn to get the award, Seton Hall, a Catholic university, has decided that abortion rights advocates are not eligible to be honored on their campus.

The award ceremony, originally scheduled for the law school auditorium, has been moved off-campus to the Newark Club. Whitman spokesman Peter McDonough said Whitman is "thrilled to receive the award."

He said that the governor would not punish the students by failing to attend.

However, McDonough quipped that the decision at Seton Hall was "an obvious instance of an inconsistent application of the litmus test."

Whitman opposes litmus tests to determine political loyalty, particularly when it comes to the issue of abortion. Last winter, when conservatives in the GOP tried to cut off funds to her and all other Republicans who supported abortion rights, she beat them back.

This year, in an incredible demonstration of politically turning the other cheek, she campaigned for a number of anti-abortion Republicans throughout the country.

Her efforts didn't help her out with the pro-life crowd. Last week, a spokesman for the nation's largest anti-abortion organization, the American Life League, called Whitman "a hundred percent pro-death."

Sometimes political enemies can help you make political allies, but that doesn't work for Whitman. Feminists who strongly support abortion rights do much to defend Whitman again from right-wing attacks, particularly when compared to the unquestioning support they give other politicians.

Elizabeth Volz, president of the New Jersey National Organization for Women, denounced Seton Hall's decision, but her support of Whitman was only pro-forma.

"Christie Whitman has shown a great deal of courage when it comes to the issue of choice," Volz told The Trentonian. "I respect her for that even when I don't agree with her on other issues."

Volz denied that Whitman's recent criticism of NOW and other feminist groups for failing to censure President Clinton resulted in their tepid response to Seton Hall's rebuff of the state's female and pro-choice governor. But Volz charged that Whitman's criticism of the feminists was politically motivated.

"I think her criticism of NOW was a political move, delivered days before the election," Volz said. "She was catering to the Republican right wing."

Volz's explanation sounds reasonable enough except when you compare it to NOW's official statements explaining that they intend to stand behind Clinton, despite the charges of sexual misconduct and harassment that he faces, largely because of the president's strong support for abortion rights.

Similarly, NOW supported Carol Mosley Braun in her recent unsuccessful re-election attempt despite charges of financial misconduct against her. But NOW did not endorse Whitman in her re-election bid last year because they didn't like her position on welfare.

The Republican right wing may well be picketing against Whitman during tonight's award ceremony. Volz said NOW has no plans to picket in Newark to demonstrate their support for Whitman's pro-abortion rights stand.

Sun., Nov. 15, 1998

RUSH TO JUDGMENT?: Holt may back same-sex unions

New Jersey's newest congressman, Rush Holt, won't be sworn in until January, but he made a splash yesterday in his first national television appearance by announcing that he is open to supporting legalized marriage for homosexuals.

Holt, a Hopewell Twp. Democrat who defeated 12th District Rep. Michael Pappas, appeared live on "Washington Journal," a call-in television show on C-SPAN.

When asked his position on same-sex marriage, Holt said, "We have to ask ourselves what threat same-sex marriage brings to the institution of marriage. I don't see a threat."

Holt's spokesman, Mark Matzen, said after the show that the congressman-elect has not yet fully defined his position on the issue of gay marriage.

"He supports no discrimination for same-sex partners in terms of benefits," Matzen said.

"But there is no legislation for him to support or not support in terms of gay marriage, so he has no position."

Matzen said Holt believes benefits for same-sex partners would require a precise definition of what defines a legal relationship.

Fielding phone calls from all over the nation, Holt also answered questions about issues ranging from the crisis in Iraq to urban sprawl. Holt told viewers that one of the issues he is most concerned about is global warning, which he said was an immediate threat.

"While Americans are the largest consumers of energy per capita, we produce a minority of the energy for the world," Holt said.

When Holt was asked about the impeachment proceedings and the latest indictment of Hillary Clinton's former law partner, Webster Hubbell, he passed on making a judgment. But he predicted that "in a year impeachment will be a word that nobody remembers the meaning of."

Holt said he had learned on his campaign that voters want to get on with the business of government and that the public was impatient with a "wide-ranging, never-ending investigation."

He also criticized Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr, calling him "a person on a mission, driven to investigate until he finds something ... anything." Holt predicted the special prosecutor law will not be renewed by Congress.

A woman from Seattle called Holt on the show to "thank him for being a liberal." She said she was counting on him.

As he did throughout his campaign, Holt stressed that he believes the most pressing issues before Congress are "kitchen-table" issues, including education, environmental protection, health care and Social Security. He also stressed the need for regional planning and expressed support for the recently passed Open Spaces referendum in New Jersey.

