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Bret Schundler: Not your typical politician
No, this Bret Schundler is not your typical politician. He is a smart, articulate and engaging policy wonk who actually believes in new ideas and radical approaches to old problems, particularly urban education. Now, Bret Schundler has the audacity to take on the State Republican organization and challenge acting Governor and Senate President Don DiFrancesco for his parties nomination to be the state's Chief Executive. Is this guy nuts, or what? Currently, "Donny D" has the support of 18 of the 21 Republican County Chairs. DiFrancesco controls the Upper House's legislative agenda as Senate president as well as countless state contracts, grants and patronage plums as our governor, acting or otherwise. The conventional wisdom says that Schundler is supposed to see the handwriting on the wall and drop out of this race "for the good of the party" as well as for his own political future. The argument is that DiFrancesco doesn't need a nasty party primary draining his resources and damaging his reputation before he has to face likely Democratic nominee Jim McGreevey. Apparently, he couldn't care less about conventional wisdom. He also couldn't care less about Don DiFrancesco or the Republican Party. As for his political future, Schundler has never been one to count on anyone else to pave his way. If he had, he wouldn't be mayor of Jersey City today. Seems to me that Bret Schundler is in this Republican primary to stay, and that is really bad news for the Republicans. The reason conventional wisdom falls flat in making sense of this whole thing is because it is based on the premise that all politicians are alike. They can be "bought off" with promises of things down the road like government appointments and a future candidacy for another office. The other thing that political insiders don't get about Bret Schundler is that he actually believes his own rhetoric. He actually believes that he, and only he, can make a difference. We're talking about a guy who has been willing to go head-to-head with the powerful New Jersey Education Association, otherwise known as the teachers' lobby, and propose school vouchers (using public money to allow parents to send their children to a non-public school), particularly for failing urban school systems like Jersey City, Newark, Camden and Atlantic City. What kind of political deal can you cut with a guy who actually believes he has a responsibility to help urban kids have every opportunity to get a decent education? Right or wrong, Schundler couldn't care less if all 140,000 members of the teachers' union campaign against him. When I asked Schundler recently what it would take for him to drop out of this governor's race and support Don DiFrancesco he told me he would be glad to drop out if the acting governor took up his cause on school vouchers. Since the odds are a million to one against the cautious DiFrancesco doing that, Schundler makes it clear he has no intention of getting out. Fact is, I don't think Schundler cares if he wins this race. He's looking for a statewide forum to express his views and have an honest dialogue with "Donny D." The other reason Schundler isn't getting out is that rightfully he distrusts the political establishment and is highly suspicious of political commitments for things to be done in the future. Case in point, Schundler supported Christie Whitman for Governor in 1993. Whitman promised to lead the effort to create a pilot school voucher program in Jersey City. The problem was that is soon as Governor Whitman caught some heat from the teachers' union, she backed down. She folded. Simply put, she broke her promise to Bret Schundler. This Harvard grad figured out that if you want to institute a controversial policy in Trenton, you better do it yourself. The only way school vouchers will get anywhere in this state is if Bret Schundler becomes governor. While the odds are currently highly against that happening, this very atypical politician is going to do all he can to make waves and create tremendous discomfort for the leadership of the Republican Party in this state. Finally, if Bret Schundler does in fact lose this primary and is no longer the mayor of Jersey City, he can go back to Wall Street and make money the "old fashioned" way through leverage buy-outs and venture capital. Like I said, Bret Schundler is not your typical politician. Steve Adubato, Ph.D. is a commentator, lecturer and former state
legislator. Dr. Adubato is also an Emmy Award-winning television
anchor and syndicated columnist.
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