| I never thought I'd live to see the day when the conservative Daily Record of Republican Morris County would endorse a Democrat for State Assembly. Then again, rarely have we been so lucky to have a candidate like Thom Jackson representing the party. Here's what they had to say in endorsing Jackson:
A lawyer from Morris Township, Jackson has been involved in state government as a member of a budget task force put together by acting Gov. Richard Codey. He correctly sees regionalizing small towns and school districts as a way to begin reducing property taxes. He supports the Highlands land preservation bill -- his Republican opponents do not -- and he understands the promise of embryonic stem cell research.
. . .
Our problem with Carroll is that we do not think that his views represent a majority of residents in the 25th District. He opposes embryonic stem cell research and in a recent fundraising letter suggested that it can lead to "fetal farming," which would be the use of late-term aborted fetuses. This is a very extreme and exaggerated position. He opposes measures to fund breast cancer prevention and similar legislation on the grounds that government should not mandate such things. We respect, but disagree, with Carroll's belief that government should do as little as possible. We think most residents want government to do what it can to foster a clean environment, to solve problems and to help the disadvantaged. Jackson shares that view; Carroll does not.
. . .
Republicans have had a lock on all Assembly seats in Morris County for 30 years. It's time to send a Democrat to Trenton.
It's not all good news from the Daily Record, as they opted to endorse Republican incumbent Richard Merkt over Janice Schindler, but it is an overwhelmingly conservative paper, so we should take what we can get. In an odd way, the fact that the Record split their endorsement should call Morris voters' attention to the fact that Michael Carroll is a dangerous radical, far out of the mainstream, even for a Republican.
Beyond Carroll's extremist rhetoric -- which both the Record and Blue Jersey have pointed out -- extends beyond embryonic stem cell research, unsurprisingly into the area of reproductive rights. Carroll is known for commonly referring to pro-choice voters as "pro-aborts." Opposing abortion is one thing. But this is the same language used by the anti-choice extremists who have been known to use violence in their protests. Here's a sample of Carroll's worldview from the now-defunct website, PracticalPolitics.net, still available thanks to the invaluable Google cache:
Now, anyone who understands the English language realizes that abortion ain’t in the Constitution. Nor is "privacy." The pro-aborts, not Catholics or right-to-lifers, pervert the document to read as they believe it should read, not as it actually does.
The phrase "fully automatic rifle" isn't in the Constitution either, but Carroll has had no problems claiming that access to them is a protected right and that the federal assault weapons ban was "a silly law." Carroll also believes that it should be legal in New Jersey to carry a concealed handgun. It's safe to say that neither concealed handguns nor fully automatic weapons were what the framers had in mind when they talked about "a well regulated militia" in the Second Amendment.
But I digress. The point here is that things are looking very good in the 25th district for moderate voters to rid themselves once and for all of the radical 'mountain man' Michael Patrick Carroll. The fact that we could very well wind up with Thom Jackson in his place is all the better. |
