Lovefest for an Acting Governor

My mom can be pretty tough on politicians. She's been dumping a lot on President Bush lately, just as she dumped on President Clinton before him. Not long ago, I asked her which presidents she had a favorable impression of. She pondered it for a while. "Eisenhower," she replied.

richard-codey.jpg So I was a bit surprised last week when my mother, who lives in New Jersey, confessed that she just adores Richard Codey (pictured here). It's been a year since Codey took over as governor--a temp job in the wake of Jim McGreevey's scandalous resignation. Codey has made the most of his year in the spotlight. He took gutsy stands on cutting spending, inked a high-profile stadium deal, and turned mental health reform into a signature issue. A Trenton journalist tells the Bergen Record: Codey's "probably the best acting governor we've ever had." (New Jersey has had quite a few of them lately).

The popular storyline in Jersey these days is that Codey should've had a shot at four more years--but that Jon Corzine, the wealthy U.S. Senator, bullied him out of the Democratic nomination. (Corzine won easily last week). Codey coulda been somebody. He coulda been a contenda.

There's one problem with this analysis, though. Had Codey run, he would've had to do all the political things that people like my mom find so offensive. Fund raising. Promising things to interest groups. Negative advertising. Yuck! This is why the current Codey lovefest is so ironic. Codey is well-liked as a governor precisely because he hasn't had to run for governor. In this honeymoon year, all he's had to do is govern.