"Open Space is what allows nature to heal itself," Holt said.

Holt has been in Washington the past week participating in "Freshman Orientation" for newly elected congressmen. He said that the emphasis from the leadership of both parties has been on recreating an atmosphere of civility and congeniality in Congress to replace the environment of partisan bickering that is frequently perceived by the public.

But the show produced some potential bickering of its own, when one caller noted that while she really liked Holt's first name, Rush, she did not agree that all the "kitchen-table issues" Holt listed should be congressional priorities. She said many of them were local issues, and she accused Democrats of using fear and "race-baiting" among African- Americans to frighten them against voting for Republicans.

Holt noted that he is older than the conservative Rush Limbaugh and thus has full rights to his first name. He said there had been no "race-baiting" in his congressional campaign.

C-SPAN television shows are produced by a consortium of American cable companies and are most noted for their gavel-to-gavel coverage of Congress.

Thurs., Nov. 12, 1998

POLL: JERSEY HAPPY TO SEE NEWT LEAVE

By SHERRY SYLVESTER

Chief Political Writer

Most New Jerseyans were probably glad to hear the news that House Speaker Newt Gingrich has decided to step down. According to a Quinnipiac College Poll released yesterday, Gingrich was about as popular in the Garden Sate as a toll taker at rush hour.

Only 17 percent of New Jerseyans have a positive opinion of the Republican leader while 56 percent view him negatively.

"If New Jersey sentiment was the test, Speaker Gingrich got out while the getting was good," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac College Polling Institute.

The poll also found that New Jerseyans oppose impeaching President Clinton and 44 percent would like the matters against him to simply be dropped.

Carroll told The Trentonian that he thinks New Jersey's dislike of Gingrich stems from "a backlash against beltway politicians and media" regarding the way the Clinton-Lewinsky affair has been handled.

But Jon Shure, a policy analyst and former spokesman for ex-Gov. Jim Florio, thinks Jersey's anti-Newt sentiment may be more personal. Shure noted that when Gingrich was campaigning in North Jersey during the recent elections, he did not have his picture taken with candidates there. Jersey Republicans were careful to avoid being photographed with him.

"The key to winning elections in New Jersey is to be the more moderate candidate," Shure said.

He added that unlike Rep. Chris Smith, R-Washington Township, or ousted Rep. Mike Pappas, R-Rocky Hill, "Newt has worn his radicalism on his sleeve."

But Cliff Pintak, a Washington media advisor who works with New Jersey Republicans, believes the sentiment against the speaker and Congress is only a reflection of the elections and the change in leadership.

"It's easy to kick a guy when he's down," Pintak said. "We didn't have a strong message in the election and we're in the middle of a maelstrom now. All the data reflects the tenor of the news coverage."

Pintak noted that New Jersey voters often blow hot and cold when it comes to politicians.

"New Jersey changes very quickly. Remember how popular Whitman was, but then her re-election was close," Pintak said. "This thing will turn on a dime when there's an issue that captures the public's interest."

Pintak said that New Jerseyans frequently form opinions based on issues that may not reflect national trends, like auto insurance, Florio's tax increase and former Gov. Tom Kean's early emphasis on the environment.

In other poll results, New Jerseyans approve of the job Clinton is doing by 2-to-1 margins while 71 percent disapprove of the way Congress is handling the impeachment matter. Thirty-six percent favor a censure.

According to the poll, New Jersey voters also trust Clinton to handle the economy, education and health care better than Congress. When it comes to taxes and crime, voters think its a toss-up regarding who would do a better job.

Pintak said the strong support the president is currently receiving in opinion polls reflects "uncertainty among voters about where Republicans are moving."

But he said that despite the negative attitudes, nationwide, Republican candidates got more votes than Democrats last week in House, Senate and gubernatorial races.

Almost 70 percent of New Jerseyans are satisfied with the way things are going in the country today.

The poll was conducted Nov. 5 to 9 among 805 New Jersey residents who say they are registered voters. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percent.

Wed., Nov. 11, 1998

STAY IN OUR STATE! Pol: keep workers in N.J.

By SHERRY SYLVESTER

Chief Political Writer

"New Jersey and you ... perfect together" may be the state tourist slogan, but a number of high-ranking state officials have apparently decided that "Pennsylvania and them" is even better.

Assemblywoman Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex, told the Trentonian yesterday that she believed that people who make policy for New Jersey should live here. She introduced legislation in the legislature last week which would require high ranking state officials to live in the state.

"It's just common sense," Buono said. "These decision makers should have a stake in the state that pays their salaries."

