The Murphy Irony: Despite the closeness of his Victory, in a Second Term, he may have more Power than Ever
Incumbent Democratic Governor Phil Murphy has now taken a lead over Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli of approximately 2,000 votes. Given the continuing trends in the late reporting precincts and Vote-by-Mail, Murphy should prevail, as I said in the wee small hours of this morning, to quote Francis Albert Sinatra.
The irony is that a victory under these circumstances may result in a second term Phil Murphy having more power and discretion than ever, due to two factors.
First, the Progressive Socialist Bernie Sanders/AOC Ultra-Left is badly discredited. Had it not been for their fanatical insistence that the bipartisan brick- and – mortar infrastructure bill in Congress be linked to the Build Back Better “human” infrastructure (which in large part may be meritorious but really isn’t “infrastructure” at all), the largest federal hard asset brick-and-mortar infrastructure package would have been enacted months ago, shovels would already be in the ground, and both Murphy and Terry McAuliffe would have been comfortable winners. Joe Manchin was right in his attempts to decouple the bills.
The Progressive Ultra-Left ignores the Talmudic Aramaic maxim of “tafasta merube lo tofasta:” If you grab too much, you get nothing. Their arrogance of claiming “Murphy owes us”, as expressed in print and in their insistence that Murphy bring Bernie Sanders into New Jersey to campaign for him, even at the cost of dissing the supremely effective political professional Senator Brian Stack, came within a gnat’s eyelash of costing Phil the election.
The message of the Phil Murphy front office to the Bernie/AOC progressives should be the same as that of Mama Corleone to Connie Corleone in the Godfather, Part 2: You’ll wait in line for your (Democratic) brother, like everybody else!
Second, with the political demise in this election of George Norcross, Phil Murphy’s mortal political enemy has been removed from the field of political combat.
It was a two-stage process. The first stage took place in Burlington County, in the Eighth District Senate race. George Erwin Rommel Norcross met his El Alamein fate and was destroyed on the battlefield by the New Jersey Republican Star of Campaign 2021, as I had predicted, Field Marshall General Jean Bernard Law Montgomery Stanfield.
And the second stage was the apparent defeat of State Senate President Steve Sweeney in his reelection fight in the Third District. George Napoleon Bonaparte Norcross has finally met his Waterloo.
With nothing to fear from the paper tiger AOC /Bernie Sanders progressives, and with the political demise of George Norcross, Term Two in the Murphy administration can be a wonderful time in the lives of Phil and Tammy Murphy.
Alan J. Steinberg served as regional administrator of Region 2 EPA during the administration of former President George W. Bush and as executive director of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.
This is kind of a silly take. The headline is strangely accurate, given the demise of Sweeney. But as for the closeness of the election, the worst message to take is to cast off the progressives. They were Murphy’s backbone from Day one. One could argue that Terry McAuliffe could have won by touting his past record and pushing Democratic prerogatives. As for Manchin, he’s not a Democrat. He’s a wholly owned subsidiary of the energy industry.
The answer, as it always is, elect more better Democrats. Better means true to convictions and better means bringing guns to and explosives to gun fights.
Harry Truman explained why Sweeney lost: “Given the choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican, people will vote for the real Republican all the time.”
One of the recent polls found, perhaps mistakenly, that older citizens vote for
what is best for society, rather than what is best for themselves.
That is true on my part.
Two days after the election, I am still in pain at some of the losses.
So, it is my wish and hope that Governor Murphy and Tammy Murphy
will have a wonderful, successful second term and New Jersey and
Its residents will thrive under their leadership.
Boy, you were sure close in your prediction about the governor’s race (that Murphy would win by 10-20 points). Just another clueless, out of touch elitist…..