Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Governor Awesome rocks the most recent polls
The GOP is alive with buzz that Ann Coulter's longstanding favorite -- New Jersey's governor Chris Christie -- may jump in to the race for the Republican nomination. And the money's there. According to the WaPo,
There’s no question that certain major donors — primarily in the New York and New Jersey area — are simply waiting for Christie to say “yes” to put an aggressive cash collection in place that would immediately make the New Jersey governor a force to be reckoned with on the fundraising front. No other potential candidate — including former Alaska governor Sarah Palin — could put together so much money so quickly.
Now comes news that Governor Awesome has rocked the most recent polls in the Garden State, surging to a 54% approval rating at a time when virtually no incumbent does nearly that well. Christie is running ahead of other Republicans -- not surprisingly, in this deep blue state -- and perhaps as much as ten points ahead of President Obama.
At least one thing is clear: With the possible exception of Mitt Romney, there is no candidate among the current crop of Republicans who has a high probability of taking apart Barack Obama in the debates. Christie is better on his feet than any of them.
The question, of course, is whether the ideological purists on the Republican right can stomach Christie. Since the right believes -- incorrectly, in my view -- that it can have it all (just as the left believed that in 2008), his main achievement might be to make Mitt Romney look more (acceptably) conservative.
16 Comments:
By 
Georg Felis, at
Wed Sep 28, 12:24:00 AM:
High unemployment, high debt, and chaos makes us all long for that elusive "Someone Else". I think Sarah has it right, stay out of the race and keep your popularity.
I really doubt Christie will jump in, he's made far too much noise about staying the heck out.
By 
, at
Wed Sep 28, 12:56:00 AM:
On a recent thread here I said that Tons of Fun wasn't ready. On reflection I'd say that the bigger issue is that most of America isn't ready for a blunt, fat, New York metro area white ethnic. Also, much of the Republican party isn't ready for a guy who's probably not *orthodox* on Abortion and Afghanistan. That's our fault, and the Republican party's fault -- not Christie's.
I'd add that personally I'd probably *map* closer to Christie than any other politician out there on any number of things. If it were just my choice, I'd pick Christie #1. Sorry Wasilla MILF.
But it ain't gonna happen. Not this cycle. Christie knows this. He keeps denying that he'll run. He has young kids. Read his lips. I could go on. Coulter -- and others like her -- are in denial, or are shilling. It's getting annoying.
When you eliminate the improbable, what remains is what's likely: It'll be Romney or Palin in the end, which is what I expected. Interesting choice, no?
Pawlenty and Daniels turned out to be milquetoasts. I thought one or the other had a shot as the Goldilocks alternative, but no.
I didn't know from Perry until recently -- I really wanted to like the guy when he jumped in -- but he's "sack of rocks" stupid. And as another Texan has said, "you can't fix stupid".
By , at
Wed Sep 28, 02:31:00 AM:
Christie's economics are sound, but his open borders immigration stance is not. Letting a million new Mexicans a year across the border while many millions of Americans are out of work is not my idea of sound immigration policy.
By sykes.1, at
Wed Sep 28, 08:30:00 AM:
Get real.
Christie is too fat to win.
Image is important to the electorate. Almost always, the taller Presidential candidate wins.
Christie looks like a goombah from the Sopranos.
Romney will be the Republican candidate. He looks presidential, and he will win.
By TigerHawk, at
Wed Sep 28, 08:32:00 AM:
Hey, Christie looks like America! Corzine thought the same thing, and fat New Jerseyans (and the Garden State is far from the fattest in the country) took great umbrage whenever the Democrats or anybody in the media made the point you just made. The fat vote might just have put him over the top...
By W.LindsayWheeler, at
Wed Sep 28, 10:56:00 AM:
I know the Corporate types all they care about is economics, but the real problem in America is the Culture. Culture forms the Life, the standards, the values.
With that, Immigration is transforming this country. In Michigan practically every Motel and convenience store is run by a Paki, a Hindu, etc. We have tons of Muslims entering into this country where we didn't before. As a Christian I find this very disturbing. Christians in Palestine and the Coptic Christians are fleeing Palestine and Egypt and then we are welcoming their persecutors here as well!
The Mexican invasion is no different. Their drug culture is also following them here. These people hate gringos. They hate America. Yet, millions enter every year here.
Christie would not do anything about immigration. He is a Liberal.
How do you run a country when it has lost control of its borders and its society? I mean have Americans gone bonkers? lost their commonsense? Christie, as a Roman Catholic, will do noting on immigration but continue and exacerbate the condition. He also will turn his biting wit upon social conservatives. He is not the candidate at all. He is a RHINO.