Buono said last week that over 100 management-level New Jersey officials actually live out of state. A Trentonian analysis of Department of Personnel data in March found that 4,372 state employees live in Pennsylvania, mostly in Bucks County. Ironically, Pennsylvania does have residency requirements for all employees, right down to the level of typist.

Only Mercer, Burlington and Essex counties in New Jersey have more state workers than Bucks.

However, Anthony Dominic, mayor of Morrisville, Pa., said Buono's bill infringes on the rights of the workers who live in his borough.

"They're taking their constitutional rights away from them," Dominic said. "I think they should be allowed to live wherever they want to live."

Currently, only about 7 percent of state employees, including the governor, state legislators, judges and department heads are required to be state residents. But Buono said she became concerned when she learned that six high-level Department of Environmental Protection officials live in Pennsylvania.

"Living in New Jersey gives state employees a better perspective of the day-to-day problems that residents face," Buono said.

Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer said he's behind the residency bill all the way -- not only, he said, because it's good for New Jersey, but because it opens the door for cities and towns to impose residency requirements too.

Currently, cities may require all its employees to live in city limits -- but not firefighters, police officers or teachers.

"If a bill like that is being proposed for state workers, it only makes sense to apply it to city employees," Palmer said. "It would make for a stronger city, a more united city, a better economy."

The Trentonian identified seven high level employees with salaries over $65,000 in DEP. There are also a number of policy decision makers and regulators in the Department of Transportation, Department of Health and Senior Services and Department of Education who live out of state.

Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole, R-Essex, introduced similar legislation last spring that would have required state residency for "state workers in the career services, unclassified service and senior executive service," but the bill did not advance.

According to former senator Dick LaRossa, who also wrote similar state residency legislation, "it sounds great but from a practical standpoint, but it's impossible to enforce."

But Buono said she was encouraged by the attention her proposal is getting and said she did not anticipate opposition from state worker unions, since they would not be affected.

"Some states require all workers to live in the state, but this bill doesn't go that far," Buono said.

About 27,000 state workers live in Mercer County.

November 8th

Christie Rises on Gingrich Fall: News Analysis

   Republicans are currently going through a political hail storm. First
the Democrats won almost everything that mattered in Tuesday's election.
   Then, in a clear admission of defeat, House Speaker Newt Gingrich was forced to step down.
The falling prospects of the GOP would seem like bad news for New
   Jersey's Republican governor, Christie Whitman. But most political
observers believe that, at least for now, the worse things get for
Republicans, the better things look for Whitman. Her name comes up more often as a presidential candidate and national party leader these days than it has in several years.
   The fact that Whitman has been viewed as too liberal for the GOP's
conservative leaders is paying off for her now as those leaders are falling by the wayside.
   Gingrich has become a symbol of what many people don't like about
the GOP, but Whitman has never been closely linked to him.  Gingrich helped put Whitman on the national political stage. He picked her to respond to Pres. Bill Clinton's first State of the Union address
and gave her the high profile job as co-chair the Republican National
Convention in 1996.
   But he was quick to criticize her campaign when he thought she'd lost
a close race last year and he's never been a political ally.
   Whitman told the Associated Press on Friday that "much of the
progress and prosperity our country had enjoyed over the past six years has been the result of the leadership and vision of Speaker Gingrich."
   But that "leadership and vision" was never broad enough to include
Whitman's socially moderate agenda. In selecting Gingrich's replacement Whitman has counseled her party to look to Republican governors for a model of success.
   Whitman spokesman Pete McDonough said yesterday that Whitman
has believes a "pragmatic conservatism and focused on issues that mean something to people, rather than abstract ideologies" is key to victory.
   There's also political geography and Whitman is clearly in the right
place at the right time.
   Rep. Bob Franks, D-Union, said earlier this week that the election
results showed the need for Republicans to shift expand their emphasis to the Northeast.
   "Republicans are in danger of becoming a regional party of the South
and West, instead of one national one," Franks said.
   That's clearly one of the reasons why the GOP decided to hold their
2000 convention in Philadelphia instead of Indianapolis.
   Whitman was instrumental in getting the Republicans to come to the
Northeast where Republicans like herself, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and New York Gov. George Pataki are popular with voters and do not push divisive issues like abortion.
   New Jersey GOP Chairman Chuck Haytaian says that's why
Republicans still control New Jersey's "political bottom line."
    "We've got the State House and the governor's office. We control 12 of the 21 counties and the policy agenda will be a Republican agenda," Haytaian said.
   Haytaian admitted that the election night losses were a "wake up
call" to Republicans. But the losses also prove the point Whitman made in a nationwide fundraising letter she sent out last summer.
   Writing for the Republican Leadership Council, Whitman told party
moderates that nominating candidates who were intolerant of a moderate views, particularly on the issue of abortion, would prove deadly to the party.
   Gingrich's resignation has started a scramble for leadership on
Capital Hill. It is also likely to mean a leadership change at the Republican National Committee where some believe Whitman or one of her allies might step forward.
   McDonough insists that Whitman is not running for anything, but
that doesn't mean she's not campaigning. Whitman has said that it is her
priority to put the GOP back in the White House in 2000 and she
campaigned in nearly twenty states over the past several months and raised millions to help elect Republicans.
   Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, also boosted Whitman's currency last week when he called for a change in the GOP direction. He said Republicans have to focus on women and the issues that are important to them.
   That makes Whitman in the right place at the right time again.

