David Meiswinkle considers himself a radical. And that’s a good thing, he says.

"The Greek word means going to the root," he said. "I go to the root of the problems." Meiswinkle stated that he admires the Founding Fathers, who were radicals in their own time. "They are my heroes," he said. "They started this great experiment in government. They were the beacon for a free world, and risked their lives for their vision. We have lost that direction as a nation."

It is belief in this message that Meiswinkle hopes to bring to the Statehouse in Trenton as a candidate for governor. The divorced father of three believes he would be a good candidate because "I am well-rounded."

Meiswinkle was born February 7, 1950, in Pennsylvania, the oldest of seven children. In 1964, his family moved to Millville, in southern New Jersey. He attended Rutgers College, where he was a preceptor working for the dean of students. Meiswinkle was a student activist, leading and participating in several demonstrations. He also organized the Davidson Reconstruction Committee, a student group for dormitory reform. This is where his interest and involvement in politics was nurtured. He was elected student body president, running on a theme of student power and co-education. Meiswinkle organized a co-education drive to admit females to Rutgers. In 1972, he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree. Meiswinkle served as coordinator of handicapped affairs at Rutgers, securing a grant to buy the first specially equipped handicap-accessible van at the college. He also helped disabled students establish a group that receives funds advocating for the interest of disabled students. This group, Friends of 504, is still in existence today.

He received his master’s degree from New York University, and his juris doctorate from Seton Hall University Law School. Meiswinkle served as a New Brunswick city police officer for 23 years. He was a harsh critic of then-New Brunswick mayor John Lynch Jr., and vigorously pursued corruption in the city. In 2006, Lynch was convicted on tax evasion and fraud charges, and received three years in prison.

In 1989, Meiswinkle became a lawyer. He now works as a per diem attorney for the office of the public defender, assigned to a judge and a public defender team in Middlesex County. He taught philosophy as an adjunct professor at Bergen County Community College, and co-founded the New Brunswick Reporter, a community newspaper that exposed political corruption and published exposés that led to federal investigations.

Meiswinkle worked with former presidential candidate Ross Perot and the Reform Party, eventually becoming the secretary of the New Jersey Reform Party. He served as a delegate to the Reform Party National Convention that endorsed Pat Buchanan as its 2000 presidential candidate. Meiswinkle also made an unsuccessful run for New Brunswick mayor in 1982 and 1986, running against Lynch. He also ran for a position on the New Brunswick City Council in 1984, which was also unsuccessful. His campaign was marred by an effort to intimidate those who would vote for him, he said. Meiswinkle currently lives in East Windsor with two of his children.

Meiswinkle’s views on government are straightforward. "As your governor, I will vigilantly defend our rights," Meiswinkle said on his Web site. "I seek to empower the middle class and protect our standard of living. I will reduce the tax burden on hard-working citizens."

He said he will regain the public’s control of government by implementing the following programs: promoting direct democracy through initiative, referendum and recall; enforcing honest government; and creating jobs and protecting small businesses in the state. With the initiative process, he explained, citizens can create laws when the Legislature fails to act on their issues. "Initiative empowers the people," he said. Referendum allows the citizens to prevent "undesirable laws from getting on the books," he said, and also takes the undesirable law off of the books. Recall allows citizens to vote an elected official out of office when he or she does something contrary to the public will or interest, he said.

What is Meiswinkle’s stance on ethics and political reform? "The public good is an essential value that a politician should have," Meiswinkle said. "Most do not. Lobbyists and many politicians are not thinking about the public good, or the overall welfare of the society. They have selfish profit motives dictating their positions, not enlightened positions."  He continued, "The primary value of a politician should be, ’how can I make for a better society? How can I improve things overall?’" He added, "If the public good is paramount," he asked, "where then do the more selfish interests fit in?"

Meiswinkle said, "Sometimes the interests become so skewed that the selfish interests dominate the entire political process and the people, public good, middle class become alienated from their own government, as if it is a stranger," he said. "All politicians swear allegiance to the [U.S.] Constitution, and to working for the public good...There should be "no double-dipping, dual officeholders."

Environmental/green issues are very important to Meiswinkle, as well. "Green is good," he said. "So is manufacturing. Combine the two. My motto is: Be faithful to the Earth. Treat it sacredly. Spur discovery, giving free reign to those who have the ideas, but not the financial means or political connections to make those ideas materialize into the material world."

Meiswinkle said there should be more oversight on state finances, especially of quasi-government agencies that amass incredible debt through "bonding prerogative. We must be more accountable with government officials double-dipping. Inflating their pensions cannot be tolerated." "Put honest people into government," he continued, "in leadership positions, and lead by example." 

Meiswinkle also courages a roll back of taxes. Regarding spurring the creation of jobs, Meiswinkle said that businesses need an incentive to stay in New Jersey. "Give preference, when possible, to award contracts to New Jersey business," he said. "Give tax incentives and favorable tax enterprise zones. Encourage innovation and new ideas," he continued. "Put some money into developing the alternatives; link the initiative with the university professors and graduate and undergraduate students." He said it is necessary to push at the state level for the rescission of NAFTA and GATT trade agreements that "have cost Americans millions of good-paying jobs. Pressure Washington and all the New Jersey politicians who have input, not only at the state level, but at the federal level to rescind [NAFTA and GATT]."

Teachers should be encouraged to be "innovative and interesting. Teachers should have a passion for their course material. A boring teacher makes for a depressing class," he said. Meiswinkle suggested reviewing all school curricula to see whether what is being taught is "the most beneficial to the students, and over all for the public good." Exorbitant salaries and benefits for top school administrators must be stopped, he said. Provide vouchers where the school situation is "so poor and the student would be disadvantaged by attending that particular school," he continued. "Those bad schools must be addressed with radical procedures if nothing seems to work."

Meiswinkle also wants to see the issue of gangs addressed. "Why is there a need for the gang?" he asked. "We must de-emphasize violence."

Meiswinkle’s running mate is Noelani Musicaro. A licensed insurance agent, Musicaro is a single parent who raised two children: Vanessa, 25, a biologist and musician; and Daniel, 23, a musician and landscaper. "I am very serious about ending social injustice," Musicaro said on Meiswinkle’s Web site. "People are suffering needlessly. Our politicians are ‘bought and sold’ by corporate powers, and as a result, the middle class is burdened, feels helpless, and has a poorer standard of living than in the past."  

"Unlike other candidates, David and I are not professional politicians, and I believe that is our strongest asset," she continued. "We are ordinary middle class folk motivated by a desire for justice and truth. As John Lennon once sung, ‘Just give me the truth.’"