Phil Murphy was asked today if he worries about people getting “sloppy” and “stupid” as we are now in the second month of a shut-down state.

Ever the polite diplomat, the governor refrained from calling people “stupid.”

But he did say, “My nightmare … is that people get sloppy.”

Or for that matter, antsy.

As is the norm, he spent the beginning of his daily briefing today praising the cooperative behavior of the staying-at-home and mask-wearing public.

But cracks in this united front may be coming. Mike Doherty, a Republican state senator from Warren County, said this afternoon he no longer supports the governor’s shut-down strategy.

That’s something Murphy and his team can just ignore. After all, the conservative senator is hardly a Murphy supporter in the first place.

But there may be other bumps ahead.

The governor the last few days has talked about getting some “incoming” flak, many of which is coming from parents. There are two main concerns – spring sports and graduation.

The way things now stand, the spring sports schedule seems unlikely to be worth the effort even if the pandemic ends relatively soon and traditional graduation ceremonies are beginning to look doubtful.

You can expect criticism from both the public and some politicians if there is no high school graduation; that’s a given.

And then there’s the weather.

It’s still a bit chilly, but that will end soon. And with more sunlight every day, the temptation to leave the house is going to become greater and greater.

The governor is not tone-deaf to this.

“All of us are anxious to break free,” he said today. And later, he added, “I know you are itching to get out.”

But then he said progress is being made in that the “curve is flattening.” This can mean different things, but Murphy’s point is that the daily rate of new COVID-19 cases is lessening.

That’s good news. But the governor says his concern is that a quick break from the shut down and social distancing will undo the positive steps New Jersey has seen. And they are just steps, given the fact
about 2,600 new cases and 351 additional virus deaths were announced today.

Murphy is not alone in sharing those concerns. At the same time, you get the feeling enforcement of the governor’s executive orders to stay-at-home and not, for instance, to jump over the tape and take a jog on a wooded trail is going to become a bit harder.

Up to now, offenders by and large have been individuals the governor rightly calls “knuckleheads.”

We heard about a few of the latest today – like a guy driving up to 130 mph on Route 80 in Bergen County and a belligerent fellow who visited a store in Pleasantville more than once and refused to wear a
mask.

So clearly the key for Murphy is to keep convincing the overwhelming majority of state residents not to be “knuckleheads.”  And that task won’t get any easier as we move through April and into May.