Irwin Stoolmacher

I've been shocked by the total obeisance of Republicans to Donald Trump and the failure of institutional checks and balances to thwart his authoritarian takeover of our government. I never in my wildest dreams thought that authoritarianism would rear its ugly head in America in my lifetime and that it could take hold so quickly.

In machine gun-fashion President Trump fires off a plethora of bad ideas on social media. Fortunately, many of his off-the-cuff ideas evaporate in the abyss of social media.

A logical question to ask is, why are there so many highly credentialed Democratic candidates? I believe the number one reason is – Donald Trump. Democrats viscerally despise him and what he is doing to our country and want to do something about it.

After watching nine candidates from the 12th Congressional District debate last night at Rider University, I have a few observations regarding the primary. The Democratic candidate pool is excellent. All the candidates know the issues very well and can articulately express their views. The plethora of candidates in the post-party line era puts a very heavy burden on voters who want to vote for a candidate they are totally aligned with from an issue perspective.

Yet, I've gotten very little in-depth information from the media on the positions of the 13 Democratic candidates running in the primary in the 12th District. Much of Trenton is a food desert as it lacks access to supermarkets that provide healthy food options. I, and the rest of Mercer County voters in the 12th Congressional District, are in a voter “information desert” devoid of in-depth candidate coverage. This is not good for democracy.

And this is not the first race in New Jersey, post the party-line era, where a Congressional candidate in a multi-candidate race has won a primary with less than 30% of the vote. In February, Analilia Mejia narrowly won in the 11th Congressional District primary with 29.1% of the vote vs. Tom Malenkowski's 27.7% of the vote.

An inevitable question is how the current Knicks stack up with the 1970s teams. I realize the game has changed dramatically with the introduction of the 3-point shot, but part of the fun of being a fan is comparing teams and players across different eras. The same goes for politics. I often think about how FDR, JFK, LBJ, and Reagan would do nowadays. And most of the time, I come away thinking that their unique skill sets would have enabled each of them to succeed in spite of the radical changes in the political landscape and the rules of the game.

The elimination of the “county line” primary ballot column was supposed to be a victory for democracy by putting voters back in charge of selecting the candidates that represent them. Federal District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi in his historic decision wrote: “The integrity of the democratic process for a primary election is at stake” and candidates who had sued to request a redesign of the ballot had proven that “their constitutional rights are violated by the present ballot design.”

I think Trenton needs a change from long-serving Mayor Reed Gusciora as did Mercer County need a change from County Executive Brian Hughes. Both of these individuals were good people, but it's time for a new pair of eyes and new energy in Trenton. Municipal government in Trenton needs the same kind of boost that Dan Benson is bringing to Mercer County government. It needs a fresh perspective and an infusion of new talent and ideas.

I'm not a big fan of viciously attacking people who have passed away. That is the reason for the polite title of this column that gently expresses