Letter To The Editor: Chivukula Will Help Obama Break Congressional Log-Jam

To the editor

Our current representatives to congress come before us for re-election with the lowest approval rating – 10% -- since Gallup started polling it in 1974.  But we keep returning these back-benchers to Congress to bicker and stonewall, against the will of 90% of us.

In the NJ - 7th Congressional District, incumbent Leonard Lance, is being challenged by the Deputy Speaker of the NJ Assembly Upendra Chivukula. The contrast is clear. Mr. Lance is a third generation politician. Mr. Chivukula is a first-generation American, an engineer with Bell Labs, with ten years of local and state public service.

Mr. Chivukula is a people-person negotiator who starts with the idea of resolving divisive conflict, not contributing ideology to it. Unlike the incumbent, he brings to his work, not the conventional skills of the adversarial lawyer, but the uncommon training of the engineer.

The engineer is trained to do his work based on science, tempered by realism and judged by dependability. “An engineer's job … is to ensure things work, that the bridge stays up or the dam holds. … [Engineers] focus on the long term; buildings have no merit if they will collapse after a few years.” (The Economist, 19 Apr 09)

As we look to register our discontent with this obstructionist congressman, the Democrats have put up a good choice. Upendra Chivukula will help President Obama break the congressional log-jam and deserves a close look and thoughtful vote from the NJ-7th District.

Joseph d’Oronzio

Summit, NJ