She's cooking a lamb dinner on Christmas for about 30 relatives.
As for solid reports that she's been picked by President-elect George W. Bush as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, she had nothing to say yesterday.
Caught by reporters on a stairway in the Statehouse in Trenton, Whitman said somewhat testily, "I said when I have something to say, it will be said. But it's not now, and it's not here."
Republican sources say Whitman's nomination as EPA head could be announced as early as tomorrow. But it appears to be a fait accompli.
Whitman, 54, the first woman governor of New Jersey, with a year left of her second term, was in Washington Monday to confer with Vice President-elect Dick Cheney and other Bush staffers.
It was said at the time that she was being considered for several positions, but she said, "When there is a time to talk about anything, I will talk about it."
Her impending appointment is not without controversy. Although she is an avid outdoorsperson, a mountain biker and skier, and touts herself as a champion of environmental protection, her record is mixed.
Critics say her passion for attracting business to the nation's most densely developed state sometimes took precedence over her environmental activities.
Although she has pushed hard for a $1 billion open-space program, she has been criticized for compromising water pollution protections, cutting the budget of the state Department of Environmental Protection and eliminating the job of environmental prosecutor.
But she stoutly defends her record.
"I am happy to have a discussion about the environmental record here in New Jersey any time," she said this week after signing legislation to buy and preserve $8.3 million in farmland. "We have figured out a cooperative way to go forward."
At home, Whitman's departure from the governor's chair would set off political shock waves. Her successor would be state Senate President Donald T. DiFrancesco, a Republican, who was planning to run for governor in November 2001, but with an enormous handicap: Nobody has heard of him.
However, as an incumbent, holding one of the nation's most powerful governorships, his profile would be elevated and he would have a big advantage over any Democratic opponent.
Adding to the controversy over Whitman's impending appointment are complaints by the Republican Party's right wing about her pro-choice stand on abortion.
Some have considered ways to block her confirmation by the Senate, but Sen. Robert G. Torricelli, D-N.J., said Whitman will be "an asset to a Bush administration" and made it clear he'll fight for her approval.
Two New Jersey newspapers weighed in on opposite sides of the Whitman controversy in editorials this week.
The Newark Star-Ledger, the state's largest newspaper, gave her a "B-minus" for her environmental performance.
"Her legacy will be the $1 billion open space program, the largest in state history and our last best chance to keep the bulldozers at bay," the paper wrote.
"The governor has joined lawsuits aimed at curbing emissions at Midwestern power plants, the source of much of the pollution we breathe in New Jersey."
The paper said her record "may not inspire, but the political reality is that George W. Bush is not likely to pick someone who does much better – and could easily have picked someone much worse."
The Home News Tribune disagreed that the open-space funding has been healthy. "Her campaign to preserve 1 million acres of open space is an empty, poorly funded initiative that is not focusing on the state's most environmentally sensitive land," the paper said.
The Tribune said Whitman's record "shows she cares much more about keeping New Jersey 'open for business' than in protecting its natural resources. That would make her a poor EPA administrator."
"She'll sound good and do the opposite," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club. "She's better at putting a green face on things."
Renew America, a nonprofit group that urges cooperation between environmentalists and industry, has honored Whitman for her work.
Hal Bozarth, executive director of the Chemical Industry Council of New Jersey, said Whitman "tried to correct the imbalance between economic development and environmental protection. You really can't have one at the exclusion of the other."
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