Former Gov. Whitman to Brookdale students: 'We've gotten lazy about our democracy'

Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman delivered a message to Brookdale Community College students Thursday, and it wasn’t the typical “get out and vote” exhortation politicos like to proffer.

“We’ve gotten lazy about our democracy,” Whitman said. “We’ve taken it for granted, and that’s why I think we’re in a very perilous place right now.”

Speaking with political science department chair Jonathan Moschberger before a conference room full of students on the college's Middletown campus, Whitman called for a revamping of educational curriculum to emphasize civics on par with math and English.

“People don’t understand how our government works,” she said.

A survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center last year found that less than half of respondents could name all three branches of government, a quarter could not name a single branch, and a quarter could not name any of the freedoms guarantees by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (which protects freedoms of speech, religion, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances).

Moreover, Whitman said, civics education should not paper over “mistakes” in American history.

“We ought to learn about our history – all of our history,” she said. “I’m not talking about just the nice parts. We’re human and we’re an experiment and we’ve made mistakes and we should understand them.”

She added, “Nowadays we barely teach our mistakes – we shouldn’t hide them. We should be willing to discuss everything so we’re not making the same mistakes again. We should watch out for trends that are developing that may lead us to a bad place.”

Interestingly, Whitman on Thursday defended her most controversial public move. As administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in 2001, she declared the air around Ground Zero in the wake of 9/11 to be safe. Thousands of first responders and rescue workers who didn’t wear respirators were reported to have become sick and died in the ensuing years from toxins emitted by the smoldering wreckage.

“While the air quality in lower Manhattan in general as far as the scientists were telling me was safe to breathe,” she told the students, “every time I always said, ‘But on the (wreckage) pile you’ve got to wear a respirator, and they didn’t.’”

‘Frail’ and ‘hanging on’

Asked by Moschberger if U.S. political factions ever have been so at odds with each other, Whitman replied, “Not in my lifetime…I am seriously worried about our democracy. It is frail and it is hanging on.”

Citing recent resignations of some moderate members of Congress who decided “it just isn’t worth it,” she blamed political parties for polemical behavior.

“People don’t always understand how tight the control is from the parties,” she said, recalling that in 1997, when she explored a run for a U.S. Senate seat, “I went to talk to the Republican Senatorial campaign committee and I was told point blank: ‘If you say one word about campaign finance reform, you’ll get no help from us.’”

Moschberger asked Whitman if it’s even possible for two people with different politics to date and fall in love.

“Nowadays they don’t get close -- their parents wouldn’t allow it,” she said. “People should have their own opinions and have a discussion about it and understand that while the other person may disagree with you that doesn’t make them evil – that doesn’t make them your enemy.”

Another run?

Twenty-six years after she left office, Whitman remains New Jersey’s only woman governor.

“I’m disappointed, very disappointed – it’s ridiculous,” she said of that fact. “We (women) are more than half the electorate. We don’t all think alike. But we do have to do better with that.”

Asked if she would consider throwing her hat back in the ring when Gov. Phil Murphy’s second term ends, Whitman balked.

“We need young people,” she said. “I’m 77. I’m hopeful every once in a while they will talk to older people and get some wisdom, but really you need new ideas, you need new energy.”

She closed by telling the students, “It’s worth the battle.”

Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Whitman to Brookdale students: 'We've gotten lazy about our democracy'