Is racism behind why the election didn't go Obama's way?

Voters were not exactly lining up on Tuesday at Hackensack's Fairmount Elementary School.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

By almost any measure -- the economy, health care, environment, immigration, and boots on the ground in the Middle East and Afghanistan -- we're doing far better under President Obama than with his Republican predecessor.

Yet, the GOP was able to take control of the U.S. Senate and hold onto the party's majority in the House, ensuring another two years of gridlock until Obama leaves office.

Could the reason be grounded in low voter turnout, and white conservatives who still bristle at any mention of our first black president?

Apathy expected

Political analysts expected a low voter turnout in New Jersey on Election Day, WBGO-FM reported:

"Fairleigh Dickinson political science Prof. Peter Woolley expects fewer than 40 percent of registered voters in the Garden State will go to the polls because he says the state’s 12 congressional races really aren’t competitive.

“'People who are the strongest partisans or people who are the angriest are the ones who will come out. The broad swath of Americans who are not following all the issues closely are simply not going to know why they should turn out.'”

Today, Obama told a reporter turnout was as low as 15% in states where Republicans triumphed.

News judgment?

The Record played the Democratic sweep of Bergen County offices, including the defeat of the Republican executive, on Page 1.

But the report of a seventh term for ultraconservative Rep. Scott Garrett from a congressional district that includes Bergen County, where 70% of the voters live, is buried on L-3.

That fits with the editors basically dismissing Hackensack attorney Roy Cho and earlier Democratic challengers because they were unable to raise as much money as Garrett.

Ebola is getting bigger play than the upcoming election

On Friday night, the streets around Clinton Place in Hackensack were packed with cars and costumed children making their trick-or-treat rounds as police directed traffic and watched over pedestrians. Bad weather cancelled Halloween festivities in 2012 and 2013.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Despite all of the front-page headlines, New Jersey still hasn't had a single confirmed case of Ebola.

Yet, Governor Christie and other politicians continue to run off at the mouth, and The Record continues to cover the epidemic that isn't.

Here comes Charles Stile to bore readers with another political column on the Ebola response of the GOP bully and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (A-1).

Another columnist, Mike Kelly, pushes hundreds of other words around on the Obama administration's response to Ebola, but loses readers almost immediately by flashing a shit-eating grin in his thumbnail photo (O-1).

Any journalist who allows his editors to use a dated photo that makes him look like a fool can't be taken seriously.

These Halloween scenes on Clinton Place were photographed on Thursday afternoon, above and below.

What about the election?

The editors haven't been paying as much attention to Election Day on Tuesday, when residents of the 5th Congressional District, which includes Bergen County, can get rid of Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, a Tea Party idol who is against just about everything (L-3).

An e-mail from challenger Roy Cho, an attorney in Hackensack, notes:

Daylight Savings Time Begins Today!

Make Sure You Set Your Clock Back One Hour

Election Day is Tuesday!

Make Sure You Don't Let Scott Garrett Set the Country Back

 

Since Elected in 2002, Garrett Voted Against:

 

Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act

Equal Pay for Women

 Reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Protecting the Medicare and Social Secuity Guarantee

Reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act of 1973

Raising the Minimum Wage

Ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell

and a whole lot more...

Cho has been endorsed by The Record, The Star-Ledger, the New Jersey Jewish Standard and other newspapers, but Garrett hasn't received any editorial support in his bid for a seventh term.

Losing facts in the dark

Today, Road Warrior John Cichowski reports on dark street lights and highway lights, suggesting they are the reason he has completely lost sight of accuracy (L-1).

In his column last Sunday, Cichowski discussed reports of "teen violence" when he meant to say "violence against teens" tied those red decals on the license plates of young drivers, according to the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers.

The page pits a fact-loving retired engineer against an addled columnist who has failed miserably to focus on issues important to commuters:

"In his Sunday column [Oct. 26], the Road Warrior continues to repeat mistaken and meaningless information and deadly, unsafe, and illegal advice for parents and teenagers about New Jersey's Graduated Driving License (GDL) laws and its impact on young drivers.

"Road Warrior indicated that GDL safety restrictions bar teenage drivers from loading cars with more than one teen passenger only if another experienced driver is present.

"The GDL law only allows for more than one passenger (teenage or otherwise), who are not dependents, only if a parent or guardian is present.

