There has been a ton of speculation that Chris Christie may run for president after his speech at the Reagan Library. Now that the hype about Perry and Bachmann has dwindled, the first-term NJ Gov would generate a storm of media attention.
I would be ecstatic if Christie entered the race. That’s because he’s my kind of politician: a Honey Badger.
Chris Christie doesn’t care if he’s re-elected in NJ. He’d otherwise be nuts to take on public sector unions, one of the main engines of their political machine. There’s a lot to be done in order to make the state look fiscally sane, but the Gov seems to be on the right track. Similarly, Honey Badgers don’t care much about their popularity; they’re all about finishing their agenda. They’re both fearless — just ask Guinness World Records.
And because he stands by the agendas he makes, he stands in contrast to Multiple Choice Mitt & Cowboy Corporatist Rick Perry.
But it isn’t just that Christie is reforming the public sector. His speech on the legalization of medical marijuana was a great example of the thought that goes into his decision-making. He’s like Mitch Daniels… with a personality… and recognition.
Update: There has been some criticism in the comment section about Chris Christies stance on:
Carbon. True, he believes in global warming. But I refer you to this editorial from the WSJ over the summer:
“How politically unpopular is cap-and-trade policy? So much that Governor Chris Christie announced late last week that he’s pulling New Jersey out of the 10 state Northeast Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which was designed to create a trading auction for the right to emit carbon dioxide.
The Garden State is a left-of-center suburban state highly sensitive to symbolic environmental politics, yet Mr. Christie felt he could safely withdraw on economic grounds. The Republican said he believes that climate change is real and that human activity is “part of the problem.” But he called the regional compact a “failure” because it has not “changed behavior and it does not reduce emissions.” He added that the tax on emissions was hurting efforts to “make New Jersey a more business-friendly environment and a place where private sector jobs can continue to be created.”
I’ll take that.
Gun control. Chris Christie isn’t as bad as most liberals, but he still isn’t great. I concede that. However, he at least has the hutzpah to intervene during egregious abuses of the laws put on the books by overwhelmingly Democratic legislators.
Amnesty. Uh, I agree with him that is an administrative matter.
Don’t forget. Chris Christie is a governor in a state that is bluer than every single lake in Hudson County *shudder*. I criticized him when he was running for being too moderate, but he faked center and ran right. I trust he can do that again in a country that is more conservative than liberal; where common sense has been gone for too long.
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Watching the speech, I was impressed by Gov. Christie’s command of the facts, the law, and New Jersey’s course of action. No teleprompter and just a few pieces of paper on which, I assume, there are some talking points.
Christie seems to be like Rubio – smart, focused, and purposeful. The best speakers I’ve ever seen are the ones who know their subject matter intimately and are 100% engaged in telling their audiences what they need – not want – to hear.
I really hope he runs too. After Paul Ryan finally said no for good, Chris Christie became my last chance to have someone potentially exciting run for president.
It’s not looking good…
http://nation.foxnews.com/chris-christie/2011/09/27/watch-gov-chris-christies-speech-ronald-reagan-library-live-fox-nation-9-pm-et
Intrade has chance of him announcing at 7%. Everyone close to him says he’s not going to do it. I feel a reprise of the Ryan disappointment coming on.
I know, I know. I do not think it in his character to run so early either… 🙁
When he knows the subject, those that cross him with twisted logic or inaccurate facts rue the day they ever spoke out. He simply smashes their talking points to bits. How well he would perform when he’s not as well prepared would need to be determined. I could live with his possible uberconservative weaknesses if he wouldn’t out-Perry Perry.
I’m for anybody that can beat the community organizer.
29 states filed suit to challenge Obamacare in court. NJ was not one of them. In fact, I’m pretty sure NJ is the only state with a Republican governor who didn’t join the suit.
Because of his close proximity to NYC, he has gotten alot of media exposure, and I can’t recall him ever calling for its repeal. (If he has, please correct me.) He’s mildly complained about the costs his state will be saddled with, but he’s hardly been a loud voice leading the charge for repeal. Consequently, I wonder how important repeal will be in his agenda if he elected.
