Absentee Gov. Murphy here we come! (Opinion)

He's "honored." Because you see, he's "showing in New Jersey how Democratic leadership can bring real change on the state level, despite the mistaken priorities of Washington D.C."

That's Gov. Phil Murphy feeling honored for just having been named to lead the Democratic Governor's Association in 2020. He went on to brag, "In the Garden State, we're delivering real results for families." I wonder if he's talking about the many thousands of families who were trapped on highways or in classrooms in a snow event he completely mishandled.

But I digress. If this sounds somewhat like history repeating itself it sort of is, only on the other side of the aisle and in a first term. You'll remember Gov. Chris Christie served as the leader of the Republican Governor's Association. At least he did so in his second term, when all the time required to be out of state couldn't come back to haunt him for another statewide election. Phil Murphy is bound to be gone a lot. It's the nature of the position. Christie had spent more than 100 days out of state campaigning for candidates. The next presidential election will be one of the most intense in your lifetime, and you can bet with a position where Murphy will have a role in trying to help Democrats win back the White House as well as helping Democratic governors hold their seats he could be gone even more.

Keep in mind even on the day he was inaugurated Phil Murphy's speech made clear his disdain for Donald Trump and offered to challenge him at every turn. He could still be jockeying for a White House run himself in 2020, so maybe he doesn't care about being a one-termer. Maybe it's what he's been angling for all along.

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