Judging the Judgment

Politics is about judgment. Hopefully, good judgment.

Legislators exercise judgment.

Political parties exercise judgment.

And ultimately, voters exercise judgment.

Political parties must decide what causes to champion, but also who should become the public face of those causes.

Currently, voter identification has become a statewide issue after it was recently revealed that about 6,600 illegal immigrants were found on the voter rolls of New Jersey. This is not a good thing.

Governor Mikie Sherrill indicated she is open to considering voter identification legislation. We shall see what comes of that and to what extent.

Republicans are making efforts to demanding action to address the issue. But if Republicans genuinely believe voter identification is currently one of the most important election integrity issues facing New Jersey, then they should treat it like one.

Serious issues deserve serious messengers.

Instead, Republican leadership has chosen Senator Parker Space (LD24)—the very legislator whose public career has become defined by one controversy after another, and questionable judgment.

Republicans pointed to Space’s long-pending bill S1733 as the vehicle to move the reform efforts forward. But since its introduction in January, the bill has attracted little to no support and only one co-sponsor. Not exactly something one would call a serious effort to push serious legislation.

Further, based upon his public history, why would GOP leaders choose Parker Space as the public official to become the face of legislation that even some Republicans argue could disproportionately affect minority voters?

What made Republican leaders look at Space’s record and conclude:

“Yes. He’s the person we want representing us on one of the most politically sensitive issues currently in America.”

This is, after all, the public official who posed for a picture in front of a Confederate flag with his wife, Sussex County Commissioner Jill Space, bearing the words “If the South Would’ve Won, We Would’ve Had It Made.”

He commented on his social media post of this picture writing “I Hope No One is Offended! LOL!”

Even members of his own party questioned his judgment. The NJ Herald reported that Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick called the photo “troublesome.”

This is the same public official who, according to reports, sports what appears to be a Confederate flag tattoo on the top of his left arm which has generated controversy for years.

In 2015, the State Assembly voted 75–0 to condemn the official use of the Confederate flag.

Not surprisingly, Space was the only abstention in the entire chamber.

This is the same public official who posted a picture on social media of a family outing in New York where apparently one of the highlights of the day was a picture with a so called “Brothaaa!”

This is the same public official who referred to Kate Matteson, a Sussex County mom who challenged him in a 2017 election, as a “BITCH” numerous times in a single interview. Click to listen.

The incident even resulted in then Governor Chris Christie calling on Space to apologize.

This is the same public official who fed roadkill to former Congressman Scott Garrett without his knowledge while he attended an event at Space Farms. According to a Chasing News video, hosted by former New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Bill Spadea, a reporter followed the Space Farms roadkill truck as it pulled roadkill off the road and turned it into food for their carnivores. The video notes that for 10 years (about 14 years ago) Space Farms had contracts with various counties and municipalities in which the zoo was paid to remove dead carcasses from the road. They still do.

At about 3 minutes, 50 seconds of the video, the reporter notes:

“The Space family was sponsoring the Sussex County Republican picnic at Space Farms one year and then Congressman Scott Garrett was enjoying the venison and said…”
The video cuts to Parker Space, who continues the story about the Congressman:

“This is great. He says, what is this?

Oh my god, that’s roadkill.

“It’s not uncommon for us to ah, eh eat off-road ourselves.”

This is the same public official who has a pet groundhog at Space Farms named “Stonewall Jackson” in honor of the Civil War Confederate General. People may reasonably wonder why, of all the figures in American history, was this name chosen.

Some Space supporters may dismiss all these incidents simply as personal expression. Others may dismiss them as harmless tradition.

Despite these controversies, Space still has his political team behind him.

Reasonable people may disagree about what all this means.

But many others see these incidents as symbols of slavery, segregation, and racial oppression.

But this was not just one careless photograph.

It was not one careless remark.

It was not just one isolated controversy.

At what point does a series of incidents like these exhibit a pattern of questionable judgment?

At what point should this pattern of judgment become a concern to taxpayers?

At what point does this type of judgment become unacceptable to people?

No reasonable person can deny that the Confederate flag is among the most politically divisive symbols in America. That fact alone should have caused Republican leaders to ask a simple question. Is this really the messenger we want?

Unfortunately, the controversy does not end there.

In the early 1980s, construction workers uncovered the remains of three enslaved African American men.

Their names were Tom, Dan, and John.

Rather than immediately receiving the dignity of a proper burial, their remains apparently ended up at Space Farms Museum, where they remained for approximately three decades before finally being laid to rest in 2012.

How does a person even begin to think about that?

Not museum curiosities. Not historical artifacts.

Human beings.

For nearly thirty years.

How does something like that happen?

Even more striking is the timeline.

By the time those men finally received a proper burial in 2012, Space was hardly a private citizen. He had already served as a Sussex County Commissioner since 2010.

Public symbols matter. Public behaviors matter.

Political parties should know they matter.

Public officials should know they matter.

If they do not, they have no business being a public official.

Politics is built on credibility.

And credibility depends upon judgment.

This is a political reality.

At some point, incidents like these stops being just history.

It becomes evidence of the quality of a person’s judgment.

And judgment is exactly what voters are entitled to evaluate.

Because leadership is not merely about the legislation you sponsor.

It is about the judgment you exercise.

And sometimes, before a politician ever says a word...

...the messenger has already spoken.