RIVER VALE – As Mikie Sherrill was addressing a group of seniors at the Jewish Home Assisted Living Monday afternoon, the stock market was dropping yet again. It would close down 971 points.
The stock market itself did not get mentioned, but Sherrill was asked about the state’s relationship with Israel.
She pointed out that Phil Murphy’s first foreign trip upon becoming governor seven years was to Israel and that she would continue that pattern.
Then, she deviated into broader concerns.
Referring to tariffs – and the continuing uncertainty about them – Sherrill said:
“The federal government is destabilizing the world economy.”
There also has been local “blowback,” she said. The CD-11 congresswoman and gubernatorial candidate spoke of a business in her district specializing in sanitizing various types of machinery. She said that business just lost a contract with a German company, which did not want to do business with an American firm.
That, she said, was something, “I never heard before.”
And that also makes it imperative for governors themselves to consider overseas relationships.
“Having governors develop strong relationships with … foreign communities to make sure there is no retribution is something that I’m very intent upon,” she said.
Answering an audience question, Sherrill condemned anti-Semitism, which is increasing by most accounts, but also said it is necessary to counter all hate.
When anti-Semitism and other hate surfaces, Sherrill said, “It really should be the whole community saying, ‘This is not who we are.'”
New Jersey, as all political observers know, is one of only two states holding major elections this year. The governor’s race in Virginia is the other one.
That puts a lot of focus on the Garden State. Rightly or wrongly, the race is going to be seen as a referendum on the MAGA movement, especially after Donald Trump’s good showing in the state last year.
Sherrill seems to be relishing that.
To her, the keys are how the next governor will govern and rejecting Trump and what many Dems see as, at best, an autocratic style of governing.
Visiting average people – as opposed to political activists – can be an eye-opener.
Many folks just don’t follow politics all that much, despite there being heated gubernatorial primaries in both parties. The disappearance of regular newspaper coverage is part of the problem.
On that score, one man in this northern Bergen County town gave Sherrill a mixed review.
He said he’d liked what he heard and would probably support her, adding:
“You’re running for governor of New York, right?”
Actually, it’s New Jersey.
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