Governor’s Absence Raises Certain Questions, But Are They the Right Ones?

Snow makes people crazy, there is little doubt about that. It makes us look at problems in annoyingly irrational ways and shuffle blame around to try and rationalize it. There has been a bit of anger floating around the opinion pages, twitter, and facebook statuses about the Governor and Lt. Governor leaving the state at the same time with a coming storm. The effect of this was that Steve Sweeney was acting Governor, both declaring and rescinding the weather state of emergency in their absence. Star Ledger writer Paul Mulshine went so far as to blame the facts that his beer froze and that his cat went to the bathroom in the house on Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno’s absence. Yeah, seriously. Newsflash to Paul Mulshine, dogs go outside, cats use these:

Mulshine also went off about how Sweeney could make all of these horrendous changes to the state in the Governor’s absence. He could reappoint Justice Wallace, he could sign pending legislation, he could suspend the legislature (that is already on vacation?), he could do basically anything the Governor could do had he been here. Shocking. Who would have thought that a person filling the position of Governor would have (GASP!) all of the powers of the office of the Governor! This is my simple message to Mulshine and all of his crazy, anti-Christie followers: Relax. Senate President Sweeney thinks more of his political career than the immediate moment. If you think that Christie and Guadagno leaving the state at the same time for vacation was politically stupid (and it was, I’m getting there), then how could you not see the political suicide that would have ensued from Sweeney using the Governor’s office as his temporary playhouse? Serious business had to be done during a weather crisis, Sweeney took the opportunity to show that he might actually have some sort of ability to handle a situation. So although no one should ever let him within 100 feet of a budget or a tax bill, he can handle snow. Doing something so divisive and so slimy as reappointing a dismissed Supreme Court Justice while he is playing politics with the Patterson hearings would ruined any chance Sweeney ever has at becoming Governor in his own right, and could even cost him reelection in 2011. Voters would not appreciate that kind of behavior, and Sweeney is not politically stupid.

All that being said, the fact that these vacations were not properly coordinated to have either Christie or Guadagno in the state was one of the worst political moves I have seen in a long time. Who is doing the scheduling in the Governor’s Office? Thats the question everyone wants to know. Despite the made up implications of the situation by the firing squad at Americans for Prosperity and Mulshine, it was still the most incompetent move anyone has seen this Administration make politically. This was an opportunity for the Christie Administration to let Guadagno take the reins and show that she can lead. This could have been great for the Lt. Governor’s career that I am assuming she wants to continue in New Jersey after this Administration ends (unless she sees a spot for her in the Presidents Cabinet in 2016?). People are not looking at this favorably, every newspaper and blog is coming down hard on the Governor for allowing this to happen, and Mulshine’s slow commenters are questioning why we pay for a Lt. Governor if this sort of thing happens. (Answer: She also occupies the Secretary of State position, the job is not simply back-up governor.) While the fallout remains to be seen, there will be a negative effect on Christie’s poll numbers because of this. And thats a shame.

Why is it a shame? I know, I just took a shot at them just like everyone else. I am no different, so why do I exude a bit of sympathy in this situation? Like I said Save Jerseyans, snow makes people crazy. People are asking questions about the Governor’s absence, but are they asking the right ones? Is this issue being looked at the wrong way? I think so.

We are on the cusp of 2011. The internet is everywhere offering tremendous speed and connectivity in ways that 15 years ago no one would have ever imagined. Email comes directly to our pockets. We can video chat on our phones. We can control our home computers from a laptop or even an iPad. We can have entire meetings and share documents from thousands of miles away. So why in the world do we even need someone to fill in for the Governor when he is on vacation? There is little doubt that Governor Christie was well aware of the weather situation in New Jersey as he vacationed in Florida. You could not turn on the television without seeing images from Newark airport. If he didn’t know, he was a mere email or phone call away. He could be briefed on all aspects of the situation. There is no way that Steve Sweeney was in any better a position to assess the situation throughout New Jersey from his home in Gloucester County than Governor Christie was from his vacation. Maybe Governors do not want to be bothered when they are on vacation, I cannot imagine that Corzine liked taking calls from his tropical escapes he seemed to take all of the time, but they should realize that is a part of the job they signed up for. Your time does not belong to you anymore, it belongs to New Jersey.

So, Save Jerseyans, it is ok to be mad at Governor Christie today for this unfortunate decision, but after the snow melts and we all get our heads on straight, lets look at this problem in a way that could prevent it from ever happening again. Solutions are far more valuable than complaints.

Brian McGovern
About Brian McGovern 748 Articles
Brian McGovern wears many hats these days including Voorhees Township GOP Municipal Chairman, South Jersey attorney, and co-owner of the Republican campaign consulting firm Exit 3 Strategies, Inc.

9 Comments

  1. I would have appreciated if someone had made an intelligent decision! Potentially, my husband's life depended on whether or not a state of emergency was in effect. His job follows the state's recommendations. It wasn't just state employees affected by the wishy-washy nonsense Sweeney provided. Ultimately, it didn't matter because we couldn't even get out of our driveway, but honestly……this kind of storm is not your normal snowfall. We need someone that understands what taking charge in an emergency means. Sweeney did not do that. I am a huge supporter of Governor Christie but he should have gotten on the phone and told Sweeney what to do. Obviously, Sweeney couldn't make up his mind without that directive.

  2. As a liberal blogger, I agree with your assessment that this move by the Christie administration was politically unwise. Forget about the snowstorm. It may have been an emergency, but its one that we have learned to cope with and react to. Suppose there had been another unanticipated emergency like an accident at a nuclear plant. Or suppose the emergency was a nation-wide cyber attack preventing the out-of-town governor and LG from even being able to communicate back to the state. As much as I disagree with what Christie is doing, he is MY governor also, and I would expect him or his duly-elected surrogate to be making the decisions on behalf of ALL New Jerseyans.

  3. If this isn't proof that the haters are grasping at straws and have completely run out of things to bitch about, I don't know what is.

  4. You're kidding, aren't you JJ? What is the point of a LG if not to be there when the Governor is out of town? I don't care if there wasn't an emergency situation going on…one of them should have been looking after the store. Also, on this blog, the headline would read…"Christie commits murder…but was it justified?" It doesn't matter what he does….he's your boy and you have to live with him.

    Unfortunately, so do the rest of us.

  5. Hey Brian —

    I'm glad to know my organization weighed in on this situation. You have my permission to quote or link to AFP's statement here. I'm sure your readers would be interested in it.

  6. C'mon Rick, a Democrat left in charge for a few days and you're UNhappy? I would think you'd be applauding this!;-)

  7. I'm not. What a colossal waste of money to have an MIA Lt. Governor. The whole point was to not have the Senate President be acting governor.

    I would be very happy if he would do something, like appoint a Supreme…but he isn't. What an f'n joke.

  8. Rookie mistake. Once they read all the crap everyone is writing, they won't do it again. Say for example, it wasn't a snow storm but a terrorist attack at Newark Airport, which we all can agree, is a plausible scenerio given the world we live in. They just forgot the number one rule of planning, "Pray for the best, but plan for the worst!" in other words leave the damn Lt. Governor at home when you go on vacation. That isn't politics that's just common sense. Again, Rookie mistake.

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