????New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was sworn into office Tuesday for a second term, saying he had a mandate to stay the course even as Democrats ramp up criticism of the Republican governor amid investigations of a bridge scandal that has led to other allegations of abuse of power. ????WEATHERING snow and scandal, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was sworn in for a second term Tuesday with a return to the bipartisan theme that made him a national celebrity. ????The Republican governor made no reference to the investigations that have plagued his administration and dulled the shine on his landslide re-election just 11 weeks ago. ????“We cannot fall victim to the attitude of Washington, D.C.,” Christie said at the Trenton War Memorial. “The attitude that says I am always right and you are always wrong. The attitude that puts everyone into a box they are not permitted to leave … The belief that compromise is a dirty word.” ????The daylong celebration of his inauguration as the state’s 55th governor was supposed to cap Christie’s ascent from popular governor to early front-runner for the 2016 presidential nomination. ????Instead, his administration has found itself on the defensive, fending off questions about who ordered lanes closed to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey and recent allegations that lieutenant governor Kim Guadagno and Cabinet officials deprived Hoboken of Hurricane Sandy relief aid because the mayor of Hoboken wouldn’t sign off on a development plan favored by the governor. ????Even the weather wasn’t on his side. ????The snowstorm forced organizers to cancel Tuesday night’s inaugural gala and VIP donor reception on Ellis Island, and triggered hours of gridlock earlier in the day in Trenton. ????“It’s only fitting that in this administration, with more hurricanes, snowstorms, flooding and disaster of the national sort than in any administration I can remember in my lifetime, that we begin the second term in the same way,” Christie said in a deviation from his prepared remarks. “So to the people who could not quite make it down the New Jersey Turnpike to be with us today, I understand.” ????Christie, Guadagno and their families started the day with an interdenominational prayer service in Newark, the city of his birth. Pastor Joe A. Carter, of New HopeBaptist Church, didn’t mention the controversies, but offered advice on the best way to avoid life’s “trials and tribulations.” ????“God works best in the nighttime,” Carter said. “When darkness comes, it’s not designed to bring the worst out of you. It’s designed to bring out the best of you.” ????Unlike his policy-heavy State of the State speech last week, Christie on Tuesday touched on two of his signature issues — education reform and mandatory drug treatment. He also got in a jab at New York with a veiled reference to taxes. ????“Let’s be different than our neighbors. Let’s put more money in the pockets of our middle class by not taking it out of their pockets in the first place,” he said. ????Christie suggested his landslide win over then-state Senator Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) gave him a mandate even though there was record low turnout for the election. ????“The people have definitively set the course for the next four years,” he said. “They have affirmed the decision to take on the big problems. They have validated the idea that our answers to our problems must be bold.” ????On three occasions, Christie beamed as he accepted sustained applause from the crowd. Behind him on stage sat a surreal mix of Democratic lawmakers and Christie staff whom they have subpoenaed. ????State Assemblyman John Wisniewski and state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, the Democratic leaders of a newly combined legislative committee investigating the bridge scandal, were there. So were Christie’s chief of staff, Kevin O’Dowd, and David Samson, chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, two of the 18 officials ordered to provide the committee documents by Feb. 3. ????Former governor Jim McGreevey, himself forced from office by scandal, said he heard in Christie’s speech a return to faith and family during his time of crises. ????“In difficult times — let me speak for myself — we revert back to those cardinal virtues, to what fortifies us in difficult times,” McGreevey said. “It was a message about faith, family and I found it heartening.” ????Former Republican governor Tom Kean Sr. said he believes Christie is still preparing for a 2016 presidential run. ????“I think he is on that road and I think a lot of people around the country would like to keep him on that road. We’ll see how the investigation comes out,” Kean said. “You’re not going to change fundamentally, but you learn and you change and you grow.” ????A longtime political mentor to Christie, Kean has spoken candidly about the governor’s political future in recent weeks, but has not advised him on responding to the scandals. ????“We haven’t talked since election night,” Kean said, adding that Christie has been busy. “You don’t call the governor, the governor calls you.” ????Christie became a fixture in speculation about who would seek the 2016 presidential nomination with his leadership after Sandy slammed into his state in October 2012. ????He worked with U.S. President Barack Obama and took on Republican members of Congress who were reluctant to approve aid for storm victims, receiving high marks from his constituents and plentiful national attention, along with criticism from some conservatives. ????But his reputation has been battered somewhat since revelations this month that a staffer ordered two of three approach lanes to the George Washington Bridge from Fort Lee shut down for four days in September apparently as political retribution against the mayor there, perhaps for not endorsing Christie for re-election. ????The U.S. attorney’s office is investigating separately from the legislative probe. ????Christie has apologized, denied any involvement with or knowledge of the plot and fired a deputy chief of staff at the center of the controversy. But questions have continued. ????In addition to the scandal, nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis said Monday that Christie dropped a plan to appoint him the state’s first physical fitness ambassador when he launched a political campaign against a friend of Christie. Christie’s administration hasn’t returned an email seeking comment.(SD-Agencies) ????Christie’s support drops after ‘Bridgegate’ scandal ????SUPPORT for Chris Christie has fallen almost 20 points since his landslide re-election in November as he faces probes into the conduct of his top aides. ????Christie’s approval rating among New Jersey voters, at 65 percent just before he was re-elected last year, dipped to 46 percent favorable to 43 percent unfavorable, according to the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. ????In the heavily Democratic state, support for Christie remains high among Republicans and independents, while support fell 26 points among Democrats. ????Voters’ views on Christie’s performance as governor, which hovered between 66 percent and 73 percent in the year after Sandy battered the state in late 2012, now stands at 53 percent, the poll found. ????Among those who use the bridge connecting northern New Jersey and Manhattan at least once a week, just 37 percent had a favorable view of the governor. Among New Jersey voters who never use the bridge, 51 percent had a favorable view.(SD-Agencies) | 