BRIDGEWATER – Tom Malinowski says he has a kinship with “Liz.”  That would be Liz Cheney, the daughter of a man Democrats generally equate with Darth Vader.

Such is the polarized world of today’s politics.

Malinowski spent an hour or so in a local bar Wednesday night talking about today’s politics and the task immediately before him – winning reelection in a district that has changed about 20 percent because of the 2020 Census.

That’s only part of the story.

The Seventh District has not only changed, it’s gotten more Republican, which is something the congressman and his loyal supporters know well.

One of the 75 or so people jammed into the bar’s back room said the only answer for Dems is to work even harder than they did when Malinowski won what had been a very dependable “red” district in 2018 and 2020.

That didn’t happen last year. Dems were clearly non-motivated, which was one reason Phil Murphy won reelection by a mere 3 points.

The stakes are probably higher this year – for the country that is.

“Democracy is at stake,” said one supporter.

That sentiment permeated Malinowski’s talk.

He spoke of people who do not seem to be on the side of the United States. He said these are people who condemn vaccines when people are dying from COVID, support a truckers’ blockade that harms the U.S. auto industry, compliment Vladimir Putin and so passionately question a legitimate election that it leads to violence.

Malinowski was careful to say he was not condemning all Republicans. Hence, his “kinship” with Cheney who has emerged as one of the few Republicans in Washington to criticize Donald Trump. Besides Cheney, he said there are other responsible Republicans.

But how about his likely opponent, Thomas H. Kean Jr.?

Malinowski said Kean seems responsible “by virtue of his name and nothing else.”

Moving onto more traditional issues, Malinowski was happy to talk about progress to end child poverty and an unemployment rate of less than 4 percent.

But there is also inflation, especially at the gas pump.

There are things that can be done.

Malinowski said he’d be open to suspending the federal gas tax of 18 cents per gallon to ease price increases. Yet, at the same time, he admitted to being “pissed off” that oil companies are reaping enormous profits.

One man listening was Gary Machlica, who said of the congressman, “I think he really knows what the people want and need.”

Machlica lives in Hillsborough, which is no longer in CD-7.

And that crystallizes Malinowski’s reelection challenge.