By Brigid Callahan Harrison
LINK: https://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2018/10/bob_hugin_has_a_responsibility_to_tell_us_where_he.html
According to a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll, more than 90 percent of New Jerseyans have enough information to make up their minds.
For most New Jerseyans, part of your decision may rest on whether you believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a California college psychology professor who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that she was “100 percent certain” that Judge Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers in the 1980s.
Are we supposed to believe she made this up?
But maybe you were more swayed by the testimony of Kavanaugh, who passionately and vehemently denied the accusations.
Maybe your views have nothing to do with the sexual assault allegations, but rather stem from whether you agree of disagree with Kavanaugh views on issues that the court is likely to decide, including abortion rights, whether a sitting U.S. president should face criminal prosecution while in office, immigration, health care and so on.
But chances are you have an opinion. And so does 96 percent of the Senate.
But Bob Hugin, the person who wants to be sitting in the Senate representing us is among the minute proportion of the population that is sitting on the fence.
That’s not fair to New Jersey.
And here’s why: the Kavanaugh nomination is a partisan litmus test, and New Jersey has a right to know how Hugin would act in the Senate when his constituents want one thing and his party wants another. Tight Senate votes are routine given the partisan divide in the Senate, and the cross pressures faced by senators who represent states in which their party is not in the majority are enormous. Hugin needs to let us assess how he would stand up to that pressure.
In political science, we call this a model of representation. Some legislators believe it is their obligation to vote as “instructed delegates,” taking the position that their constituents favor. Others act as “trustees,” voting their own views even if it differs from their constituents.
I asked Nicholas Iacovella, Hugin’s spokesperson, about how Hugin would represent New Jersey if he were elected to the Senate, and he said Hugin “was not going to let an opinion poll say what is right.”
But he continued to sit on the fence on Kavanaugh.
NJ Advance Media is investigating sexual harassment in all areas of public life, from the Statehouse to city halls, sports teams to academia, private companies to public agencies.
Before Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony, Hugin told WPIX New York’s Marvin Scott that “I haven’t heard anything” that says that “I wouldn’t vote for him, today,” I think he will be approved.” Even before the assault allegations were aired, Hugin had to use the passive “he will be approved,” rather than explaining why he would support Kavanaugh. Iacovella read me that exact statement of non-support support in an interview.
According to the New Jersey Globe, Hugin demurred when asked at a press conference whether he believed Kavanaugh, saying “I don’t have any reason to disbelieve anybody. I don’t have any evidence that says I should not believe anybody. I’m looking forward to the FBI investigation in the next couple days and finding if things are corroborated or not, but I have no reason to not believe anybody who’s testified under oath as to what they’ve said.”
Here’s the thing: you can’t believe both Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh.
And if you want to be in the Senate, you need to pick a side.
Brigid Callahan Harrison is professor of political science and law at Montclair State University, where she teaches courses in American government. A frequent commentator on state and national politics, she is the author of five books on American politics. Follow her on Twitter @BriCalHar.
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