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Schundler to students: Terrorists want to kill you
Originally appeared in the Bergen Record on Friday, November 2, 2001
Bret D. Schundler, the Republican nominee for governor, returned Thursday to his alma mater, Westfield High School, where he roamed the hallways 25 years ago as a popular All-State lineman and Harvard-bound student who could talk circles around friends and teachers.
But Schundler did not regale the 850 students packed into the auditorium with memories of his gridiron glory. He talked bluntly -- perhaps too bluntly -- about the need for the next governor to stockpile vaccines and beef up the state police counterintelligence operations.
"The terrorists do want to kill as many of you as they possibly can," he said, triggering a ripple of disbelief through the crowd. He then added, "They want to kill me and my family, too."
Trailing both in the polls and in the fundraising race, Schundler sharpened his message on the stump Thursday, depicting himself as a proven crime-fighter and a leader with the mettle and experience to take charge during a time of crisis -- such as a bioterrorist attack.
"The only place these diseases have continued is in weapons warehouses. But now you have folks who want to use them to kill innocent families," he told the students. "And all I can say is that we have to know that. And we have to have the courage and conviction to defend ourselves against that kind of deadly strike."
Later in the day Schundler's opponent, Democrat Jim McGreevey, continued to hammer on the issue of gun control. Outside the West Orange Police Department, accepting the endorsement of a group called Handgun Control, McGreevey said Schundler is trying to run away from comments he made during the GOP primary to attract the support of gun owners.
Herbert Stern, a former federal judge and U.S. attorney for New Jersey, endorsed McGreevey at the West Orange event and explicitly tied the gun issue to fears of terrorism.
"If ever there was a time when we had to get guns and concealed weapons off the streets and out of people's pockets, this is that time," Stern said, "because this country of ours is living in a period when we're under domestic attack."
During the primary, Schundler said he would sign a law allowing residents to carry licensed weapons concealed from public view -- if it passed the Legislature and had widespread public support. He said so-called right-to-carry laws had helped reduce crime in other states.
But in August, Schundler said his position had been misunderstood. He said he would support only a minor change in existing gun laws, to more freely allow right-to-carry permits in special circumstances, such as when a woman has been threatened.
Schundler said Thursday that McGreevey has been "outrageously dishonest" about his views on guns, particularly through radio and television ads. He said he would preserve and enforce existing gun laws, and asserted that as Jersey City mayor, he drastically reduced violent crime.
He also said violent crime has increased in Woodbridge while McGreevey has been mayor. Statistics show violent crime in Woodbridge did rise by 13 percent -- from 306 incidents to 347 -- between 1991 and 2000. During the same period, while Schundler was mayor of Jersey City, violent crime there fell 37 percent, from 4,573 crimes in 1992 to 2,885 in 2000.
However, overall crime declined in both towns during the candidates' tenures.
Schundler remained upbeat and positive on the stump Thursday, asserting that he can win despite mounting evidence in polls that McGreevey has surged to a comfortable lead -- as much as 17 percentage points in one poll.
Schundler and his allies said they are banking on a number of variables to work in their favor in the final days of the race.
Polls, they say, are unreliable indicators in New Jersey politics, because most voters don't make up their minds until the last 48 hours of the race. Campaign officials recalled how Christie Whitman trailed in the polls in 1993, only to eke out a 26,000-vote victory over Gov. Jim Florio.
"You are talking to a candidate who was never once ahead in the polls," said former Gov. Thomas H. Kean, referring to his narrow 1981 victory over Florio. Kean campaigned with Schundler Thursday morning in downtown Westfield, where Schundler was partly raised.
Schundler has aligned himself in recent days with moderate Republicans. He released a television ad done with New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and mailed an endorsement by President Bush to some 600,000 households. Kean, who signed on as Schundler's campaign co-chairman in June, was the latest to help on the stump.
But Schundler did not shy away from his socially conservative positions at the high school auditorium. He outlined his staunch opposition to abortion by recalling how he felt his daughter, Shaylin, kicking "through the womb of my wife."
"That wasn't an animal. It wasn't a Martian. That was my daughter," he said. "When she was born, it changed where she was, but it didn't change who she was. I accept that some people believe that unborn children are not human beings. But I don't."
Schundler admitted that in New Jersey, where voters generally support abortion rights, his position is not politically popular.
"It doesn't get you a lot of votes. It costs you votes," he told the audience. "But sometimes you have to look for a leader who is actually serious about questions of right and wrong."
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