With all due respect to John Steinbeck – and the poet Robert Burns – the best laid plans of mice and men certainly can go awry – especially when it snows.

Phil Murphy was bouncing along fairly well as governor with good approval ratings and a big Democratic win on Election Day. Then he took a snowball, symbolically speaking, smack in the face.

Thursday’s storm seemed unprecedented in its impact.

Horror stories abound of people stuck on highways for hours and hours and of kids spending the night in their schools. Tales of commuters leaving work at 4 p.m. and getting home near midnight are common. The storm effected just about everyone, even the high-and-mighty. Chris Christie tweeted that it took him nearly six hours to journey from Piscataway to his home in Mendham.

This is New Jersey. It is not Atlanta or any other region known for shutting down completely whenever it snows. So, the storm in itself was hardly unprecedented for New Jersey; only its impact was.

With that in mind, it would have been nice for Murphy to simply say, “Bottom line. We screwed up here. And I promise it will not  happen again.” 

You have got to assume that a guy like Murphy, who is from Massachusetts, is familiar with snow.

There is also a need for some explaining. Many motorists reported that while going no where on state roads and highways, they saw few signs of police directing traffic, or at least, trying to. Why not? Shouldn’t state and local cops be out on the streets doing exactly that?

Instead, Murphy on Friday lamely blamed someone else – namely the weathermen. He said the storm was worse than forecast.

That’s true, but if you look at it, only to a degree. As early as the beginning of the week, forecasters were predicting that the storm would start in time to affect the evening rush and that things would be much worse “north and west” of Manhattan, a geographic designation that includes much of New Jersey. And guess what? The storm began just as kids were getting out of school and the evening rush was commencing.

There is, of course, nothing new about elected officials messing up storm responses.

Recall that in December, 2010, a blizzard hit New Jersey and then-Governor Christie was out-of-state. In a comedy of errors, or was it irresponsible governing, Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno was away as well.

As we all know, the governor redeemed himself when it came to storms by his on-the-scene presence after Sandy in 2012. Let’s hope Murphy never has to deal with a storm as tragic as Sandy.

What we can expect to see now from Murphy is over-preparation and overreaction. The next time the forecast calls for two-inches of snow, don’t be surprised to hear the governor declare a state of emergency.

That’s an exaggeration, but you see this happen all the time. When you mess up the response to one storm, you go overboard in preparing for the next one, even if it seems minor.

This is harmless, but also a bit silly. I have seen public meetings and other events postponed just because it “may” snow. So be it, this is the reality when government fails to deal properly with one storm.

The state’s poor response to Thursday’s storm has given Republicans a great opportunity to lambaste the governor, which is precisely what they did. Some Democrats have joined in as well, at least in terms of calling for legislative hearings.

The Morris County Republican Committee sent out a statement accusing the governor of partying in Atlantic City while thousands were stranded on state roads. This was a reference to the annual League of Municipalities Convention, which was this past week.

One understands Republicans are not going to let a good political opportunity pass them by, but in fairness, the league convention is very much a bipartisan endeavor. Morris Republicans were there partying as well.

Not surprisingly, the governor also is being condemned and ridiculed on social media.

The “good” news here for Murphy is that the political consequences for such failures are not normally fatal.

People with long memories recall how New York City Mayor John Lindsay was excoriated in 1969 for the city’s poor response to a blizzard that crippled Queens. But Lindsay still won reelection, that very year in fact. 

Snow and ice always melt.