In Democratic Bastion, Liberal Rhetoric Is Out. ‘Affordability’ Is In.

March 11, 2022

In the first budget address of his second term, Gov. Philip Murphy responded to New Jersey voters’ discontent at a time of surging gas costs and high taxes.

Julia Sass Rubin, a professor at theEdward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, said the speech represented a change in messaging, but not a “major retraction” of Mr. Murphy’s left-leaning priorities.

“If you keep walking the walk, maybe they think they can adjust the talk a little bit, without substantively changing the direction,” Professor Rubin said.

“It’s a way of trying to shore up what could be a vulnerability — both for the midterm elections and Democrats more broadly,”she added.

New York Times, March 10, 2022

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