Fri., Nov. 6, 1998

Mike Pappas, Abortion and Women.

   I knew Rep. Mike Pappas' was in real trouble on election day when one of my staunchest Republican friends called to brag that he had voted for Pappas' opponent, Rush Holt.
    It was a shock. My vote bragging friend is so conservative that he opposed Whitman's open space plan because he believes it infringes on the constitutional right to build.
   "So why didn't you go for Pappas," I asked.
    "I just don't like his attitude toward women," he replied.
    "What do you mean?"
     "He's against women's rights. You know, stay at home, in the kitchen, no abortion."
    Ironically, this guy viewed Pappas, a man so polite that House Minority Leader Dick Armey once said he had brought gentlemanly manners back to the Congress, as some kind of male chauvinist pig.
   During the election post-mortem, I learned that many voters agreed with my friend that Pappas is anti-woman, despite the fact that the Rocky Hill congressman, whose policy advisors are all women, is one of the most egalitarian and sensitive politicians around. He supported
Christie Whitman before it was popular and is the only guy I know in the political business who remains poker-faced during Monica Lewinsky jokes.
   But Pappas was type cast as a neanderthal because he is opposed to legalized abortion.
   His opposition to abortion is not viewed as a matter of personal conscience or religious conviction. Instead, opposition to abortion rights has become a political symbol for many that translates into a desire to stop women from doing what they want.
   Assemblyman Neil Cohen, D-Roselle Park, told me during his post-election wrap-up that a primary motivation behind right wing, anti-abortion politicians like Pappas is to keep women down.
   "They believe women should be in the home and not working. They don't believe single women should raise children or be allowed to explore all the professional avenues and personal possibilities of their lives."
   The way Cohen sees it, the whole ball of equal opportunity wax for women is rooted in the right to a legal abortion. Cohen's view is mandatory among Democrats and is predominant among Republicans as well. Whitman clearly believes that what feminists have come to call "a constitutional right to a safe and legal abortion" is a basic tenet of women's equality.  Abortion rights have become so important that the leading feminist groups which have supported Pres. Bill Clinton against charges of sexual harassment insist that they are doing so because he's on the right side of the issue. They believe Republican opposition to legalized abortion is more of a threat to women's equality than having a man in the White House who uses young staffers for sex at his desk.
Clinton has demonstrated that if an elected official supports legalized abortion, he can treat women any way he wants. Meanwhile, Pappas can take steps to vastly expand economic opportunities for women, like his landmark "home office tax credit" which he carried across the
finish line for the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners, and still be seen as anti-women.
   The trouble with this kind of foggy thinking is that it lets male politicians off the hook far too easily. In the past thirty years since abortion rights have been legal, the twenty-five percent lower pay gap between men and women has barely moved. Despite the increasing number of women in the professions, single women continue to be poorer than all other population segments and the opportunity for women to establish and sustain their economic independence at the same level as men remains mostly out of reach. The vast majority of women in upper income brackets are still indebted to their husband (or ex-husbands) for their financial independence.
   Meanwhile, sexual harassment is back on the rise. Since Clinton has been president, sexual harassment claims have quadrupled at the Equal Opportunity Office and the country's complacency about the Lewinsky matter will undoubtedly result in a return to the double standard
and a renewed acceptance of sexual quid pro quo's in the workplace as a criteria for female advancement.
   Despite the economic boom, these are not particularly good times for women who are seeking financial independence and workplace equity. Legalized abortion does nothing to improve that situation. In fact, legalized abortion is as much a protection for men as it is for women from the burden of an unwanted child. Some men even use the existence of legal abortion as a rationalization for irresponsible sex and dishonest sexual dealings with women.
   Susan B. Anthony and the early feminists preached constantly that women would not achieve any real equality in the world until they achieved genuine economic independence. That's what Virginia Woolf meant when she said, "a woman must have money and a room of her own."
   For women, it has always been "the economy stupid."
    Its time for women who are serious about achieving equal standing and treatment to stop focusing on abortion rights and start thinking about the kinds of policies which will actually make a difference for women.
   They also need to re-think who their friends are.

