WAYNE – Average folk often ask the most direct questions.

Mikie Sherrill experienced that Thursday when she met Joseph Weller, a Vietnam vet now in a wheelchair, during a visit to Preakness Health Care Center.

“What are we going to do about Trump?”  Weller asked Sherrill, a Navy vet and the Democratic candidate in CD-11.

Sherrill seemed a bit taken aback, but responded that Democrats have a good chance to “flip the House,”  implying that was a good place to start.

Weller was not done. He also brought up recent New York Times reports about the president’s questionable financial and tax activities.

Sherrill said it’s surprising that it took so long for such reports to surface. In a departure from the recent practice, Donald Trump did not release his tax returns during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Sherrill was also asked (by the press this time) to respond to advertisements Republican candidate Jay Webber put up this week on his website. One calls Sherrill a “Pelosi Democrat” and the others portray Webber as an advocate for women. That’s pertinent, because Webber was one of only two “no” votes earlier this year against an equal pay bill in the state Assembly.

Webber’s ads say he supports equal pay for equal work and that he opposed the bill in question because it was simply bad legislation. He has said New Jersey law already bans pay discrimination and that the bill could lead to costly litigation with lawyers being the main beneficiaries.

Sherrill isn’t buying it, saying Webber’s vote speaks for itself.

As for House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Sherrill long has said that if she gets to Congress, she would not support Pelosi for party leader. Webber’s ad has a tape of Sherrill praising Pelosi’s tenure as House Speaker at a recent event.

There’s no contradiction, Sherrill said.

She said Pelosi has been an effective party leader, but “I just think we need new leadership.”

The official reason for Sherrill’s visit was to talk to seniors about health care and other issues.

Speaking to more than two dozen residents, many in wheelchairs, in the center’s dining room, the Democrat pledged to work hard to prevent any future cuts in Medicare and Medicaid and to explore ways to get more federal money for long-term care.  New Jersey residents, as politicians from both parties long have pointed out, pay on average more in federal taxes than the state receives in aid.
Preakness in Passaic County is one of only a handful of county-run nursing homes in the state. Many nursing homes previously run by counties are now operated privately.

This long has been a simmering debate. Proponents says changes are needed for financial reasons while opponents worry the quality of care will diminish under private control.

Sherrill praised Passaic officials for continuing to run a nursing home. She contrasted that practice with Morris County, where she said care has been adversely impacted since the county retained a private operator.

Morris County is the largest county in the 11th District.