The national sound-bite moment — the ‘Shame on You’ clips you’ve probably been seeing this morning — came shortly into the second half of the gubernatorial debate between debate between Democratic Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli, Wednesday night at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center.
It started with Sherrill’s dubious statement that Ciattarelli, through his medical publishing company and later, an app she said he developed, played a part in the deaths of tens of thousands of New Jerseyans during the opioid crisis.
Sherrill said Galen Publishing put out “misinformation” and “propaganda” about how opioids were safe — as if Galen Publishing (which we’re guessing no one who was watching was familiar with) was the acknowledged go-to medical source on anything.
It led to Ciattarelli starting his response by simply saying, ‘Shame on You’ — to which Sherrill said the same thing right back.
From there, the gloves came off. All sense of decorum was gone — and both sides got in the type of shots that played to their base.
Sherrill said Ciattarelli’s campaign was under federal investigation. Ciattarelli threw in that he got to walk during his college graduation. It went downhill from there.
All this from a question about unemployment, one of the few business-based queries in the hour-long event.
Was there a winner in the spat? Not likely. It’s hard to imagine the exchange helped either candidate move the needle for those who may still be undecided.
Was there a winner overall? There certainly wasn’t a knockout.
Sherrill again held her own with Ciattarelli (which begs the question: Why has her camp worked so hard to keep them apart during their joint campaign appearances). And if Ciattarelli had the edge in the first debate (that’s how BINJE saw it), it’s fair to say Sherrill may have had the edge Wednesday night.
But here’s what often is overlooked about debates: They are not necessarily about winning the night — or social media — with a sound bite but winning over undecided blocks of voters.
Using that scorecard, Ciattarelli may have won.
You may have missed the moment. It came when Ciattarelli was asked to detail his position on undocumented individuals. As he has been doing of late, Ciattarelli seemingly softened his stance, suggesting that those who have not committed a crime or “scammed” government assistance programs should be put on a “pathway to recognition.”
“Anyone who came here illegally, who has committed crime or has scammed our government assistance program since coming here, has to go back,” he said. “I believe that everyone else should be put on a pathway to recognition. This has always been my position.
“A pathway to recognition means some form of government-issued ID, so we don’t have people living in the shadows or working under a falsified social security number.”
Ciattarelli stopped short of saying citizenship, which he also did in the post-debate five-minute media conference. But by simply suggesting that he was stepping back from a position that all undocumented people need to be deported certainly was the biggest part of the night for the Hispanic community.
Hispanics make up at least 20% of the state. And many feel their vote still is in play.
For background, know this: A willingness to work with law-abiding undocumented people was Ciattarelli’s position for years. After losing to Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021, Ciattarelli worked hard to build a connection to minority communities – and had succeeded. His recent turn that all undocumented workers should be deported (mimicking a stance from Washington), had turned many of them off.
Will this moment turn the tide in the election? We’ll have to wait until the votes are counted on Nov. 4.
But it’s fair to say it impacted voters far more than the typical debate fodder offered Wednesday — including a few bizarre ones, such as when Sherrill suggested Ciattarelli was a “rapists rights” supporter or when Ciattarelli likely became the first candidate in state history to point to the education efforts of Louisiana and Mississippi as a model New Jersey should follow.
Yes, you’ll be seeing the ‘Shame on You’ clip on social media for days.
But as you chuckle, remember this: The loudest debate moments don’t always have the largest impact.
