Wise Young
10-12-2006, 09:50 AM
http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzOTcmZmdi ZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcwMDQxNzImeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZU VFeXkxNA==
Giving N.J. a real say in who becomes our next president
Thursday, October 12, 2006
By RICHARD J. CODEY
We need to make New Jersey a presidential player instead of an ATM machine for candidates looking to finance their races.
FOR TOO LONG now, New Jersey voters have been systematically silenced during the presidential primary season, while states like New Hampshire and Iowa play a major role in selecting our next potential commander in chief.
For the most part, this was due to our position as one of the last two states in the nation to hold a primary, with ours falling in June while most other states were voting in midwinter.
Last year we made a move to change all of that. While I was governor, I sponsored and signed a bill into law that moved our presidential primary up to late February. Since then, the stakes have changed.
A whole new set of rules designed to reflect the voice of the South and the West in the nominating process was adopted in the sleepy dog days of August 2006 by the Democratic National Committee.
The new rules have front-loaded the primary season with four 2008 contests taking place in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina during a special preseason window in January, while the open calendar for all other primaries begins on Feb. 5, 2008.
It's time for us to send a message to the Democratic National Committee: "Welcome to New Jersey."
No longer a bystander
Soon, we'll be able to do just that. The state Senate's State Government Committee recently approved a bill sponsored by Sen. Ellen Karcher, D-Monmouth, and myself that would set a new presidential primary date here in our state for Feb. 5, 2008, putting us front and center during the opening of the regular window.
For those unfamiliar with the primary process, consider this: When voters in New Hampshire, the first state to hold a primary each year, cast their ballots in 2004, there were 10 Democratic candidates in the field. By the time New Jersey voters got to cast their ballots in June, there were three virtually unknown candidates and a fourth who had all but locked up the nomination -- John Kerry.
As a state we are tired of being bystanders in the presidential primaries and tired of watching small states like Iowa and New Hampshire pick our presidential candidates. We need to make New Jersey a presidential player instead of an ATM machine for candidates looking to finance their races.
New Jerseyans generously contributed more than $15 million to the presidential campaigns in 2004, ranking eighth among 50 states in total contributions. Yet with President Bush running unopposed and Kerry's nomination all but locked up, neither felt compelled to campaign here.
Representative nominees
As I've said before, Iowa and New Hampshire are fine places to live and to raise a family. But New Jersey, with its diverse social, economic and ethnic backgrounds is a microcosm of the nation as a whole and, as such, we are a great electorate barometer.
In the next race to the presidency, candidates would need the support of the Garden State to cement their standing as either party's pick for the nomination, if they are to truly represent the needs and wishes of the people.
But with the Nevada caucus and the South Carolina primary inserted into the January calendar, New Jersey must move up its presidential primary to February. That way, our contest would allow for New Jersey to be fifth in line nationally for Democrats and third in the chain of national events for the Republican Party.
"The battle to have the earliest presidential primaries gets more and more competitive," my colleague and co-sponsor, Karcher, has pointed out, while noting "we don't need to be first, but we want to have a say in the final outcome of who will compete to lead our nation for the next four years." I couldn't agree with her more.
I expect to post this latest measure, S-2193, at the next regular voting session of the full Senate. I am heartened that Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, D-Camden, has indicated his willingness to support this change.
With many critical decisions facing our country right now, both nationally and globally, we deserve to have more of a voice in selecting the next president of the United States to guide us through these tenuous times.
Former Gov. Richard J. Codey, a Democrat, is president of the state Senate.
Giving N.J. a real say in who becomes our next president
Thursday, October 12, 2006
By RICHARD J. CODEY
We need to make New Jersey a presidential player instead of an ATM machine for candidates looking to finance their races.
FOR TOO LONG now, New Jersey voters have been systematically silenced during the presidential primary season, while states like New Hampshire and Iowa play a major role in selecting our next potential commander in chief.
For the most part, this was due to our position as one of the last two states in the nation to hold a primary, with ours falling in June while most other states were voting in midwinter.
Last year we made a move to change all of that. While I was governor, I sponsored and signed a bill into law that moved our presidential primary up to late February. Since then, the stakes have changed.
A whole new set of rules designed to reflect the voice of the South and the West in the nominating process was adopted in the sleepy dog days of August 2006 by the Democratic National Committee.
The new rules have front-loaded the primary season with four 2008 contests taking place in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina during a special preseason window in January, while the open calendar for all other primaries begins on Feb. 5, 2008.
It's time for us to send a message to the Democratic National Committee: "Welcome to New Jersey."
No longer a bystander
Soon, we'll be able to do just that. The state Senate's State Government Committee recently approved a bill sponsored by Sen. Ellen Karcher, D-Monmouth, and myself that would set a new presidential primary date here in our state for Feb. 5, 2008, putting us front and center during the opening of the regular window.
For those unfamiliar with the primary process, consider this: When voters in New Hampshire, the first state to hold a primary each year, cast their ballots in 2004, there were 10 Democratic candidates in the field. By the time New Jersey voters got to cast their ballots in June, there were three virtually unknown candidates and a fourth who had all but locked up the nomination -- John Kerry.
As a state we are tired of being bystanders in the presidential primaries and tired of watching small states like Iowa and New Hampshire pick our presidential candidates. We need to make New Jersey a presidential player instead of an ATM machine for candidates looking to finance their races.
New Jerseyans generously contributed more than $15 million to the presidential campaigns in 2004, ranking eighth among 50 states in total contributions. Yet with President Bush running unopposed and Kerry's nomination all but locked up, neither felt compelled to campaign here.
Representative nominees
As I've said before, Iowa and New Hampshire are fine places to live and to raise a family. But New Jersey, with its diverse social, economic and ethnic backgrounds is a microcosm of the nation as a whole and, as such, we are a great electorate barometer.
In the next race to the presidency, candidates would need the support of the Garden State to cement their standing as either party's pick for the nomination, if they are to truly represent the needs and wishes of the people.
But with the Nevada caucus and the South Carolina primary inserted into the January calendar, New Jersey must move up its presidential primary to February. That way, our contest would allow for New Jersey to be fifth in line nationally for Democrats and third in the chain of national events for the Republican Party.
"The battle to have the earliest presidential primaries gets more and more competitive," my colleague and co-sponsor, Karcher, has pointed out, while noting "we don't need to be first, but we want to have a say in the final outcome of who will compete to lead our nation for the next four years." I couldn't agree with her more.
I expect to post this latest measure, S-2193, at the next regular voting session of the full Senate. I am heartened that Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, D-Camden, has indicated his willingness to support this change.
With many critical decisions facing our country right now, both nationally and globally, we deserve to have more of a voice in selecting the next president of the United States to guide us through these tenuous times.
Former Gov. Richard J. Codey, a Democrat, is president of the state Senate.