[Vision2020] On Chris Christie . . .

[Ron Force]

Christie would have some 'splainin' to do about his statements on climate change, gun control and immigration. Of course, he could just deny he ever made them, as the other candidates have, even though they were recorded. From today's NY Times:

September 30, 2011
Imagining a Christie Campaign for President
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
Ask Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey whether his weight is a political asset or an election-year liability, and he shrugs. 
“It depends on the day,” Mr. Christie said earlier this year, noting that his struggles with weight control could add to his 
“everyman” appeal or be a voter turnoff. “Some days it may be an asset 
and some days it may be a liability.” 
That may be the best way to describe everything about Mr. Christie as he considers the entreaties of donors and prominent Republicans who are 
urging him to make a late entry into an unsettled field of candidates 
vying for the Republican presidential nomination. 
Those close to Mr. Christie say he is taking those entreaties very 
seriously despite his earlier insistence that he was not ready to be 
president. At one point this year, he had joked that he would have to 
commit suicide to end the rumors of a 2012 candidacy. 
But his very public resistance has given way to an urgent 
reconsideration, and his top advisers say the governor is well aware 
that he must make a decision, probably within days, about whether to 
mount a bid for the White House. 
Mr. Christie, a first-term governor whose paucity of government 
experience may be just what the doctor ordered, is a jumble of political contradictions. He’s a conservative with some liberal views, a New 
Jersey politician who can bully but also frequently talks about 
compromise, and an obviously reluctant candidate who clearly hears the 
call of the national stage. 
“If Christie is the super politician his encouragers present, he should 
have the nomination locked up by mid-February,” said Jim Dyke, an 
unaligned Republican strategist. But he said Mr. Christie’s record would “offer insights, contradictions and surprises — all of which will 
sustain or destroy him depending on how he handles them.” 
In two years as governor, Mr. Christie has succeeded in capping property taxes, rolling back pension benefits and balancing the state budget. 
But unemployment remains high in New Jersey and his angry battles with 
the teachers union have become legend. And questions remain about his 
viability as a national candidate. 
Straying From the Right 
Mr. Christie has often strayed far from his party’s orthodoxy. In a speech last week, he praised the Bowles-Simpson plan to lower the nation’s debt in part with increased tax revenues from 
closing loopholes -- a path opposed by many in his party. 
He is on record acknowledging the “undeniable” science behind the idea that climate change is caused by human behavior, saying global warming is “real and it is 
impacting our state.” On gun control, Mr. Christie is out of step with 
Second Amendment supporters who view with suspicion any laws that 
restrict access to firearms. 
When Jon S. Corzine, the former Democratic governor of New Jersey, 
accused him in 2009 of standing with the National Rifle Association, Mr. Christie’s campaign called that a “lie” and touted his support of the 
federal assault weapons ban. “Hardly the N.R.A. position,” his 
literature said. 
The most problematic issue may be his stand on illegal immigration. 
In 2008, as a federal prosecutor, Mr. Christie spoke what could be 
considered blasphemy among conservatives: “Being in this country without proper documentation is not a crime,” he said. “The whole phrase of 
‘illegal immigrant’ connotes that the person, by just being here, is 
committing a crime.” 
He has said repeatedly that leaders should not “demagogue” the issue of 
immigration, and he did not explicitly support tough state laws like the one put in place in Arizona last year. And when Tea Party conservatives were up in arms about plans to build a an Islamic center near ground zero, he accused them of overreacting. 
A Politician’s Passion 
Mr. Christie’s less conservative positions may help him capture 
independents in a general election against President Obama. And his 
blunt, straightforward style might contrast well with the well-known 
coolness of the current president. 
 In an era when people say they are tired of slick, preprogrammed 
politicians who faithfully repeat a focus-group-tested message, the New 
Jersey governor is anything but. 
When Hurricane Irene was bearing down on his state’s coastline, he bellowed “get the hell off the beach!” He waved off criticism of his use of a state helicopter to go to his 
son’s baseball game as “silliness.” (Though he later reimbursed the 
state for its use.) His gubernatorial vocabulary regularly includes the 
words “stupid,” “crap” and “insane.” 
He is the anti-Mitt Romney; unprogrammed and unscripted. And with Mr. 
Romney now appearing to be the one to beat in the Republican primary, 
there may be no better time for an alternative like Mr. Christie. 
“Polls show people are really frustrated with Washington right now,” 
said Scott Reed, who managed Senator Bob Dole’s presidential campaign in 1996. “A little straight talk will go a long way.” 
But Mr. Christie’s willingness to say anything could also hurt him in a 
presidential campaign in which mistakes, gaffes and flubs are hardly 
ever forgiven, as both Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and 
Gov. Rick Perry of Texas have learned. 
Too combative? 
For many people around the country, the image they have seen of a combative and feisty Mr. Christie is of him at a town hall meeting, speaking bluntly to a 
teacher who stood up to accuse him of lambasting the profession. 
“If what you want to do is put on a show and giggle every time I talk, 
well then I have no interest in answering your question,” Mr. Christie 
said. 
In another exchange captured on video, a woman asked why Mr. Christie sends his children to private schools. 
“Hey Gail, you know what? First off, it’s none of your business,” the 
clearly ticked off governor answered. “I don’t ask you where you send 
your kids to school. Don’t bother me about where I send mine.” 
But will such moments still seem like a breath of fresh air if they 
happen repeatedly on the campaign trail? One senior Republican 
strategist who is backing a current candidate suggested that voters 
might get tired of Mr. Christie’s combative routine. 
“If you take the confrontational style all day, every day, I don’t know 
how that wears,” said the strategist, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized by the campaign to speak about Mr. Christie. 
People close to the New Jersey governor say his political range is wider than that. And in one popular video, it is. 
After an Internet video of a 4-year-old boy crying because he wanted to 
be governor of New Jersey went viral, a jovial Mr. Christie signed a 
proclamation in April making the child governor for a day. 
Logistics and Money 
If he were to run, Mr. Christie would have to quickly deal with his past reluctance to get in the race. And logistically, he would start off way behind. 
In the past, Mr. Christie has insisted that he is not ready to serve in 
the White House. “You have to believe, as I’ve said before, in your 
heart and in your mind that you are ready,” he told The Times in February. “And I don’t believe that I am.” 
That answer has the obvious benefit of making him seeming more honest 
than your average politician. But once he is a candidate, he would have 
to find a way to answer the inevitable question about how he suddenly 
became ready in the space of eight months. 
Mr. Christie will also immediately face the challenge of raising money. 
The excitement among some very wealthy donors suggests that that might 
not be too difficult. But running for president requires a large 
fund-raising organization and Mr. Christie would start millions of 
dollars behind his rivals. 
Right away, Mr. Christie and his campaign advisers would face the 
challenge of his schedule. Every day that he spends on the phone with 
donors is a day he’s not spending in Iowa, New Hampshire or South 
Carolina — places that his potential rivals have been visiting regularly for weeks. 
 
Ron Force
Moscow Idaho USA


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