<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div><span>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:</span></div><div><br><span></span></div><div class="timestamp">September 30, 2011</div>
<h1>Imagining a Christie Campaign for President</h1>
<h6 class="byline">By <a rel="author" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/michael_d_shear/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More Articles by Michael D. Shear" class="meta-per">MICHAEL D. SHEAR</a></h6>
<div id="articleBody">
<div>
Ask Gov. <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/christopher_j_christie/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Christopher J. Christie Jr." class="meta-per">Chris Christie</a> of New Jersey whether his weight is a political asset or an election-year liability, and he shrugs. </div>
<div>
“It depends on the day,” Mr. Christie <a href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/24/christie-has-lots-of-advice-for-2012-contenders-even-if-he-wont-be-one/">said earlier this year</a>,
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.” </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
“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.” </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
<strong>Straying From the Right</strong> </div>
<div>
Mr. Christie has often strayed far from his party’s orthodoxy. In a speech last week, he praised the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/us/politics/11fiscal.html?pagewanted=all">Bowles-Simpson plan</a>
to lower the nation’s debt in part with increased tax revenues from
closing loopholes -- a path opposed by many in his party. </div>
<div>
He is on record acknowledging the “undeniable” science behind the idea that <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival news about global warming." class="meta-classifier">climate change</a>
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. </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
The most problematic issue may be his stand on illegal <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/immigration_and_refugees/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="More articles about immigration." class="meta-classifier">immigration</a>. </div>
<div>
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.” </div>
<div>
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 <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/t/tea_party_movement/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="More articles about the Tea Party movement." class="meta-classifier">Tea Party</a> conservatives were up in arms about plans to build a an Islamic center near ground zero, he <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41141.html">accused them of overreacting</a>. </div>
<div>
<strong>A Politician’s Passion</strong> </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
When <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/h/hurricanes_and_tropical_storms/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="More articles about Hurricane Irene." class="meta-classifier">Hurricane Irene</a> was bearing down on his state’s coastline, he bellowed <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/27/nyregion/new-york-city-begins-evacuations-before-hurricane.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all">“get the hell off the beach!”</a>
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.” </div>
<div>
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.
</div>
<div>
“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.” </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
<strong>Too combative?</strong> </div>
<div>
For many people around the country, the image <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkuTm-ON904">they have seen of a combative and feisty</a>
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. </div>
<div>
“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. </div>
<div>
In another exchange captured on video, a woman asked why Mr. Christie sends his children to private schools. </div>
<div>
“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.” </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
“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. </div>
<div>
People close to the New Jersey governor say his political range is wider than that. And in one popular video, it is. </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
<strong>Logistics and Money</strong> </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
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 <a href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/24/christie-has-lots-of-advice-for-2012-contenders-even-if-he-wont-be-one/">told The Times in February</a>. “And I don’t believe that I am.” </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div>
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. </div>
<div class="articleCorrection">
</div>
</div>
<div> </div><div>Ron Force<br>Moscow Idaho USA<br></div><div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2" face="Arial"><hr size="1"><b><span style="font-weight:bold;"></span></b></font><br></div></div></div></body></html>