How is christie doing as governor

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are forbidding communities and other municipal authorities in their states from issuing mask and vaccine directives.

Abbott and DeSantis have taken this approach even though Republicans typically support the concept of local control and, historically, have been philosophically opposed to chief executives meddling in local decision-making. Christie basically said they are acting like big-government Democrats, although he did not criticize Abbott and DeSantis by name.

He sought the Republican presidential nomination in but ended his campaign after a disappointing finish in the New Hampshire primary. Soon after, Christie endorsed Donald Trump and went on to be an informal adviser to the former president throughout his term in office.

Christie, who recently signed on to aid GOP redistricting efforts, is mulling a second run for the White House in The former governor, who contracted COVID last year, emerged from that experience a big believer in masks and social distancing and is an outspoken proponent of the vaccine.

But during his Texas Tribune Festival conversation, Christie was sharply critical of Biden and other Democrats who have tried to force people to wear masks and get the vaccine, saying federal and statewide mandates are bad policy, counterproductive, and could face constitutional challenges. I think that the president on this one, President Biden, is wrong. Original Author: David M. The contagious delta variant is driving up COVID hospitalizations in the Mountain West and fueling disruptive outbreaks in the North, a worrisome sign of what could be ahead this winter in the U.

In Michigan, the three-county metro Detroit area is again becoming a hot spot for transmissions, with one hospital system reporting nearly COVID patients. A Chinese professor visiting Los Angeles early this month fought off an attacker using martial arts in an incident that has gone viral across Chinese media.

Pigai came to Los Angeles on Oct. Until I saw this. An Orange County mom has filed a police complaint after her daughter was left with a concussion from a sucker punch during a youth basketball game.

Mike Gardner, a municipal party official and retired attorney who worked at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said his top issue is getting rid of the high property taxes. He backs Ciattarelli. In their own way, some Democratic voters are also skeptical about polls, not wanting to take them for granted. Sections U. Science Technology Business U. Phil Murphy, D-N. Murphy moved New Jersey to the left since he won election four years ago, but goes under a test that Democrats have not passed in recent years as he seeks re-election in this year's race for governor.

With US aid money, schools put bigger focus on mental health. Last 3 Florida school districts drop student mask mandates. Big Bird backlash: Vax lands even Muppet in political flap. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news.

A long incubation period, coupled with uncertainty surrounding the specifics of a novel virus—literally, a new disease that was a variant of the deadly but short-lived SARS virus from —meant that people were not as informed as to what to do.

How was the public to prepare? The governor enacted a state of emergency and began shutdowns. A stay-at-home order was issued. Schools were closed and had to switch to a new frontier: virtual learning. The history is so recent it need not be elaborated on further here, but unlike Sandy, the public was unable to escape the fact that they were going to be factors in the fight.

Murphy needed public cooperation and public action to support medical services and dramatically alter their own behavior for the benefit of themselves but also for others, be they family, friends, or strangers. Further compounding the problem? The public as well as the government lacked practical experience as well as resources initially to deal with the threat.

The US had not experienced a pandemic of this nature since the Spanish Flu a century prior. If the enemy is visible, the dynamic changes entirely. Sandy could not be defeated, but she could be overcome. The coronavirus is another matter entirely. People had to sacrifice, albeit differently than their parents and grandparents did in the s.

The state reported the first official coronavirus death in the state on March 10, Murphy, however, must contend with a crisis entering its 18 th month. Like Cincinnatus, the Roman consul-turned-dictator-turned-private-citizen, it is also a way to end a political career and enjoy a glittering legacy in private life.

But unlike Cincinnatus, few leaders choose to or even want to voluntarily bow out on a high note. Stepping away from power is not inherent in those who exercise it, leaving those who do in the highest esteem—our first president, for example. Nevertheless, Christie had every right to expect a successful second term and his easy victory seemed to reinforce that notion. Murphy still is likely to win in November and potentially break state tradition in that no Democratic governor has been reelected since Murphy finds himself in an almost-Churchillian position, facing a long campaign requiring the public to trust and comply with state recommendations.

And unlike Churchill, Murphy does not enjoy the complete confidence of the public. Distrust in governmental institutions is at an all time high, coupled with vaccine hesitancy and large segments of the population unwilling to comply with masking protocols. New Jersey is faring better than many other states as far as vaccination goes, perhaps owing to generally wide access to free vaccines and having one of the most educated populations in the country.

But at the end of the day, Murphy can only ask people to do the right thing. The most effective weapon against the virus is a population with a high vaccination rate combined with common sense practices. This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side, you automatically help out that of the other. Nor is there any real way of remaining outside such a war as the present one.

If Murphy was to view the coronavirus as a war, then he was already at a disadvantage. The battlefields are everywhere, the soldiers are the frontline workers, hospital staff, care givers, and individual residents taking precautions, getting vaccinated, and consciously altering their pre behavior in conventionally abnormal but necessary ways.

This is a lot to ask of the public, especially for prolonged periods of time. Christie did not have to deal with this. No one walking outside of a padded cell with small windows could be called a hurricane denier or maintain that the floods were a governmental scheme for controlling the population.