Friendly Fire Saturday: Julie & Mike on Bramnick’s retreat and DeGise’s defiance

Can Americans still have a sensible and friendly political discussion across the partisan divide? The answer is yes, and we intend to prove it. Julie Roginsky, a Democrat, and Mike DuHaime, a Republican, are consultants who have worked on opposite teams for their entire careers yet have remained friends throughout. Here, they discuss the week’s events with Tom Moran, editorial page editor of The Star-Ledger.

Q. Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, one of the few leading Republicans to denounce President Trump’s attempt to overturn the election results, announced this week that he won’t run for governor next year. Why not?

Mike: Jon Bramnick is as good a person as there is in the Legislature. His empathy, intelligence and humor would have been welcome on the statewide campaign trail. He would have been a great candidate. Bramnick can raise money and wins in a competitive district that Biden and Murphy won easily. His fiscal discipline, common sense and willingness to work in a bipartisan manner are needed in this state and country today, so I am glad he is at least staying in the Legislature.

Julie: I can’t read John Bramnick’s mind so I don’t know why he’s not running. The larger tragedy for New Jersey Republican leaders is the uncompromising fealty their base demands towards all things Trump. If that’s why Bramnick chose not to run, I applaud him for putting his conscience ahead of political ambition.

Q. On Friday, legislative leaders agreed to a deal on recreational marijuana. But Senate President Steve Sweeney wants a Constitutional amendment that would devote most of the tax revenue to poor cities that were hardest hit by the drug war, and the Assembly is not on board. Does an amendment make sense? If that’s on the ballot next year, how might it affect the election?

Mike: I oppose constitutionally dedicating this money, not because of the marijuana issue or Senator Sweeney’s motive, which is a good one. The issue is this. The governor and Legislature must prioritize our budget every year, possibly their most important job. This takes decisions out of their hands forever. It’s not right to say we should have a constitutionally dedicated stream of revenue for certain cities, but not for higher education, or hospitals, or police, or beach replenishment, or any other important priorities that don’t enjoy most-favored-nation status in the budget.

Julie: It depends on how this amendment is structured. The state provides a significant amount of money to these cities already, whether through direct aid or school funding or healthcare services or other line-items. If this funding were dedicated to those programs, it could free up other revenue for some of the critically important priorities Mike mentioned.

Q. We learned this week that the leadership of the teachers’ union, the New Jersey Education Association, grants itself a much more generous pension plan than teachers get, with lower contributions, bigger benefits, and earlier retirement — along with their lavish salaries. Why do classroom teachers put up with this?

Mike: My guess is because teachers must feel their leadership does a good job. This is not the only union in America where the leadership is paid more than the membership. Members need to decide if the leadership looks out for their interests. And from what I can tell, teachers in New Jersey do better in terms of salary, pension and benefits than almost anywhere in America. I have obviously had serious policy differences with NJEA leadership over time, but it is hard to make a case that they don’t fight for their members.

Julie: The NJEA holds elections to determine leadership. Obviously, most rank and file members believe that this compensation is commensurate with what NJEA leaders are delivering for them.

Q. Demonstrators staked out the home of Hudson County Executive Tom DiGise to protest the decision to continue holding prisoners on behalf of Immigration and Customers Enforcement. DiGise wrote a defiant op-ed in the Star-Ledger vowing that he’ll never yield to protestors “terrorizing” his neighborhood. Is this going to help or hurt him politically?

Mike: Why do we think the protesters terrorizing an elected official’s home over ICE are somehow more noble than the protesters that surround an elected official’s home over a mask mandate? Activists on the right and the left need to leave the homes and families of public servants out of it. It keeps good people from serving, and rarely wins sympathizers.

Julie: Hudson County and other counties should not be in the business of housing ICE detainees but I strongly believe that these activists should protest outside county buildings, rather than in a residential neighborhood where their tactics are negatively and needlessly affecting Tom DeGise’s neighbors. As an aside, I am shocked that a Hudson County judge so drastically abridged their right to protest in this case, even if I don’t agree with the protesters’ tactics.

Mike: Protests won’t hurt DeGise politically. He will only be in political danger if other powerful leaders in Hudson County pull their support.

Q. The federal government and 40 states filed suit calling Facebook a monopoly and trying it to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. If they succeed, will that help or hurt consumers?

Mike: Monopolies hurt consumers. Competition helps. Without Pepsi, Coke would be more expensive, less tasty, and the can wouldn’t look so nice.

Julie: Facebook has become a monopoly that is strangling competition and its business practices appear to be completely unethical. Since it won’t rein itself in, regulators must.

Q. President-elect Joe Biden says he’ll mandate masks in federal buildings, and on buses and trains that cross state lines. All his people model mask-wearing. Will the day ever come when this issue is free of politics?

Mike: Nope. The current president and too many of his disciples made mask-wearing an ideological crusade. I cannot understand why many in my party think wearing a mask to protect yourself and others in indoor public spaces is somehow an undue burden on personal freedom. It’s bizarre, and a big reason why Trump lost.

Julie: 3,000 people died in just one day this week – more than those who died at Pearl Harbor and about the same number as died on 9/11. The Washington Post reports that desperate people are stealing food and hygiene products from supermarkets and yet our federal government refuses to mandate basic safety measures to help get this epidemic under control and our economy back on track. The president and his minions believe that this human sacrifice is necessary to stick it to the libs or to scientists or to academics or to whichever cohort Donald Trump’s fevered mind decides to engage as the enemy on any given day. It’s disgraceful but it’s not stopping anytime soon.

Mike: While hospitalizations in New Jersey are nowhere near where they were in the Spring, many other states are seeing their peaks now on the most dangerous metrics. The President should be more engaged over the next month to make sure we are keeping numbers as low as possible until the vaccine is distribute.

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A note to readers: DuHaime and Roginsky are both deeply engaged in politics and commercial advocacy in New Jersey, so both have connections to many players we discuss in this column. Given that, we will not normally disclose each specific connection, trusting that readers understand they are not impartial observers. DuHaime, a principal at Mercury Public Affairs, was chief political advisor to former Gov. Chris Christie, and has worked for Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and President George W. Bush. Roginsky, a principal of Optimus Communications, has served as senior advisor to campaigns of Cory Booker, Frank Lautenberg and Phil Murphy. Henceforth, we will disclose specific connections in the text only when readers might otherwise be misled, at the discretion of the editors.

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