From the Philly Inquirer -- they had it right!
Stem-cell research a 'political wedge'
By Kaitlin Gurney
Inquirer Trenton Bureau
TRENTON - In a gubernatorial race between two multimillionaires who promise to lower property taxes and clean up corruption, stem-cell research is one issue that presents a stark divide.
U.S. Sen. Jon S. Corzine has made embryonic stem-cell research a centerpiece of his Democratic campaign with a plan to bond $250 million or more to lure cutting-edge biotechnology projects to the state, which he promotes as the "cure corridor" of the United States.
He has mobilized families who hope the research will lead to cures for spinal-cord injuries, diabetes and other diseases to serve as grassroots political organizers, hosting house parties and rallies for his "New Cures Connection" campaign.
Republican businessmen Douglas Forrester rarely discusses stem-cell research. When pressed, he says he supports research on adult stem cells culled from spinal-cord fluid rather than on embryonic stem cells formed during the first days of pregnancy.
President Bush's decision to limit federal funding to embryonic stem-cell lines existing in 2001 was "in the right," Forrester has said.
Stem-cell research is becoming a political "wedge" issue much like abortion, said David Rebovich, a political-science professor at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J.
"Despite the partisan labels, these two guys aren't too distinguishable to the casual political observer," Rebovich said. "Their positions on this issue are so distinct they might motivate unaffiliated voters."
Forrester's position appeals to conservative groups like New Jersey's League of American Families. Executive director John Tomicki condemns Corzine for "running on hope and hype" and accuses him of "speculating" with taxpayers' money.
Some Republican political consultants fear Forrester's position could alienate independent voters, who are traditionally liberal on social issues.
"There's no question in my mind that the majority of New Jersey voters support stem-cell research," said David Murray, a GOP consultant. "The question is whether Corzine decides to exploit this issue on network television."
While Democrats are mostly united in support of stem-cell research, they are divided on how to fund it.
Corzine's proposal would establish a public-private partnership he calls the Edison Innovation Fund, which would combine state bond money with investments from biotechnology firms and private foundations to spur embryonic stem-cell research and offer research funding for nanotechnology and alternative energy. The state could invest more than $250 million if companies contribute heavily, Corzine advisers say.
Corzine's plan runs counter to one championed by acting Gov. Richard J. Codey, who came close to challenging Corzine for the Democratic nomination for governor.
Codey's proposal, focused exclusively on stem-cell research, is designed to lure prized scientists to the state with a $150 million laboratory for the fledgling Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey and a $230 million bond referendum for research grants.
The plan encountered opposition in June from legislators reluctant to commit to a potentially controversial proposal before their fall reelection campaigns, but the Codey administration is planning to push it again in the December lame-duck session.
Corzine has supported Codey's effort to build the laboratory using $150 million in bond money left over from the state's share of the national tobacco settlement but believes his own plan is superior for funding research.
"It's not that the governor's plan is wrong. It's just that the senator's plan is an A-plus and Codey's plan is a B-plus," said Carl Van Horn, a senior policy adviser for Corzine. "We believe the Edison Innovation plan is a better mousetrap."
Some stem-cell advocates who favored Codey's plan have defected to Corzine's camp. Ira Black, a neuroscientist at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and a founding director of the Stem Cell Institute, said Codey's hope of passing his plan in the lame-duck session "just isn't realistic."
Black praised Corzine's Edison Innovation Fund as a bold proposal that would "galvanize the state, moving biotechnology forward in a way that should have been done a long time ago."
The Democrats' competing stem-cell plans, he noted, "are interesting melodrama that should be observed with a great deal of humor."
Other advocates, such as Tricia Riccio, a Warren County mother of a quadriplegic teenager, said she had not given up hope for Codey's proposals.
She is, however, the kind of voter Forrester fears: Riccio said she and her family would vote for Corzine solely because he supported embryonic stem-cell research, which she believes could someday allow her son Carl to walk again.
"My husband and I are lifelong Republicans who switched our parties because of the need for stem-cell research," Riccio said. "This issue matters more for us than anything else."
John Hlinko @ 09:23 PM
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