Just in case there were any lingering doubts about Christie's priorities, I believe he should take a hit for not delaying his vacation ~ Sooz  

NEW JERSEY'S ACTING GOVERNOR.... I'm generally uninterested in coverage of the snowfall in the northeast, but I noticed several reports noting that New Jersey's acting governor is using every available resource to address the snow-related problems.

And then it occurred to me to question why on earth an "acting governor" is making these decisions.

Apparently, New Jersey's lieutenant governor left for Mexico last week. Gov. Christie was told yesterday that the state was likely to get slammed by a blizzard, but he nevertheless got on a plane and headed to Disney World in Florida.

Ironically, state officials only recently added the office of the lieutenant governor, so New Jersey wouldn't be without a chief executive in the event of an emergency during a gubernatorial absence. That apparently didn't work out well -- both Christie and Guadagno took off at the same time.

I don't want to be too harsh towards Christie here. The governor and lieutenant governor deserve vacations just like everyone else, and it's not at all unusual for folks in the Northeast to take some time off in warmer climates this time of year. For that matter, as far as I can tell, the acting governor is doing everything right, so it's not as if New Jersey is suffering because Christie and Guadagno left town before trouble hit. Had either or both of them stuck around, the state response to the storm would likely have been identical.

But there are political appearances to consider -- Christie was told about the impending blizzard, and bolted for Florida anyway -- and it's hard to predict how the public will react. At a minimum, the image of Christie as a hands-on, take-charge chief executive will probably take a hit.

—Steve Benen 3:30 PM December 27, 2010

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archiv ... 027266.php

Some follow-up to yesterday's op ~ Sooz

MAYBE CHRISTIE CAN SEND A POSTCARD.... Following up on an item from yesterday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and his lieutenant governor were told Sunday about the blizzard barreling down on the Garden State. Soon after, they left town at the same time, with Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (R) and her family flying to Mexico, and Christie and his family going to Disney World in Florida.

It left state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) in charge as the acting governor, and by all appearances, he's handling everything fine -- he declared a state of emergency, dispatched road crews, coordinated with state agencies, and activated the National Guard. The response seems to have gone fairly well, and Sweeney lifted the state of emergency this morning.

But there's still the political fallout to consider. Many are questioning why the Christie administration allowed both the governor and lieutenant governor to go on vacation at the same time, despite warnings about the impending storm. Others have noted that the governor isn't bothering to rush home to deal with the situation.

No need to cut short the Disney vacation; the Democrat seems to have everything under control.

Perhaps even more interesting was how Cory Booker spent his day. Booker, the Democratic mayor of Newark and likely gubernatorial candidate in 2013, grabbed a shovel to help seniors and the disabled, delivered diapers to a housebound mother, helped dig out a stuck police car, and tended to a woman in labor who was waiting on an EMS team to arrive.

Again, just to clarify, some of this is just unfortunate timing for Christie. The governor and lieutenant governor deserve vacations just like everyone else, and by all appearances, the state response was unaffected by Christie's and Guadagno's absence.

But when it comes to keeping up appearances, this doesn't look great for the New Jersey governor. The vacation scheduling was clearly a mistake; Christie bolted even after being told about the impending blizzard; he's making no effort to cut short his trip; and Democratic officials are doing all the heavy lifting (sometimes literally) while the governor enjoys some fun in the sun.

—Steve Benen 8:35 AM December 28, 2010

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archiv ... 027276.php

The governor and lieutenant governor deserve vacations just like everyone else, and by all appearances, the state response was unaffected by Christie's and Guadagno's absence.

And by all "appearances", they aren't really needed.
Maybe the State of New Jersey would be better off without a Governor and Lt. Governor.

We might be able to get better government by eliminating politicians and programming computers to make the decisions.

Except that it was 37F in Florida last I checked.

Probably little reaction yet.
They're still too busy shovelling.

Hi, from New Jersey!!!!

There is really NO reaction from the New Jerseyites in my circle.  Seems none of us expected Christie to do our shoveling.  The road crews and salt trucks functioned well without him.  LOL!!!

No surprise but ... Christie is an ass ~ what he proved is that HE is not necessary to a functioning state government ~ I hope NJ voters will remember that ~ Sooz

CHRISTIE RETURNS, STARTS POINTING FINGERS.... To put a coda on a story that came up this week, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) left for Florida on Sunday after being told of an impending blizzard headed for his home state. His lieutenant governor was also away, and their simultaneous trips left the emergency response in the hands of state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D), who served as the acting governor.

The result was a flap that undermined Christie's image as a hands-on, take-charge chief executive. It didn't help that the governor chose not to cut short his Disney World vacation, leaving Democratic officials to do all the heavy lifting (sometimes literally) while Christie enjoyed some fun in the sun.

Yesterday morning, Christie made it back home. Aware of the criticism, the governor started blaming everyone else upon his return. (via Atrios)

One wonders if Christie thinks he did his job.

Asked about the timing of his trip, the governor added, "My first and most important responsibility, in my view, is as a husband and a father."

At face value, that sounds fine, but the circumstances don't exactly help his case. The storm was serious enough for the acting governor to declare a state of emergency, coordinate with state and local agencies, and activate the National Guard. While this was going on, Christie's "first and most important responsibility" was to hang out at the Magic Kingdom?

A Wall Street Journal report added yesterday that Christie "has several times criticized lawmakers for being on vacation." Oops.

Just to reiterate a point from the other day, I really don't blame Christie for wanting to take a break. Everyone, including the governor and lieutenant governor of New Jersey, is entitled to a vacation, and I haven't seen any evidence to suggest New Jersey's response to the storm would have been any different had its chief executive stuck around to oversee the response.

But the circumstances nevertheless look bad for Christie, who seems to have run into a political problem that belligerence and YouTube-ready antagonism can't solve.

—Steve Benen 8:00 AM January 1, 2011

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archiv ... 027332.php

As far as I'm concerned, the jury is out on this one. There is such a thing as over-reacting to a situation too. A few years ago, we had a strange winter where early in January we got dumped with two, huge back-to-back snowstorms. Toronto's mayor panicked, declared an emergency and called in the military to help dig the city out. Whether he was right to do it or not didn't seem to matter. What mattered was that he was seen as being a crybaby by the rest of the country.