"He stupidly indicated that New Jersey has not documented any reports of 'teen violence' related to the GDL red decals on their cars.

"He should have stated there were no documented reports of violence against teenagers rather than teen violence, which means violent acts committed by teenagers."

See: Confusing teen drivers and parents

Why no one votes

A page and a half of Local is filled with the names of candidates in municipal, county and school board races, but for the vast majority, the paper hasn't reported what issues are at stake or what they stand for (L-6 and L-7).

Christie coverage

Staff Writer Melissa Hayes, who is traveling with Governor Christie's entourage, continues to report on his out-of-state fundraising in the same, breathless tones you'd find in a press release from the Republican Governors Association (Page 1 on Saturday).

Hayes quotes so-called experts as she tries to nail down whether Christie, who heads the group, is going to seek the GOP nomination for president in 2016.

What about the perspective of environmentalists, mass-transit advocates, women and Democrats in the state Legislature who have been stiffed big time since Christie took office in 2010?

What about voters in northern New Jersey? Do The Record's editors ever think to ask them who they want as their next president?

Why are the editors going easy on Rep. Scott Garrett?

Someone used a shopping cart at Target in Hackensack to "recycle" several items today, including a plastic toilet seat and cover, above.

Not far away was this pair of children's shoes, above and below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Scott Garrett, the conservative Republican seeking a seventh term in Congress, is ducking out of a candidate forum tonight and a debate with his Democratic challenger.

But you wouldn't know that from The Record today.

A rambling column by Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin recalls that in 2008, Garrett "declined to attend a candidate forum at a temple in Bergen County" (A-11).

Doblin says the Wantage Republican "sent a blind Jewish man as his surrogate," because his opponent, Dennis Shulman, was "a blind rabbi."

Can you just imagine who Garrett would send as his surrogate tonight, seeing that his challenger is Hackensack attorney Roy Cho, who is Korean-American.

Doblin makes no mention of tonight's candidate forum at Temple Israel and Jewish Community Center in Ridgewood.

Cho is seeking to unseat Garrett in the 5th Congressional District, which includes Bergen County.

Garrett is a Tea Party favorite for his opposition to just about everything, especially programs that help the middle class.

He initially opposed federal aid for Sandy victims and voted against legislation that would help women, then lied about his stance on both issues in campaign literature.

A funny thing happened on my way to voting for Roy Cho

This morning, my vote for Roy Cho was signed, sealed and delivered to the Board of Elections in Hackensack

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I've been using mail-in ballots for a few years, but for security always deliver them by hand to the Board of Elections in the Bergen County Administration Building in Hackensack.

On Wednesday, I drove there around 11:30 a.m.. only to be told by a security guard to park in the employees garage -- the visitors lot was full because of a weekly farmers' market.

He told me I could park only on the fourth or fifth floor of the parking deck, and with speed bumps, it took a long time just to get to the third level.

That's when I turned around, and drove to Englewood, where I arrived late for my volunteer shift at the medical center.

This morning, my ballot and my wife's ballot, marked for Democrats Cory Booker and Roy Cho, the 5th Congressional District challenger, were signed, sealed and delivered to the Elections Board.

My ballot marked for Roy Cho.

'In striking distance'

Today, The Record tries to minimize a poll showing Cho, an attorney who lives in Hackensack, trails the incumbent by only 5 points.

The story was played on the Local front and focused on Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, one of the most conservative members of Congress (L-1).

Garrett has ignored the needs of his constituents to focus on staying in office. He is seeking a seventh term in the Nov. 4 election. 

Click on the following link to read about the poll:

Challenger in striking distance

Columnist dismisses challenge to Tea Party puppet

Utility work on River Street in Hackensack, near the mothballed headquarters of North Jersey Media Group and The Record, made driving difficult last week.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Staff Writer Herb Jackson of The Record is a veteran who is assigned to Washington, where he writes the NJ/DC column, which you'll find on Page 1 today.

In recent years, Jackson has mastered the art of slipping a dagger into any Democrat who challenges one of Congress' most conservative members -- and twisting it.

Rep. Scott Garrett, a six-term Wantage Republican whose district now includes liberal Fair Lawn, Hackensack and most of Teaneck, is a puppet of the Tea Party and against just about everything, especially social programs.

Money talks

Today's column reports Garrett and his Democratic challenger, attorney Roy Cho of Hackensack, began running TV ads this month (A-1).

