Was it the question he asked, how he asked it — or how he acted after he asked it — that stole the show?
The only certainty from the first gubernatorial debate Sunday night in Lawrenceville — a town hall-style event that featured questions from the audience — is that the effort from Marc Muir, a seventh grader at nearby Saint Ann School, won the night.
Speaking to Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, Muir said:
“I’m only 12 and I’ve already seen one of our U.S. Senators go to prison,” he began.
The crowd started to roar. Almost drowning out his actual question.
“What is your vision to restore public trust in government?” he asked.
A 10-second ovation — one of the longest of the night — continued.
It grew louder when Ciattarelli, appreciating the moment, attempted to fist-bump Muir.
Muir refused. But not necessarily for the reason you might think.
“I had to remain strictly bipartisan,” he said afterward while being the center of a post-even media scrum.
Muir said organizers had given specific instructions: Listen to the response from the candidates; don’t make any facial expressions.
He was good with that.
He acted on his own when the fist-bump offer came, Muir said.
“They didn’t tell me I couldn’t accept any fist bumps from the candidates, but I just wanted to remain as impartial as I could,” he said.
Muir, obviously wise beyond his young years, said he understood his role in the event in real time.
“I have my own beliefs, and at the end of the day, I have the person I support, but also at the end of the day, I’m also here so other voters can also support the candidate they believe is better for New Jersey,” he said.
Muir got the full experience of the random person pushed into a political moment.
Did he feel either candidate answered his question? “I think it was partially answered,” he said.
Is he running for school president at Saint Ann? Maybe next year. This year, he’s hoping to gain a seat on the student council.
Would he like to be governor one day? Don’t rush him, he’s only 12.
But he’s already speaking as if he’s on the stump.
“There’s so much division,” he said. “There’s so much violence going on, and we’re doing too much blaming the other party, blaming the other ideology.
“I believe what we still should be united, because the United States isn’t even united anymore. The United States is really divided now, and I believe that both sides of the aisle have to come together.”
Muir was more than up to date on politics. He talked about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. And the killing of the two Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota.
“It’s ridiculous that people have to worry about getting assassinated and killed or murdered, whatever you want to call it, just because of a belief,” he said.
Violence is never the answer — and never should top the right to free speech, Muir said.
“It’s unacceptable that free speech is being stripped away from a lot of people who just want to express their opinion,” he said. “I think that we need to come together and unite as a nation. That is the most important thing that we can do right now.”
