Stile: How Phil Murphy pitched himself as the anti-Christie
Philip D. Murphy made it clear throughout his campaign for governor that he was going to be the anti-Chris Christie.
Murphy struck that contrast with the unpopular outgoing governor at every turn. If Christie was known as the divisive, scowling bully, Murphy cast himself as an inclusive, happy warrior, whose toothy smile beamed bright in every television appearance and every selfie.
If Christie bashed the New Jersey Education Association, Murphy proudly embraced the teachers union. If Christie was known as the governor who vetoed a tax increase on millionaires, Murphy, a millionaire himself, vowed to raise taxes on them. If Christie was New Jersey's unapologetic Donald Trump defender, Murphy vowed to fight Trump at every turn.
But now Gov.-elect Murphy, whom voters chose to be New Jersey 56th governor, no longer can feed off the anybody-but-Christie disgust and exhaustion — the sentiment that has left Christie with a woeful 15 percent approval rating, the lowest of any governor in the country.
Murphy, 60, will now have to be the Phil Murphy who not only promised to guide New Jersey past the eight years of Christie tumult, but also into a new, uncharted and deep-blue progressive waters.
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New Jersey voters who were eager to discard Christie after two terms may not have realized that they have handed Murphy a mandate to make a sharp left pivot and turn New Jersey into a East Coast bookend of California.
A Monmouth University poll found that 55 percent of the public had no idea whether Murphy's positions were out of line with New Jersey, said Patrick Murray, who runs the poll.
The main reason Murphy prevailed, he said, was that he was a "Democrat, and the Democrat who was not Chris Christie. It was a real anti-Chris Christie vote, and Donald Trump didn’t help very much, either." He added that Murphy will face a "real wake-up call in January when the public starts paying attention to what he stands for."
And many will come to this realization; no other candidate for governor has been swept into office with such an unapologetic, left-leaning agenda.
New Jersey Democrats traditionally hewed to a "suburban strategy'' by emphasizing pocketbook issues for the middle-class, like property tax relief. They endorsed a left-of-center agenda on social issues that had long been embraced by New Jersey's inclusive, diverse middle class, supporting abortion rights, strict gun control and strict environmental standards.
Murphy embraces all of those, but he's also betting that the state is ready to lurch further left on climate change, marijuana legalization, and protections for undocumented immigrants.
At one point, Murphy vowed to turn New Jersey into a "sanctuary state,'' or a haven for undocumented immigrants without fear of the local police helping federal authorities hunt them down for deportation.
Some traditional Democrats feared that Murphy went too far with that position when pushed in his second debate with Republican challenger Kim Guadagno.
He also offered the blanket sanctuary promise at a time when it was becoming a hot-button issue in Virginia, which held the only other governor's race on Tuesday.
In the weeks leading up to the election there, Republican candidate Ed Gillespie chipped away at Democrat Ralph Northam's slim lead by casting him as a supporter of sanctuary protections. Northam prevailed on Tuesday.
Former Gov. Richard J. Codey, a close Murphy supporter, said Murphy "didn't do the politically correct thing, which is to stay in the middle. He said, "This is me. This is who I am."
To some analysts, Murphy's promised pivot to the left has to be taken in context. It seems dramatic when matched against Christie's right-leaning agenda, says Ben Dworkin, director of the Rebovich Institute of Politics at Rider University.
"Did we ever imagine that the state would be taken as far right as Chris Christie has taken it?'' Dworkin said. Murphy's agenda "seems far to the left because [Christie] has taken it so far to the right."
The Christie years have been a period of door-slamming austerity for Democrats.
Christie demonized public employee unions and brokered an agreement that forced the workers to pay significantly more toward their health and pension benefits.
He repeatedly blocked efforts to restore $7.5 million in Planned Parenthood funding, which he slashed in his first budget.
And he was slow to fund environmental programs, like open space preservation projects, and pushed through a natural gas pipeline despite fierce resistance from environmentalists.
He promised to fully fund the pensions and fully fund pubic schools. He vowed to resurrect the crumbling NJ Transit. And Murphy also vowed to return New Jersey to a regional greenhouse gas climate change initiative that Christie abandoned.
That litany of promises has raised doubts about Murphy's plans to pay for them.
He has called for raising taxes on millionaires and closing corporate tax loopholes, and anticipates as much as $300 million from taxes on marijuana, assuming the Democratic-controlled Legislature legalizes its use.
The entire package could raise $1.3 billion, which comprises more of a down payment on his promises than a plan to fully fund them. In general, it is a revenue-raising plan that carefully avoids tapping middle-class voters.
Some Democrats are approaching Murphy with realism — and relief.
Yes, Murphy has heightened expectations, but they also know that he's not likely to fulfill them right away, and maybe not at all. But they are happy to have the chance to be heard and have their phone calls returned.
"You can't turn around an abyss of eight years in just two or three weeks,'' said Charles Wowkanech, the longtime president of the New Jersey AFL-CIO, the umbrella group for organized labor.
He said labor officials are simply happy, at this point, to have a "governor who doesn't berate us, who is going to be mean to us. Just on that alone, positive things can happen."
Christopher J. Burgos, president of the state Troopers Fraternal Association, offered a similar sentiment. "We've been in the tunnel for eight years with a freight train coming after us. Now we see daylight."
Dworkin says Murphy has laid out "priorities, not promises,'' and he's been careful to qualify those positions with caution.
On pension funding, for example, Murphy noted in his last debate that he aims to fulfill that commitment "as soon as possible" — an important caveat that gives him ample time and wiggle room to maneuver.
Murphy will now get his chance. He'll have to maneuver around some of the deep, intra-party and regional factions that have divided the New Jersey Democratic Party for decades.
But he won't have Chris Christie around anymore to help him make his case.