But Jackson is dazzled by Garrett's fund raising, nearly $3.2 million, compared to Cho's expected $900,000, and he's already called the race on that basis alone.

Jackson never mentions Garrett's initial opposition to federal aid for Sandy victims or his desire to delay eligibility for both Social Security and Medicare, starting with people born in 1958 and after.

Cut health care

Nor does he discuss Garrett's plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act -- which has given health insurance to tens of millions who never had it -- and boost defense spending to $699 billion in 2022.

Jackson has so much pull in Washington he couldn't even get an interview with Garrett, who doesn't announce where he is campaigning and hasn't agreed to debate Cho.

What kind of reporter is Jackson when he doesn't even report Garrett's mean-spirited policies and positions, as listed on the congressman's own Web site?

See: I'm Scott Garrett, and I hate people

Crystal balls

Today's Jackson column is long-winded -- typical of The Record's white, middle-age columnists.

So, he saves the knockout punch for the last paragraph after reporting Cho's charge that Garrett is even against federal spending to repair the transportation network relied on by 1 million people in Bergen County alone.

"It's an argument Garrett's challengers have been making since 2002," fortune teller Jackson reports. "And so far, none has come close to succeeding."

The Nov. 4 election will decide representation in the boomerang-shaped 5th District.

Here is a post I wrote in 2012 on how The Record and Jackson treated Adam Gussen, then-Teaneck's deputy mayor, the previous Garrett challenger:

Nobody at The Record knows his name

Hackensack news

On the Local front today, Staff Writer Todd South reports Al Dib, Hackensack's legal analyst and historian, has unearthed information that "averts wrangling" over development of a 4.3-acre parking lot near Forschini Park, as the headline puts it (L-1).

South still hasn't done a follow-up to his story on a group of Democrats who propose to change the form of government and switch to partisan elections in an effort to regain the power they lost in 2013.

Candidate Adam Gussen gets no respect

Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-Paterson, is being opposed in the November election by a grandstanding rabbi who is playing The Record's editors for the fools they are.

The Record today publishes an Opinion piece by Republican Shmuley Boteach, the publicity savvy Englewood rabbi who has the chutzpah to take on Rep. Bill Pascrell, the scrappy Democrat from Paterson, in the November election.

But the Woodland Park daily continues its news blackout on Teaneck Deputy Mayor Adam Gussen's campaign to unseat Republican arch-conservative Rep. Scott Garret in the 5th Congressional District, which includes Fair Lawn, Hackensack and a large part of Teaneck.

After the Democratic primary on June 5, stories about Gussen appeared on NJ.com and the Paramus Patch, and the latter drew 166 comments.

Nothing appeared in The Record -- except for a vote-total chart for "Gussen" and his opponents.

Since then, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza have treated Boteach to several campaign and non-campaign stories; Democrat Gussen has struck out. 

Here are the links to Gussen stories in other media:

Teaneck Deputy Mayor Wins Congressional Primary

Adam Gussen wins Democratic nod

See previous post:

Do readers have all the time in the world?

News drought in 5th District continues

The 5th District includes Ridgewood and West Milford. 

Even though more than half of Bergen County and a large part of Passaic County are in the newly configured 5th Congressional District, The Record continues today to ignore the outcome of Tuesday's Democratic primary.

On A-8 today, a map of the 9th Congressional District shows only part of the huge, boomerang-shaped 5th District, which includes Hackensack and extends to both the New York State border and the Delaware River.

Teaneck Deputy Mayor Adam Gussen beat Jason Castle and will face Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, in November.

Newsroom dunces

The Record's silence on Gussen's victory is puzzling.

Did Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin tell Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza to retaliate against readers for ignoring the Woodland Park daily's endorsement of Castle? 

Doblin's primary election editorial today makes no mention of the 5th District or Gussen (A-20).

Gussen will likely be swept into office on President Obama's coattails, ending the career of Garrett, one of Congress' most-conservative members.

Jews for Congress

Another reason Gussen's victory is notable is that he is the second Orthodox Jew running for Congress from North Jersey.

Publicity hound Shmuley Boteach, a rabbi who lives on the East Hill of Englewood, is planning to blow some of his wealth on trying to defeat Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. in the 9th District.

A search of North Jersey.com for "Adam Gussen" turned up the May 31 editorial endorsing his opponent, and a May 21 news story on a debate. The previous news story on Gussen ran in January.