He has, however, very recently made headlines saying he thought man-made global warming is a concern.
If he wants to keep Obamacare (or at least not work hard for its repeal) and he wants to redistribute American wealth to less developed nations in the name of climate change, why not just vote for Obama?
In the deepest of blue states, anybody to the right of Jerry Brown is consider an Ultra Conservative.
I love Christie and his relentless, aggressive focus on taking on the state unions. He’s a straight talker and a doer. Unfortunately, that’s about the only issue he’s good on. I can’t support any candidate (no matter how dynamic) in the primaries that supports gun control, cap and trade, amnesty and believes in claptrap like global warming. If he gets in, he’ll be by far the most liberal candidate vying for the nomination. Is THAT what we really want?
NO NO NO
i do admire his stand against union greed and his attempt to save pensions
but he is not a conservative on the issues that a POTUS can affect:
gun control, illegal immigration climate change ( cap and trade) and federal intervention into education.
He did not sign onto to stop obamacare even though all other GOP govs did
I also disagree with him on abortion but he would be less likely
so absolutely I do NOT want him to even enter the race. He is barely a RINO
Agreed. Those who are unhappy with the current choices would hate Christie, he is the embodiment of the North-Eastern RINO. He is fine for New Jersey, but I will not let him have the power to appoint possibly 2 Supreme Court Justices.
I think the good governor is more liberal than conservative. Ask him about where he stands on the 2nd Amendment and what his views are on climate change (AGW). Ask him what he thinks about green energy as opposed to drill baby drill.
He is also wishy-washy on the Firat Amendment. See his comments how the Koran book burner who happened to work for NJ transit was off-duty at the time, not in uniform and out of state deserved to be fired for his political speech against a mosque at Ground Zero.
Needless to say, after the lawsuit was filed, NJ paid up big time for violating the fired employee’s First Amendment rights.
Governor Christie is a typical blowhard, first amendment rights for me but not for thee. Christie should stay home.
Christie’s another false messiah.
We need a true (fiscal/ constitutional) conservative and not another colorful blowhard who sounds good some of the time to some of the people.
IOW, we don’t need an anointed savior to lead us, just a worthy (wo)man to inspire and dig in heels.
Kathleen, reprieve?
http://twitter.com/#!/allahpundit/status/118775296924196864
And people think Palin is a drama queen.
I completely agree but you used the wrong Honey Badger narration.
Aside from his position on Teacher’s Unions (on which he’s fantastic), Christie is a Moderate Democrat.
Seriously, do your research.
This would become immediately apparant to everyone if he were to toss his hat in the ring for the Presidential Nomination.
He’s good on ONE issue, an issue which he’d have less control over as President than as a Governor, and a disaster on everything else.
He’s doing well in NJ, leave him be.
Prof
I concede Christie did take NJ out of a cap and trade crap program
and yes Christie thinks illegals are a federal matter BUT he dodged the whole matter too cutely when he said being here illegaly is not a crime. Why didn’t he go on to say it WAS a civil violation and could be prosecuted.
Clearly that is not a practicality for all illegals but just like illegals leave when jobs are denied them they would also leave if more were prosecuted.
Christie’s answer made it clear he was not interested in prosecuting illegals. of course that was back in 08 and Nj has seen a huge rise in the number of illegals with subsequent huge costs.
I like christie and think he most likely serves NJ quote well
No, no, a thousand times no….
http://bcove.me/jvyo9t63
NJ was not the first member to withdraw from the NRGGI because the cap-n-tax scheme was exactly that — a tax that raises energy costs, penalizes energy companies and obviously cannot stimulate clean energy projects simply because CO2 is not a pollutant. Christie bailed because of budget problems, not because he did the necessary research to discover the error in his AGW beliefs.
He is, first of all, a Northeastern big government politician who just happened to talk mean to unruly female teachers union members.
