Rodney Frelinghuysen joked one year that the Democrat running against him had no chance because “Mike the barber” didn’t know who he was.

Mike the barber was a colorful and opinionated sort, now deceased, whose shop in the shadow of the Morris County Courthouse in Morristown served such notable local pols as Chris Christie and Frelinghuysen.

This was Frelinghuysen’s try at humor. In truth, no Democrat had a chance against Frelinghuysen whether Mike the barber knew him or not.

And so it used to be in the 11th District; elections were the time for jokes and offbeat escapades. Recall this was the place where filmmaker Michael Moore ran a ficus plant – and yes, he walked around with a real live plant – against Frelinghuysen to make a point about gerrymandering and non-competitive elections.

The strange history of the district makes it all the more remarkable that this year’s race is considered one of the most significant in the nation. If Democrats can win in an affluent, suburban district that long has been solidly Republican, they can win in enough similar districts across the country to take control of the House. At least, that’s the view of the so-called experts.

With the face-off between Republican Jay Webber and Democrat Mikie Sherrill about seven weeks away, it’s worth ruminating about how we got here, and where we are headed.

It may be overlooked by some, but the seeds for a competitive race date back to the redistricting that followed the 2010 Census.

District 11 used to cover all of Morris County, making it very friendly to Republicans. No longer. Redistricting chopped off a chunk of conservative western Morris and replaced it with parts of much more moderate, if not liberal, Essex and Passaic counties. The district now includes parts of Montclair, which is Sherrill’s hometown and a liberal bastion Republicans like to derisively call the “People’s Republic of Montclair.” Catchy no?

The changing geography meant nothing the last few election cycles, because the Dems never really contested the seat.

But things have changed. Why’s that?

Donald Trump is obviously one reason why, and if Webber loses, it’s probably going to be because of the president.

Trump’s win fueled left wing anger (belatedly, of course) throughout the country and New Jersey is no exception. We have seen what really is unprecedented interest on the Democratic side in any number of ways. There were exceptionally large turnouts in Morristown this year for marches supporting women’s rights and gun control. When Democrats had a forum for primary candidates last winter – about a year before the election – a large crowd attended.

All this has to mean something.

But it’s not only Trump. The Republican Party has changed independent of the president.

A generation ago, the leading Republicans in the state were the likes of Tom Kean and Christie Whitman, moderate figures who probably would not win a GOP primary these days. In Morris County, there were a number of right-wing Republicans like state Sen. John Dorsey and Assemblyman Art Albohn, but there were many “left-wing” Republicans as well, people like state Sen. Robert Martin, who incidentally Webber tried to unseat in 2003, and Assemblywoman Carol Murphy. There was even a time in the 1980s when the Morris County Freeholders would give grant money to Planned Parenthood. So, one could live in, say, Chatham or Montville, and feel comfortable as a Republican without being a right-winger. For example, you could be pro-choice, pro-gun control and understand the importance of environmental quality and still find common ground with the GOP.

No longer.  The party has drifted right nationally and now with Trump at the helm, it truly has drifted where few have gone before.

Enter Sherrill. Here is a Democratic candidate with what seems like a Republican resume – the Naval Academy, a helicopter pilot in the military and a onetime federal prosecutor. And she likely will get backing from moderate Republicans who don’t like how their party has evolved.  But the question is how many.

Other factors are in play as well. Let’s remember that Frelinghuysen didn’t help his party’s cause at all.

As left-wing protesters demonstrated outside his Morristown office all last year and demanded he hold at least one town hall meeting, the congressman refused. That is, he refused to confront them and he also refused to hold a town hall meeting. Either action would have helped dissipate some of the anger present on the street.

Then, things actually got worse. Frelinghuysen didn’t give up his anticipated reelection bid until late January.  

That meant Republicans looking to replace him had to raise a lot of money in a short period of time.  And that is why Webber, who won a hard-fought primary, was at a massive financial disadvantage to Sherrill as of the June filing deadline. We will soon see if – and how – things have changed when the next financial reports are filed.

As the race is unfolding, Webber seems to have one aim. And that is to paint Sherrill as a radical leftist.

How’s that going to go?

No one knows for sure, but you have to wonder if the Republican is overplaying that hand. 

Just this Tuesday, he issued a statement saying that Sherrill  “is unhinged – showing her progressive-left true self.” It added that Sherrill can only hide for so long a “radical belief in identity politics” that will divide and weaken New Jersey. Previously, he criticized Sherrill for organizing a rally in which a speaker advocated abolishing ICE. Webber has stepped back from an earlier charge that Sherrill herself advocated eliminating ICE.

What presumably prompted Tuesday’s response was a new Sherrill TV ad that criticized Webber for his conservative views on abortion, gay rights and equal pay for women.
Webber responded to the equal pay issue, saying,  “And today, she says Jay doesn’t support equal pay for equal work, which is flatly untrue.”

The problem here is that whatever Webber’s personal thoughts are, he voted “no” earlier this year on an equal pay measure in the state Legislature where he is an assemblyman.

That’s not easy to overcome.

One suspects Sherrill will keep pointing out what she considers Webber’s conservative views on abortion, women’s rights and guns.

And he will try to link her to such left-wing villains (in the eyes of some) as Nancy Pelosi, Phil Murphy and Bob Menendez.

Now, it’s true that any link between Sherrill and the ethically-challenged Menendez can hurt her. But Sherrill is on record as saying she would not support Pelosi for House Democratic leader and polls suggest Murphy is not unpopular.  Republicans talk about increasing taxes, but the sales tax was not raised and the income tax was increased only on those making $5 million a year. How many people actually make $5 million a year? Eli Manning? Bruce Springsteen? Average people won’t care if they have to pay a bit more in state taxes.

One thing Webber does have going for him is the strong economy, but oddly enough, if polls are to be believed, that does not seem to be helping Republicans. At least at the moment.

Much can happen until Nov. 6.

But the guess here is that social issues, more than economic ones, are going to carry the day.

So, the question may very well be, does support for abortion rights, gay rights and gun control make one a radical leftist in New Jersey’s 11th congressional district?

That could make for good barber shop debate.