Yossi Gestetner

The  New Jersey Gubernatorial race gives the Orthodox Jewish NJ voters (or perhaps any group vote) a voice on the national political stage.

During presidential election, such states as NY and NJ are mostly in the tank for the Democrats, with comfortable margins, thus limiting the affect what Jewish voters can have on a national race. The upcoming NJ gubernatorial race is however, down to the middle, if we believe the recent polls. National political observers want to see if the Democrats, using all its star power and money, can hold on to the state. Or will the Republicans capitalize on the national 10% unemployment rate, outrages Washington bailout spending, the already increased taxes (such as on tobacco products), socialized health care, etc, to use all of them to snatch the state from the Democrats.

The vote may come down to less than a few thousand voters, again, if we believe the polls. This means that the average reader in NJ can and will affect the outcome. Therefore, if you are one of those NJ’ans, make sure to go out and vote this November third. Regardless if you want to vote for Governor Corzine because you like his tax hikes and wrecked state budget, or regardless if you want to vote for Christie become you want him to clean up NJ and in the same time send a message to Obama that the US is still a capitalist society, just go out and vote.

Don’t expect your life to change overnight, no matter who wins, but expect your vote to influence the national political debate in the coming weeks.