November 10, 2006
Dear NJ Stonewall Members and friends,
We celebrate a historic victory as Democrats take control of the House of Representatives and loosen the political chokehold that Bush, Cheney, the right wing radical republicans, religious hypocrites and neo-conservatives have had on America. With the latest results from Virginia, Democrats have also reclaimed control of the Senate, as well!
Here in New Jersey, we celebrate the election of Senator Bob Menendez for a full 6 year term in the Senate, fending off the mudslinging, misleading racial innuendos, and desperate deception of Tom Kean, Jr. Indeed, fortunately for NJ the best person won, and we are proud to have been part of the success! We anticipate the leadership skills of Senator Menendez to shine in the Senate Majority and reflect the support of NJSD and the loyalty of the LGBT community in NJ.
Unfortunately, in the 7th CD as Linda Stender fell just short of victory as she was outspent by Mike Ferguson’s campaign by $1 million. In the end, her late surge and money infusion was not enough to close the gap. The good news is that she now has positive name recognition throughout the predominantly Republican district and also by the DCCC who did come to her aid with too little and too late. We encourage Linda to take advantage of the experience, using the learning curve and broad support base and come back for 2008!
The Kean name on the top of the Republican ticket accounted for an extraordinarily large turnout in Kean Senior’s home town of Bedminster, where NJ Stonewall’s Executive Board member Charles Eader was running for a seat on the Township Committee. Although Charles narrowly lost, we are encouraged by his clear majority in the middle class growth areas of the township. He is poised to win in the near future.
From the many reports I’ve been receiving from friends across the country, it appears that Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean’s 50 state strategy made Republicans spend money in places like CA so that we could win in PA, Ohio, Virginia, Missouri and Montana. It also appears that in states with more unified campaigns, there was more success. It does make sense and we should look closely at how well the various county campaigns, and grassroots organizations worked together with our congressional candidates. With Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( doesn’t that sound so much better than Hastert?) leading the new Majority and our new Senate Majority, we can anticipate, no more anti-marriage amendments, a hate crimes bill, perhaps even a, inclusive employment non discrimination act (ENDA), protection of Social Security, real homeland security,and a common sense energy and environmental policy. Good-Bye Donald!!
We have much to do here in New Jersey…. Now!
Although not an official NJSD event, many members of NJ Stonewall Democrats will be participating in the Transgender Day of Remembrance Observances. On November 16 at 7 pm, the Walk will begin at the UCC First Congregational Church at 40 South Fullerton Street, Montclair. From there the marchers will proceed to nearby houses of worship. On November 20 it will be at the Princeton University Chapel at 7 PM and we do anticipate the presence of our elected representatives.
There has been talk of holding a Marriage Equality Summit, with state and national leaders, but nothing has been finalized as yet.
Regarding promoting the legislation to comply with NJ Supreme Court decision, we have an uphill battle for full marriage equality. Recent polling indicates the NJ public would support civil unions over civil marriage. See http://www.politicsnj.com/ .
We’ve been working with GSE who reported that the Democratic Caucuses met this week to poll on marriage equality. Only “three of the 22 Democratic Senators support marriage-equality legislation (Kenny, Buono and Weinberg) and the other 19 are for civil-union legislation.” And only 6 of the 49 Democratic Assembly members support marriage-equality legislation (Roberts nominally, Caraballo, Gusciora, Stack, Green, Hackett) and the other 43 are for civil-union legislation or a handful strongly leaning that way. “I personally think that there are a few more we can get now.
We are all agreed that 100% marriage equality is our goal, because separate is NOT equal!
We at NJ Stonewall must play a strategic part in educating Democrats! To that end, I encourage our members and supporters to join the Garden State Equality “40 House Parties in 40 Districts” event on December 5th and if possible host an event. It should be a great experience in political activism and especially if you are hosting a Democrat, being identified as Stonewall member should carry additional weight. They will know we are partisans with a special interest. Hosting Republicans, please be in the “concerned citizen mode”.
I will be attending the National Stonewall Democrats board meeting in Fort Lauderdale Dec 1-3.
There is much happening nationally, many things in the hopper, plus I hope to announce some exciting things soon for us in here in New Jersey.
Enjoy the victory, but reload the ammunition!
Barbra "Babs" Casbar
NJSD President
LINKS
Party Sites
New Jersey Democratic State Committee
LGBTI Community
Gender Rights Advocaty Association of New Jersey
Candidate Sites