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Schundler looks to gather support at GOP Convention
Originally appeared in the Jersey Journal on 08/05/00
PHILADELPHIA - While thousands of Republicans from
around the country feted their presidential nominee, George W.
Bush, Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler was running an early,
subtle and somewhat effective campaign for New Jersey
governor.
Between appearances at GOP-related parties such as a
Thursday tribute luncheon for Bush's wife, Laura, Schundler
threw his own three-night affair, busing in Hudson County
volunteers and hosting an audience of hundreds of Central and
South Jersey Republicans.
Schundler hasn't officially announced his intentions to claim the
GOP nomination for governor, but he ran a mild campaign
Tuesday through Thursday at a cost of just more than $50,000.
With the national party leadership showing a softer side this
year, the conservatives who have in the past taken the pulpit
had time to visit Schundler's gala.
That fact, said some, underlines the level of respect the only
Republican mayor in the Democratic stronghold of Hudson
County has earned.
Multimillionaire Steve Forbes, who sought the GOP nomination
for president this year, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich
and former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean were among the
prominent Republicans to speak at Schundler's function in the
basement of the Congregation Rodeph Shalom, about seven
miles from the actual convention at the First Union Center.
Forbes, the former chairman of Gov. Christie Whitman's
campaign finance committee, went so far Wednesday as to call
Schundler the next governor.
Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp -
Bob Dole's vice presidential running mate in 1996, who spoke at
the Orthodox synagogue Tuesday night -- offered Schundler his
support for any statewide office.
But Kean, who spoke Thursday, fell short of outright support
for the Hudson County Republican Party co-chairman, though
he said Schundler is qualified for state and national office.
"I was never ahead in one poll until the day of the election,
when I won," Kean said. "It's not all about name recognition. I
can't support him yet, though. It's a little to early to support
anyone at this point."
But Schundler, who grabbed the national spotlight briefly in
1992 when he first gained control of City Hall, made seemingly
effective pitches of his accomplishments as head of New
Jersey's second-largest city.
Among the exploits he listed were waterfront development, a
decrease in crime and the advancement of educational choice,
which includes school vouchers and charter schools.
Ron Wood, 59, a retired machinist from Cherry Hill, appeared to
have gotten the message.
"We're going to campaign for Bret. He seems like an honest
individual," said Wood, who like Schundler defected from the
Democratic Party about a decade ago.
And if primary voters think like Wood, Schundler stands a
chance to beat state Assembly Speaker Jack Collins,
R-Woodstown, and state Senate President Donald DiFrancesco,
R-Union, both of whom have expressed interest in the state's
top post.
"I don't even know who they (Collins and DiFrancesco) are.
Anyway, Bret reached out to us, and I've never received
anything from the other two," said Wood, who together with
his wife, Alice, attended the Schundler event all three evenings.
Schundler labeled his gathering a chance for people unable to
obtain coveted convention credentials to experience the
convention process.
And it seemed to work well for the 41-year-old former Wall
Street investment banker, a Westfield native.
"He has a hell of a chance," said Bill Harris, 60, of Clementon.
"All he's got to do is come down here."
A major theme running through this year's convention was the
GOP's inclusion of minorities, something Harris, an
African-American, said need not be pointed out.
But Schundler noted that more than seven years ago he talked
about inclusion, an ideal he said his administration and the
crowd reflected. On all three nights, numerous Hispanics,
Indians and African-Americans joined the crowd that
occasionally swelled to about 800 people.
One Schundler aide said his boss has the right political stuff.
"In municipal government you have to deal with everyday
people, and when you're talking about people like DiFrancesco,
they're used to dealing with lobbyists and politicians and that's
who they see as the Republican Party," said Jose Arango, a
Schundler and Hudson County Republican Party co-chairman.
Arango said the appearance at Schundler's gatherings of such
GOP icons as Kemp and House Majority Whip Dick Armey, a
Texas conservative, shows the mayor has national credibility.
But some Hudson GOP faithful, who at times have been at odds
with Schundler, would not comment on the mayor's search for
supporters.
Another observer, a Democrat, found Schundler to be on the
right road to Trenton.
"He was glowing," said Jersey City Ward F Councilwoman
Melissa Holloway, who said she took the three-day affair as a
chance to bolster her possible bid for mayor next year. "I was
listening to some of the conversations. I even asked a few
people, and they loved him.
"It was a good political move. He's going to the heart and soul
of the Republican Party and addressing their needs. He's taking
the same philosophy he used here and applying it on a state
level," she said.
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