Lesniak to Christie: Give Bill a break

Still reeling with election victory spirit, state Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Elizabeth, lobbed a grenade at Gov. Whitman yesterday.

Lesniak, one of the powerful Democratic bosses who spearheaded the trouncing of Republicans at the polls Tuesday night, called on Whitman to stop attacking President Clinton for lying about his office affair with a White House intern.

"My hope is that you put your negative political attacks behind you and help all of us in New Jersey do the work of the people," Lesniak wrote in a letter to Whitman. Lesniak noted that the Republican Leadership Council, a moderate GOP group, has concluded that many Republican losses at the polls were the result of the party's narrow focus on the moral problems of the president.

Whitman has repeatedly called on the president to resign and has condemned his behavior as selfish and dishonorable.

Whitman spokesman Peter McDonough dismissed Lesniak's request as highly partisan and misinformed.

"Whitman's remarks regarding the president were not the result of any political strategy. They came directly from the heart," McDonough said. "That is probably the primary difference between her and Sen. Lesniak, who rarely does anything that is not motivated by the most base of political instincts."

But McDonough noted that he was pleased to learn that Lesniak agrees with the Republican Leadership Council, a group which Whitman founded.

"That's a clear demonstration that even a blind squirrel can find an acorn sometimes," McDonough said.

Lesniak is slated to head Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign in the year 2000, while Whitman is considered by many observers to be a likely Republican contender for the GOP ticket.

Wed., Nov. 4, 1998

Dems come up strong in Jersey

Despite the predictions of doom that have haunted them for months, New Jersey Democrats had a very good night at the polls last night, taking over the long-held Republican 12th District congressional seat, which includes parts of Mercer, Somerset, Monmouth and Middlesex counties and all of Hunterdon. No Democrat has ever won that seat.

Democrats also won back the only legislative seat that was up for grabs. In addition, Rep. Frank Pallone, D-West Long Branch, beat back a $3 million campaign against him in Ocean, Middlesex and Monmouth counties.

However, things weren't all bad for the GOP last night. Garden State voters turned out to support Gov. Whitman's proposal to spend $100 million dollars to buy 100,000 acres of open space. And if the Democratic victories were a sign of support for President Clinton, as some Democrats claimed, New Jersey's almost universal enthusiasm for the open-space proposal did not seem to be dampened by the fact that Whitman has been an outspoken critic of the president. Throughout the current political campaign, she has repeatedly called on him to resign.

Mercer County Congressman Chris Smith, R-Washington Township, was also easily re-elected last night even though he has also criticized Clinton and supported the Republican impeachment initiatives.

Bob Franks, R-Union, who voted to move forward with the impeachment proceedings and is closely aligned with the Republican leadership in his house won by about the same margin and Englewood Democrat Steve Rothman, who actually sits on the Judiciary Committee which brought the impeachment proceedings against the president. Rothman supported Clinton's interests so far in the impeachment debates.

If New Jersey voters did think about sending a message to Washington about the president (and exit polls indicate they probably didn't) the message of last night's election was definitely mixed.

Exit polls indicate that voters are more fed up with Congress, particularly the conservative leadership, than they are with the president, but in New Jersey, except for Pappas in the 12th District, all of the conservative-leaning Republicans were put back on the job.

Landslide victory winner Smith is recognized nationally as one of the leading opponents of abortion rights in Congress. South Jersey Congressmen Jim Saxton, R-Mount Holly, and Frank LoBiondo, R-Mays Landing, also oppose abortion rights.

Voters may not have wanted to make Clinton an issue in the election, but the presidential sex scandal hung over the New Jersey campaign like a dark cloud. Hillary Clinton visited the state twice in the last several weeks campaigning for candidates. She also made radio commercials and taped telephone call to many voters around the state urging them to support Democrats against Republicans who she said were not working on the issue that were important to people.

"I happen to think my husband is very smart," Mrs. Clinton said then.

But Whitman did not let Mrs. Clinton take control of the debate in New Jersey. Twice during the campaign, she appeared on "Meet the Press" criticizing the president, and late last week, she took the stage at Harvard and again made national news by criticizing feminists groups for failing to take a stand against Clinton.

Democrats were big winners last night, but Whitman scored many points too.