Selling papers

Sykes, Sforza and Editor Marty Gottlieb continue to beat to death the 9th District race in two more Page 1 stories today.

Did the editors deliberately manufacture a close race to sell papers?

Did they know Pascrell would run away with the election after Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Englewood, made the cowardly decision to move out of the 5th District rather than face Garrett? 

Englewood puzzle

In Sykes' Local section, Staff Writer Rebecca Baker, the new Englewood reporter, never explains why the city's school district faces a $4 million deficit (L-1).

Is the deficit the result of state aid cuts or did the district have to divert hundreds of thousands of dollars to support a charter school or both?

Editor relies on sex to sell Page 1

Today's paper would be good for wrapping fish.

Maybe Editor Marty Gottlieb thought the erotic "50 Shades of Grey" trilogy is about sexual shenanigans in the newsroom of the Old Gray Lady, his former employer across the Hudson River.

What other explanation would there be for putting a book signing in Paramus all over Page 1 of The Record today?

A grab bag of politics, sex, medical malpractice and terrorism are the subjects of today's A-1 stories.

Pissing match

To lead the paper, Gottlieb continues heavy coverage of the contest between two Democrats in the 9th Congressional District -- highlighting how readers have seen little coverage of the race in the 5th Congressional District, headed by arch-conservative Rep. Scott Garrett.

The stories about Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr. and Steve Rothman have been careful to avoid mentioning that voters in Hackensack and other towns won't have any say in the outcome. 

Road Warrior screw-up

Two long corrections on A-2 include one for Tuesday's Road Warrior column by Staff Writer John Cichowski, who misquoted the head of the ACLU in New Jersey.

On A-10, an editorial urging readers "to get off our couches and do something" to ease the obesity epidemic makes no reference to the poor example set by Governor Christie and his overweight wife and son.

Elephant in newsroom

Indeed, instead of speaking about what the state or first lady Mary Pat Christie are doing about childhood obesity, the editorial praises first lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign.

The sad truth is that the paper's own obese head assignment editor, Deirdre Sykes, has blocked any newsroom project on the epidemic for more than a decade.

Readers yawn

Another Road Warrior column on the stillborn TRU-ID program at the Motor Vehicle Commission appears on L-1 today, eliciting yawns from readers who don't have to renew their licenses for another three to four years, and may be able to do so through the mail next time.

Hiding corrections

A day after an overblown, front-page story on the rescue of a worker from a vat of diluted acid in a Clifton factory, another story appears today on the Local front to correct inaccuracies in the original (L-1).

Sykes continues to put a negative spin on the prosecution case against suspended Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa (L-2).

And the phlegmatic head of the assignment desk runs another story on a renewal plan for Hackensack from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (L-7), but she has yet to ask residents what they think or question officials on how soon it might become reality.

Editors can't resist a divided town

Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Rep. Scott Garett, R-Wantage, is a member of the House Financial Services Committee.

Two-thirds of Teaneck suddenly finds itself represented by one of Congress' most conservative members, but all of Hackensack, Fair Lawn and other towns have the misfortune of being moved into the Republican's district.


So, interim Editor Douglas Clancy, why is today's Page 1 story in The Record about Teaneck residents affected by redistricting to the exclusion of the other communities? 


Where in the story is anything about the regressive policies of Rep. Scott Garret of Wantage, lord of the 5th District, that are so counter to the minorities he now represents?


And is there a sillier way to end such a story than to say brothers divided by the district border now have two congressman to call, if they want to complain about a "rough pat[c]h" of pavement on their street? 


Who would ever call a congressman to complain about that?


The photo on A-5 speaks volumes about Garret and his party. All the Republicans can come up with to oppose President Barack Obama are white, middle-age men, most of them wealthy.


Hackensack news is conspicuously absent in head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local section as well.


Oprah and Chris


Two of the nation's most prominent food addicts sat down for a TV interview and not a word was uttered about the obesity epidemic.


On Sunday, Oprah Winfrey and Governor Christie discussed being overweight.


Oprah called food "a drug " and said she is a "compulsive over-eater."


Christie said he just finds himself eating the wrong things, but couldn't explain why. "But there is a certain compulsiveness at times about my eating," he said.


The governor said he has a dietitian and works out three days a week with a personal trainer, and one day on his own. "I'm getting there."


But Oprah never asked Christie how much he weighs or how much weight he might have lost.