Menendez takes ‘principled’ stand against the president

By Suzie Chu

To Sen. Robert Menendez, this midterm election is not based solely on his own race for the Senate. Instead it is about shaping the direction in which the country is heading.

Menendez was appointed as the junior U.S. Senator from New Jersey by Gov. Jon Corzine, who resigned from the seat when he became governor. Menendez (D-N.J.) is in a tight race with Republican state Sen. Thomas Kean, Jr (R-N.J.).

“When I speak about changing the direction of the country, it’s about having a democratic majority that will move us in a much different direction,” said Menendez.
The course Menendez proposes is the opposite of President Bush’s, he said. At a talk in the Yvonne Theater on Friday, Oct. 27, where protestors criticized his ethics, Menendez described his “principled” stand against Bush. It began when, as a congressman in 2002, he voted against the war in Iraq.

“It became very clear to me that by not standing with the president, it was saying to the rest of the nation that there is no clear and present danger in the United States, no imminent threat and above all, no evidence of mass destruction,” said Menendez. “So I took a principled vote against the war four years ago, and it was not the popular vote.”

Menendez said the war in Iraq is a key issue in the election and that someone needs to stand up against the president’s decision to send Americans’ sons and daughters into harm’s way.
“I am convinced today, with 2,800 American lives, and $380 billion later and $8 billion each and every month, we continue to be in an endless occupation that is not about terrorism but about civil strife,” he said.

Menendez attacked Kean for saying he would have voted with the president about the war in Iraq without defending that support of the war when pressed.

“A week ago, my opponent and I had a debate at New Jersey 101.5 and the moderator tried four times to get Tom Kean Jr. to defend his support on the war in Iraq,” said Menendez. “Each time during the debate and the 23 times he was asked by reporters afterwards, he wouldn’t answer a very simple question, ‘Was it a mistake to go to war in Iraq?’”

Sen. Tom Kean Jr. is the son of former Gov. Thomas H. Kean Sr. and has been involved in public service throughout his career. Kean is against President Bush’s plan on immigration and plans to lower taxes for working New Jersey families.

Another key issue raised by Menendez was the economy and the gloomy future he sees ahead because of the fiscal policies. He estimates that, by the year 2011, the U.S. will be $12 trillion in debt.

“This president will have borrowed more money than all of the other presidents combined,” he said. “That means not only will that be a drag in our economy in years ahead, but it will clearly have consequences in interest rates, which have a crippling effect within the economy.”
Menendez talked about issues he supports, such as embryonic stem cell research. He spoke of his mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease, and said federal funding for research should be pursued.

He spoke in support of renewable energy sources, a higher minimum wage and the right for a woman to choose. He believes Kean is supporting position after position in line with Bush, and said there needs to be a voice in the Senate to speak out against the president.

“If we want to change the direction of the country, we must send someone that will stand up to the president, not [someone] who will consistently vote with the president,” he said. “That’s what this election is all about.”