If we want a candidate to hold up to Tea Party ideals, we need Sarah Palin.
no.thank.you.com
Then, of course, there is the Christie-Madoff connection which wouldn’t go well with the other albatrosses that Chris Christie carries around his ample neck.
If Chris Christie gets in the race, Pam Geller will have a stroke. If you think she was apopletic over Perry’s narrow association with Aga Khan, just wait until she starts railing on Christie.
Now, since Christie nominated Sohail Mohammed, a Sha’ria supporter for U.S. courts, to the NJ superior court, that is not going to set well with a lot of people. He has also been officially endorsed by CAIR, the unindicted co-conspirator in the Holyland Foundation trial.
Danial Pipes, who is not an off-the-rails radical, has come out saying that Christie has no chance. The Investigative Project did a whole article on Christie and his ties to Muslims with shady pasts.
http://www.investigativeproject.org/2506/gov-christie-strange-relationship-with-radical
Another problem for Christie is going to be the illegal immigration thingie that everyone is beating up on Perry for recently. An April, 2009 Pew Hispanic Center report showed four states with the highest percentage per population of illegals in the state labor force: California, Nevada, Arizona and New Jersey. In the first three states, ten in every 100 workers are undocumented, in New Jersey, the number is nine in every 100 workers.
I would have to look at how New Jersey ranks on education, taxes, business regulations and welfare and know what Chrisie has done about those issues.
Kathleen, the columnist,author, lawyer Ann Coulter completely agrees with you and she says she will consider no other.
I don’t agree for several reasons.
1. illegal immigration. In 2010 Christie told Politico that America needs a “clear path to citizenship”. Since America already has one in regard to legal immigrants, what he was talking about is “Amnesty”.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/09/chris_christie_flaws.html
Then there’s Christie’s record on illegal immigration as a U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, the job he held before he became governor. Back in 2008, Bill Tucker, a producer on Lou Dobbs’s now-deceased CNN show, could only find thirteen illegal-immigration cases prosecuted by Christie’s office between 2002 and 2007. Tucker compared that to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Kansas, which, despite a much smaller population, prosecuted 597 cases in the same time period. “This man is an utter embarrassment,” Dobbs wailed.
2.Chris Christie supports Race to the Top, because as governor, he applied for its funds. Christie also called Obama a “great ally” in education reform and praised Duncan as an “extraordinary leader on this issue.” Definitely not conservative.
3.Sohail Mohammed, a Sharia Law supporter Christie appointed to the NJ Supreme Court.
4. Christie’s reaction when confronted that he used the state’s government helicopter to attend his child’s baseball game reeks of entitlement mentality.
Christie has done some good things in New Jersey and that’s where he needs to stay. It is entertaining to watch him on Youtube yelling and acting silly but the presidency requires more than entertainment value.
Kathleen, Hutzpah is pronounced that way verbally but spelled chutzpah. In Texas we use the word “macho” that translates fairly well.
It isn’t nuts to take on the public sector unions when your state faces economic doom and death:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/andy_waves_an_ax_oVJcdkVvEzwENOzQIMD0IP
Like Blue Gov Cuomo of Blue State disaster, the other Blue Gov Christie of Blue State disaster had no choice but to take on the public sector unions.
By this standard ‘taking on public sector unions’ why not advocate Cuomo to run; he can win in Blue States AND take on public sector unions.
Personally speaking I am done with NE politicians-I fled the rotted NE to get away from NE politicians-NO Christie.
Fat chance, Chris Christie.
And I say this loving my amply corpulent though more reliably conservative and disconcertingly libertarian fiance.
Chris Christie took on the State Unions because he saw they were going to bankrupt the state. And he gets praised for doing the right thing? But he did not go as far as Walker did.
State wide elections in November. Both Assembly and Senate up for grabs. If he does not get control of both houses, his goose is cooked.
If he is the nominee I’d vote for him but my preference is someone to take a look at Sarah Palin’s record instead of just declaring her unelectable. It’s called fair play. Let the Democrats deem her unelectable.