Word on Corzine was unnaturally upbeat

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, April, 2007 | by Marie McCullough Inquirer Staff Writer

Cooper University Hospital trauma physicians face not only the challenge of saving New Jersey's critically injured governor, but also of updating the public in a way that doesn't sound too technical or terrifying.

So far, the doctors - and the governor's staff - have erred on the side of vagueness and optimism.

A week ago, Gov. Corzine's aide Anthony Coley said the governor would be able to resume his duties in "a week or so" - despite multiple and serious fractures suffered in the accident. Cooper trauma chief Steve Ross said he hoped the governor could be weaned from the ventilator "over the course of the next few days."

But today, the governor remains on a ventilator, his chest cavity full of tubes. Two...