For Fernandez, a businessman and state co-chair of the Republican Party, the battle for the 6th district in New Jersey is particularly difficult because his opponent just won't take him seriously. Democrat Frank Pallone, Jr, founder and former co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, has held the seat for eight terms; his staunchest support comes from the Indian American community, and he believes the Republican challenge mounted by Fernandez is not credible enough to even cause him to campaign with any vigour.
Fernandez, who has been mailing out fliers and putting out ads on television and in the newspapers, recognizes that his job, in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans four to one, is tough. But he believes he can still spring a surprise. For the record, there are two other candidates in the fray - Virginia Flynn, of the Libertarian Party, and Mac Dara Francis Lyden, an independent.
Fernandez's biggest grouse is that Pallone won't take him seriously enough even to agree to a debate, which he had sought. So he went to a Pallone meeting in Edison on August 10 and "I told him that basic decency demanded that he reply to my letter seeking a debate," Fernandez said. "He only said he would let me know."
Fernandez is also upset that the Indian American community, which has organized several fundraisers for Pallone, has given his candidacy the cold shoulder. "I am dismayed that the majority of Indian Americans are sitting on the sidelines and wanting to root for a guy who has proved to be disloyal and self-serving," Fernandez said. "Indians living in America should have rallied behind their own brother and boosted him to victory. On the contrary, many Indians tell me it is petty jealousy and wrangling that is causing them to support the other guy, but this will cost the Indian American community a lot in terms of progress."
He says he is not unduly worried that the community is against him - no candidate, he says, can win with Indian-American votes alone. Of the 648,726 voters in the 6th District, only around 6,000 Indian American voters are registered. Of these only 3,800 have voted regularly in the last three elections.
"I am seeking the help of people from all communities," he said, while claiming to have the backing of the Chinese, Latino and Filipino communities. "Thousands of people have called or emailed, saying they like my six-point ideas on car insurance, senior healthcare, and lowering of cost of medications, as well as about credit card companies who are exploiting innocent borrowers with high rates. People seem to like my ideas and their originality. I am very encouraged by that."
His biggest charge is that Pallone has pretended to be a friend of India and of Indian Americans, but has not gone beyond paying lip service to the cause. "If I have stated anything false then Congressman Frank Pallone should reply to my allegations and defend himself," Fernandez said, asking why the community is content to gain a voice by proxy by voting for Pallone, when they can vote for him and gain their own voice.