South Jersey Race Shaping Up as One of Nation's Most Competitive

The race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) -- who has spent 26 years representing a South Jersey district that stretches from the Delaware River to the Atlantic Ocean, and includes the heavily Jewish suburb of Cherry Hill -- is shaping up to be among the most competitive in the nation.

On one side is State Sen. John Adler (D-N.J.), a 49-year-old attorney, serving as a lawmaker in a part-time position in the state, who is also a longtime member of Temple Emanuel in Cherry Hill.

On the other side is Chris Myers, the 42-year-old Republican mayor of Medford, N.J., who also happens to be a vice president of business development at the Lockheed Martin Corporation.

Sen. John Adler

The Rothenberg Political Report, a nonpartisan campaign newsletter, lists the race as one of 27 contests it considers virtual toss-ups. Although the report does claim that the Democratic candidate may have the slightest of edges, the seat has been occupied by a Republican for decades.

Adler -- a Harvard law-school graduate -- does command a sizable fundraising advantage; as of June 30, his campaign had $1,463,747 to Myers' paltry $155,406.

Myers -- a former lieutenant in the U.S. Navy who earned a master's of public administration degree from Cornell University -- noted that his campaign had to spend heavily for the GOP primary, and he hopes to raise a substantial sum for the general election.

In separate interviews, both candidates were eager to claim pro-Israel bona fides. Adler visited Israel in 2002, during the height of the second intifada; he was set to go again last year with New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, but the trip was canceled after the governor was seriously injured in a car accident.

Myers noted that he's traveled to Israel multiple times through Lockheed Martin, a weapons developer that does business with both defense contractors in the Jewish state and with the Israel Defense Force, particularly in the naval arena.

Adler said that while he was not opposed to America's role as a broker between the Israeli and Palestinian leadership, "Israel is the country that has to face the consequences of negotiations. I would not want to have America force upon Israel some short-term agreements that the Palestinians aren't willing to live by."

Mayor Chris Myers

Myers said that, if elected, he would push for Congress to assist Israel in bolstering its anti-ballistic missile capabilities to ward off threats from Iran, including the possibility of an Iranian strike utilizing conventional missiles.

"You can't give your opponent all your options up front," said Myers, referring to how the United States should deal with Iran. "You've got to keep all options on the table, including the use of force, to meet a policy goal. You've got to take guys" like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, "at their word."

Differences on Energy and Taxes
While the two politicians didn't present large substantive differences regarding how best to confront the threat posed by Iran, the gap between them widened on issues like energy and tax policy.

As gas prices soared to more than $4 a gallon this summer, oil and energy have leapt to the front of the line of top-tier election issues, with House Republicans and Democrats entering into a standoff about the merits of offshore drilling as a means of easing the pains people feel every time they pull up to the pump.

Broadly speaking, Republicans have supported the measure as a means to boost the supply of domestic oil, and Democrats -- who set the agenda in Congress -- have labeled it an irresponsible plan that could damage the environment without bringing down gas prices.

Myers doesn't oppose offshore drilling, but thinks that both parties have become overly fixated with it.

"The policy goal is to get off foreign oil, so you need to start drilling to do it," said Myers, who said that an immediate solution is drilling for shale oil -- fossil fuel that's chemically extracted from rocks. He said that Colorado alone has a potential 800 billion barrels worth of such oil.

Adler's spokesperson, Mark Warren, said that the technology does not yet exist to make shale oil a viable alternative.

Adler said that he opposes the expansion of offshore drilling rights to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and that more effort should be made to drill in the western portion of the Gulf of Mexico, where drilling is currently permitted by federal law. He also suggested tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to lower gas prices -- something most Republicans oppose.

Both candidates said that federal funds should support the development of solar, wind and other forms of renewable energy technology.

"We have a real opportunity to improve our economy if we can develop green technologies that can make us be an exporter of products instead of an exporter of money," said Adler.

Myers harshly criticized Adler's record on taxes. He claimed that in 16 years in the New Jersey State Senate, Adler had voted for 43 tax increases.

"I just can't see someone that has ruined the state of New Jersey in Trenton go down to Washington," declared Myers.

Warren, Adler's spokesman, fired back.

"That's pretty hypocritical of Mayor Meyers since he voted for $7.8 million in new government spending in 2002 and increased the Medford budget by more than 50 percent in that time. Chris Myers is the last person who should be talking about tax votes."