PATERSON – First elected to the U.S. Congress in 1996, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-9) saw his share of intriguing election cycles. But this one, he says, is the big one.

He knows it’s difficult for someone to listen to that and take it seriously.

“We politicians have a knack for saying this is the most meaningful or the biggest election of all time, but I really do think this is the biggest if not one of the biggest, certainly that I’ve ever seen or been a part of,” said Pascrell.

Democrats routinely say the election is a referendum on President Donald J. Trump.

Pascrell doesn’t frame it exactly that way.

“This election is not about Trump,” said the veteran congressman from Paterson. “It’s about who we are and what we’re going to be about. It’s about us. He wants to deregulate environmental protections and put our kids in jeopardy. Our very values are at stake. Are we going to let that happen? The president is attacking the people. He’s attacking the most vulnerable The Democrats don’t want open borders. He says that’s what we want? Look, I don’t know a single Democrat who wants that, so I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about.

“His thing is to twist things, which comes right out of Mein Kampf,”  Pascrell said. “The first thing you do is to get rid of the voices of dissent. We don’t believe that. We believe in a free press.”

Republicans are eager to try to dislodge a wounded Senator Bob M”enendez (D-NJ).

I think he’s done a great job, you cant say he’s a wallflower,” Pascrell told InsiderNJ. “No one’s perfect, but 10 of 12 jurors said he was innocent. I look at his record, and I see a guy who’s sustained our values system with his foreign policy views. We don’t always agree; we disagreed on the Iran nuclear deal, for example, but his foreign policy goals are based on good sense. He’s fought and he will fight for things New Jersey needs, like the Gateway Tunnel.”

Republican nominee Bob Hugin doesn’t impress Pascrell.

“His opponent has no record of public service, and all he’s done is be negative,” said the congressman. “He’s just another vote to dismantle Obamacare.”

The incumbent, on the ticket with Menendez in the 9th Congressional District, promised a robust GOTV operation.

On the larger landscape of New Jersey politics, “We’ll pick up two or three, maybe four,” he said of the congressional battlegrounds.

Finally, “My parents taught me to respect everybody. When you belittle anybody, you demean everyone, and that’s what this president does – he just belittles people. I honestly just feel sorry for the guy.”