Posted on 10/25/2005 12:21:03 PM PDT by GreenFreeper
By Monica Yant Kinney
Inquirer Columnist
So I'm freezing my tail off on a bridge spanning the Delaware River yesterday, wondering how Petty's Island became the political equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle.
Strange things happen here, and I'm not just talking about the two bald eagles that flew overhead, as if on cue, while Doug Forrester made yet another pin-striped pitch for the antiestablishment tree-hugger vote.
He's a Republican, remember?
It's not your fault for forgetting.
I, too, have had a hard time distinguishing one self-made multizillionaire candidate from the other.
Democrat Jon Corzine is everything you expect in a new-money liberal.
He cares deeply for the destitute. He wants to ease middle-class taxpayers' pain. And, while he's at it, he'd like to pass ethics reforms that force politically connected pigs to look elsewhere for their meals.
And Forrester? Ditto. To all of it.
He's a moderate who supports a woman's right to choose and leans even more to the left when it comes to preserving Petty's Island.
Forrester probably confused voters even more when he flip-flopped on an issue more radioactive than a polluted piece of Mother Earth.
When asked in a debate last week whether he favored using state money to fund embryonic stem-cell research, Forrester did not say "no," even though "no" is his official stance and the answer party faithful long to hear.
Instead, he said: "There are few things that are more exciting than stem-cell research."
It should have been Corzine standing on that bridge, emoting into the wind about how national treasures like those bald eagles deserve better than to be shooed off Petty's Island to make way for luxury condos.
Corzine is the Democrat. He's supposed to be the environmental guy.
Instead, it was Forrester pulling a crumpled $1 bill from his pocket, accusing his opponent of giving "new meaning to green politics."
Forrester sees Petty's Island, in Pennsauken, as a "textbook case" of all that ails New Jersey.
And what a dense read it is, this saga of pay-to-play politics, eminent domain and thuggery set on an industrial island with toxic soil and priceless views of the Philadelphia skyline.
Many VPDs - Very Powerful Democrats - want to turn Petty's Island over to high-end housing and golf.
An unlikely coalition of lefties, owner/polluter Citgo and Forrester envision a kinder, gentler nature preserve.
Corzine has been strangely silent on what's best for the island.
He's more focused on the pollution and making sure Citgo pays to clean up its mess either way.
If Forrester is bucking Republican tradition by going even a little bit green, he's also playing against type by big-footing in small-town planning.
Democrat-controlled Pennsauken desperately wants the fantasy island project to become reality.
And judging by the protest at the foot of the bridge, the locals resent a would-be governor claiming he knows what's best for Pennsauken.
Of more pressing concern for Forrester is whether the role-playing wins him votes. He's still trailing Corzine in the polls, you see.
Petty's Island advocate Bob Shinn tells me that he's a registered Republican who usually votes Democrat.
But even though Corzine has the environmental credentials, he won't get Shinn's vote.
"For a Republican," Shinn concedes of his man, Forrester, "he's deviated from the script a lot."
Charley Carey braved the wind on the bridge, hoping to be swayed.
"Customarily, I vote against whoever is in power," says Carey, a Pennsauken school board member. "Turnover is good."
Carey arrived knowing he's dead-set against development on the island, yet on the fence about Forrester.
He leaves unwilling to commit to either candidate.
"I wish one of them would blow my doors off," Carey explains. "They're as good as identical."
Speaking of birds of a feather, the Petty's Island eagles really did make an unscheduled fly-by during Forrester's speech. If only they could vote.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact Monica Yant Kinney at 856-779-3914 or myant@phillynews.com. Read her recent work at http://go.philly.com/yantkinney.
I overheard a female NJ voter in my office talking about Corzine/Forrester. She said she likes Corzine a lot. He doesn't seem like a politician. She said Forrester scares her. He's so extreme. Just another reason to repeal the 19th.
FReepmail me to be added or removed to the ECO-PING list!
Probably not eco-ping worthy but its an interesting look at the politics of environmentalism. Very typical liberal media but at least they hint at the hypocracy of the left, "Many VPDs - Very Powerful Democrats - want to turn Petty's Island over to high-end housing and golf."
I'm a Republican and an environmentalist, but I don't have a clue what this article is really about :~D
Sure she wasn't talking about you?
Yeah it is a rather poorly written article, though I think the main theme is that the Republican favors conservation while the Democrat favors building condos. Apparently Monica couldn't get over that stumbling block.
Or playing the squeeze.
Yep. I'm sure. I heard her say "Forrester is too extreme." She wouldn't say anything like that about me because I don't discuss politics at work.
Unfortunately Forester is not my kind of Republican but he will get my vote by default because Corzine is the ultimate left wing liberal in this race. Its an uphill fight for any Republican in blue state NJ, even Florio lost by only 25,000 votes and I thought everyone hated him.
Corzine is tied into Kushner and the developers, along with the rest of the corrupt NJ Democrat Machine. This we know for sure. So on issues like development of sensitive lands or abuse of Eminent Domain, Corzine will be on the wrong side, every time.
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