Around the nation, all eyes are on New Jersey because we are one of only two states with governor’s races this year.  Me?  I’ll be voting for Jon Corzine, and here are a few reasons why.  [Full disclosure: I did work for the governor’s campaign over the summer.]  Corzine has added tens of thousands more children to the state’s health insurance roles and made New Jersey a leader in renewable energy and solar power.  The governor has also lowered state spending, making each year’s budget smaller than the previous one.  To help students statewide, Jon Corzine strictly capped the size of tuition increases at public colleges and universities.

New Jersey is now facing the effects of a widespread recession.  Honestly, I don’t see Republicans as having much credibility when it comes to the economy.  It was, after all, George Bush’s party and it’s weak regulation of the financial industries that helped drive the American economy into this ditch.  According to Vice-President Joe Biden, Corzine was the first person that he and President Obama phoned to discuss how best to combat the recession when Barack first moved into the Oval Office.

But what of the governor’s challenger, former State Attorney General, Chris Christie?  On the economy, Christie said that if he had been governor, he would have rejected funds for New Jersey from President Obama’s stimulus plan.  Honestly, that’s not the kind of action that would have helped people here at home.  In fact, Sarah Palin said the same thing with regards to Alaska’s stimulus money.

On social issues, Christie holds conservative views against abortion rights and opposes legalizing same-sex marriage in New Jersey.  Jon Corzine, on the other hand, is staunchly pro-choice and has vowed to sign a marriage equality bill into law as soon as the legislature passes it (which will likely happen after election day, in the legislature’s lame-duck session).

Furthermore, Jon Corzine is the only candidate reaching out to the Rutgers community.  Representatives of his campaign and of the New Jersey Democratic Party, some paid and some volunteers, have been all over campus.  They are talking to students, helping them register to vote, and educating them about the voting process and even how to vote by mail.

Meanwhile, neither the Christe nor the Dagget campaign has been visible at Rutgers.  Pundits decry apathy among young voters.  It seems to me, however, that Republicans are the ones showing apathy towards young voters like you and me.

Jon Corzine and the Democrats seated RU students right up front at this summer’s big rally with President Obama, and they’ll be bringing former president Bill Clinton to our fair campus before the month is out.  Clearly, Jon Corzine isn’t taking our support for granted or as a given.  His campaign is working their hearts out to get young people engaged in state politics and to make sure that student turnout doesn’t end with the 2008 election.

Only one campaign in this election is taking students seriously.  How do Christie and the GOP expect to earn our votes when they don’t even attempt to engage us?  Personally, I think that student voters deserve better than to be written off by the likes of Chris Christie.  Our voices deserve to be heard and they will be this November 3^rd.

This is going to be an incredibly close election.  On one side, we have our reliably progressive Democrat battered by the fallout of a worldwide recession.  On the other, we have a pretty conservative republican promising a utopia of lower taxes and an improved economy without offering any specific plans on how we get there.  Every “protest vote” for a third party candidate, in practical terms, will make it that much easier for Christie and the Republicans to win.  Simply put, each of those Dagget votes will bring the GOP ever closer to victory.  The same logic applies to any votes for Norbert, Rocko, Doug Funnie, and any other characters from old-school Nickelodeon shows.

In all seriousness, this contest is neck-and-neck.  All of the latest polls seem to say so.  Your vote is valuable.  Cast it wisely.

VOTE ON NOVEMBER 3

Polls open 6 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Questions?  Call NJ Voter Protection Hotline

1-800-792-VOTE (8683)