BODY POLITIC

GOV. CORZINE KNOWS WHEN TO FOLD 'EM

Over the past week, New Jersey residents have gotten a very good look at Jon Corzine, the politician. While throwing everything but the kitchen sink against the wall, the Governor has managed to maintain his credibility while antagonizing some major supporters. He is showing that he knows when to fold the tents, and which battles are worth fighting.

The Governor didn’t hold onto his proposal for self serve gas for very long. All it took was a couple thousand emails and some very vocal opposition from state legislators that convinced Trenton’s newest resident to back off. Instead of focusing on the convenience that drivers in almost every state enjoy, the Governor decided not to tweak the big oil interests and put off the battle for self service at the pump for another day.

Similarly, Corzine had no sooner expressed his desire to reduce the speed limit on major highways by 10 mph, before he brushed that initiative off as just another idea. No doubt that any change in the speed limit from 65 to 55 would have been ineffective, so the Governor downplayed a certain defeat. He managed to look creative while proposing a rule that no one in the state would have followed anyway.

On those two issues, the Governor decided to conserve his political capital and fight another day. The fight that he didn’t duck was the freeze in state aid to the Abbot districts. The Governor rightly asked those districts to attack spending rather than give in to their request for an additional $515 million in state aid. Corzine knew that he would anger some of his core constituents in the inner city, but he stood to gain the respect of other taxpayers throughout the state that are tired of watching their tax dollars disappear into the air.

For all the taxes that he has proposed, the Governor does not appear wounded. He has deciphered the tea leaves on the gas issue and sided with the majority of tax payers regarding Abbot School funding. Corzine cut his losses on legislation that wouldn’t fly in Trenton and picked on an issue that is a raw nerve with the taxpaying public. He is proving to be a good card player, now we have to hope that his policies are just as astute.