The most skilled, the most persuasive, the one who best connected with his audiences, was Chris Christie.
And yet he lost that year to Trump.
I asked a question about Bridgegate in the public Q & A of an event. Christie knew it was a screw up. He tried to minimize his involvement. (Aides? I hardly knew them.) Most American politicians were naive then, in the pre-Trump era. So was I. I understood his effort at minimization as a sign of bad character. I had it backwards. In the long run what was more important was that he felt shame. The current style in MAGA-world is shamelessness and accusation. Trump -- and Republicans who have learned from Trump -- know it is politically better to deny the manufactured traffic jam ever happened. Denounce the investigation of it. Say it is a Democratic witch-hunt in league with the liberal media. The letter from Ted Cruz in yesterday's post here, did exactly that, condemning the prosecution. Fox News this morning is bashing the Department of Justice, the FBI, prosecutors, Democrats.
Christie's ambition and desire for relevance put his political persona through a bad patch. He looked pathetic and hypocritical in endorsing Trump. Video of him standing behind Trump looked like a hostage video. Trump publicly trashed Christie's months of work on the transition. Christie probably will never recover from this period. Democrats saw him become a supplicant and toady. Republicans take their cue from Trump.
But Christie is back on the campaign. He has remade himself by going back to his roots as a straight-talking prosecutor. He explains his prior support for Trump as a failed effort to guide Trump toward his better angels. Christie said that to compete with Trump one needs to go right at him: Trump is a “lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog.” Christie makes virtue of his direct, in-your-face style. It is very New York/New Jersey. Christie tells audiences it is his Sicilian nature.
I can't guarantee you success in what I'm about to do. But I guarantee you that at the end of it, you will have no doubt in my mind who I am and what I stand for and whether I deserve it,I believe that. Christie is blunt. Christie has clearly burnt any bridges to Trump world. "The grift from this family is breathtaking,” he said at his campaign launch.
“It’s breathtaking. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Kushner walk out of the White House, and months later get $2 billion from the Saudis.” He’s referring to the $2 billion funding that Public Investment Fund, which is backed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, put into Kushner’s investment firm. This investment is currently being investigated by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform to determine whether Kushner used his position of influence for financial gain.
You think it’s because he’s some kind of investing genius? Or do you think it’s because he was sitting next to the president of the United States for four years doing favors for the Saudis?That’s your money. That’s your money he stole and gave it to his family. You know what that makes us? A banana republic.
Most pundits are dismissing Christie as a candidate. His poll numbers are minuscule. The conventional wisdom is that his campaign is hopeless. After all, he is selling something people don't want to buy, criticism of Trump.
I don't agree. He has a shot. Campaigns transform the political environment. Jimmy Carter came out of nowhere. So did Bill Clinton. So did Obama. So did Trump in transition from TV star into presidential candidate. Magic can happen in Iowa and New Hampshire. Politicians surprise audiences. Excitement builds. Crowds bring more crowds, and that gets them "earned media" on news shows.
Chris Christie is very skilled. He may not be as familiar to Democrats as is Pete Buttigieg, who I consider Christie's equivalent in presentation skill. Christie is Buttigieg's opposite. Buttigieg is impressive in being cool and cerebral and self contained -- a grown-up in a world that needs grownups. Christie is hot and passionate, in a world that needs forceful people who cannot be cowed.
It is common among Republican candidates to say Trump was a force for good, but that he is flawed in some little way, e.g. too many tweets. Or that he was good until some brief period of time around the 2020 election. Christie is now selling an entirely different message. Christie makes the moral case. He says Trump is dishonest, corrupt, and a bad person, and he cites facts and instances. He is playing the role of prosecutor now, and Christie says Trump is a criminal he has dead to rights.
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14 comments:
Christie’s poll numbers are miniscule precisely because he makes the moral case against Trump. Any Republican with an intact conscience is already well aware of Trump’s high crimes and misdemeanors, but there aren’t many of them. Most are angry people with a victim mentality who blame their misery on some crackpot conspiracy theory like the globalist elites or deep state. That’s why they relate to Trump. I’m afraid his indictment will only improve his poll numbers.
He was on some of the news shows as one of the talking heads. I liked him on those shows. I’m not clear what his political views are, but I would actually be tempted to vote for him over Biden because of the age issue. Regardless listening him talk about Trump is so cathartic. I wish Biden or someone who is a democrat could, would do it as well. Is he pro-life? Maybe he should run as a democrat.
In the mean time I am happy that the consequences of thinking like a criminal and behaving like a criminal is leading Trump to experience some of the downsides of being a criminal. Fox News and company can go a head and bash the judicial system if they want, but the judicial system operates on facts as best it can. Maybe the judicial system is still intact enough to save America.
I would hope Christie's shameless jaw dropping hypocrisy will ultimately scuttle what is clearly a lame attempt to rehabilitate himself. It reeks of desperation from a politician who may be realizing his career is over. I don't think any of the collaborators would fare well in a general.
"Clowns to the left of me..."
The Question for all the GOP wannabes is "Will you pardon?" It will be entertaining to watch them spin through that one.
If Christie successfully nails Trump over Saudi money going to Jared Kushner and thereby becomes the Republican nominee, he will be uniquely capable of nailing Biden over Burisma money going to Hunter Biden. It will look principled, not partisan.
As I recall, Christie also lost favor in New Jersey because of Beachgate.
Am I right to assume that you observed CC in New Hampshire? I am not sure how he will be received outside of the Northeast. He needs to succeed in the South and in other Red States. Will he appeal to evangelical Christians and the QAnon crowd? I don't think he is crazy enough or extreme enough for the MAGA GQP.
It is interesting that previously you wrote a blog about motivations, yet this blog is about how CC felt about Bridgegate and his motivations.
CC would be much better than the former Occupant. At least he is not a career crook, traitor and sexual predator.
It is a fact that overweight people are discriminated against. But on the plus side for Christie, the Red States have the most overweight people. The CDC has a color-coded map showing obesity rates in the US.
When the 2020 Loser insults Christie about his weight, he is also insulting his base.
Peter....you should register as a Republican so that you can vote for Christie. You're his only supporter, since he's been rejected by most Republicans.
There are many serious health risks associated with being obese. The 2020 Loser is obese. Chris Christie is morbidly obese. Joe Biden is not over weight.
We should consider the physical and mental fitness of all the candidates, not just President Biden.
(Annon #2): Beachgate? Christie should embrace his huuugeness by posing in a bikini a la Lizzo. The world turned upside down in 2016. No way to stuff that genie back in the bottle.
Anyone with any loyalty to our Constitution recognizes that Trump is a mortal threat to a free society, but that’s exactly how DeSantis described the DOJ for indicting Trump. DeSantis sounds more like one of those so-called Oath Keepers than someone who gives a rip about his oath of office, but he has a far better chance than Christie of being the alternative to Trump – for that very reason.
Who’s gonna croak first, Biden or Cristi? Admittedly, the latter has lost about 100 pounds, but how much did his morbid obesity damage his body already?
On the other hand, why is the first thing to enter my mind when I lay my eyes on him always The Godfather? Why’s he keep praising himself for Sicilian heritage?
Better than trump, sure. Also harder for Biden to defeat.
Hunter Biden has never been a public official.
I hope I'm as healthy as Biden when I'm his age.
He's amazing!
As a former Republican voter, I will never again vote for any Republican.
They just want to ruin America.
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