By JustOneMinute, at
Wed Sep 28, 11:02:00 AM:
1. I would pay extra for a Christie candidacy if I thought we could hear Obama criticize a middle-aged white guy for being fat. Double-bonus if its Michelle.
2. I love Gov. Awesome, but it's not clear just what space he occupies - a Northeastern moderate who's not Romney? Seems like one more guy who's electable but not nominable.
3. The Fickle Finger of Fate will point at Herman Cain as the "Anybody But Romney" alternative soon enough. That should be almost as much fun as a Christie run.
By , at
Wed Sep 28, 11:52:00 AM:
Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss.
From today's page Six, New York Post:
"JP Morgan honcho Jamie Dimon, once a “fat cat” ally of President Obama, seems to have strayed to Republican contender Mitt Romney. Dimon, a lifelong Democrat who was rumored to be on Obama’s short list for treasury secretary before he settled on Tim Geithner, met privately with Romney on Tuesday morning before a fund-raiser at Brasserie 8¹/2 hosted by Highbridge Capital, a JPMorgan-owned hedge fund. Dimon, who was spotted “in a discreet one-on-one” discussion with Romney, cannot publicly endorse a candidate because he sits on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. But he donated to Democratic candidates in 2008 and privately supported Obama."
I know stuff like this goes on, and has been going on since the dawn of the Republic. But we've hit a point where our Political-Financial Establishment is about to collapse under its own weight. In dealing with it, I wouldn't trust a President Romney to do right by most of us anymore than I do Obama.
Am I wrong?
By Jake, at
Wed Sep 28, 12:19:00 PM:
If Romney takes on Obama and beats him, we'll trend back towards the pre-Obama status quo. He doesn't have enough "conviction" (aka cojones) to do anything else, plus he'll calculate it will be his best chance to two terms, and that's really what he cares about.
While the pre-Obama status quo is not the fast track to the Pit we're on now, it still gets there nonetheless. If Christie gets in and can get elected, we have a chance for real change.
That being said, I bet he won't get in. I agree that he's said too many times that he's not running to make an about face. If Christie doesn't run, then I think the next best alternative might be Herman Cain...
By , at
Wed Sep 28, 12:46:00 PM:
It's amazing this will-he-or-won't-he Christie talk still goes on. At this stage of the game it's really just too late (the first state filing deadline is in two weeks).
The problem is that Republicans cannot abide Romney, Perry seems too much like a "not ready for prime time" sort of guy (and conservatives hate his immigration policies), Herman Cain has never held elective office before and everyone else in the race is merely some flavor or other of annoying.
We can't seem to field a candidate with a realistic chance of standing up to the campaign of overt accusations of racism and class warfare to come, so Republicans turn their longing gaze elsewhere. Christie is a proven outperformer, as the Barone article posted here yesterday noted, with credibility on the entitlement issue, and he can win. He chooses to ignore his responsibility to the country, unfortunately, as did Mitch Daniels and Paul Ryan.
What to do? Hope for a very conservative Congress! That way it won't matter (as much) who gets elected from the GOP side. Even (and I can't believe I would even consider this a possibility) Romney.
By , at
Wed Sep 28, 01:01:00 PM:
This is so amazingly depressing to me. I would vote for Christie in a heartbeat. Hell, I'd buy tickets to watch Christie debate Obama. At the same time, there is nobody in the current field that I would cross the street to vote for.
By W.LindsayWheeler, at
Wed Sep 28, 01:58:00 PM:
The Austrian aristocrat turned American political scientiest of the last century, Erik von Kuenhelt-Leddihn wrote on the inability of democracy to create leaders. Democracy does not produce men of conviction. With so many factions, a presidential candidate, or for any candidate to win an election in a democracy, must CONFORM himself to the people and not to the truth. Democracy does not create character. It does not create conviction. In a democracy one must flow with the herd. Democracies run on slogans and propaganda.
Monarchies of old ran on Wisdom. People trained from birth to be leaders and schooled that way. A monarch does not have to move this way or that. He is monarch, as monarch, born that way.
On Romney, someone pointed out that his own website catalogs some thirty positions that Romney has flip-floped on. The man is an empty suit. Vacuous. This is the type of people we are producing. A politician is never a creature of conviction but of compromise and softness. The field of candidates are terribly shy of any thing of conviction and holders of Truth or Wisdom.
Wisdom is not something any of the Repub candidates seem to have. I think America has done shot its wad. It no longer produces men of character and strength of conviction, necessary elements of true leadership. There are too many factions to please. It can't be done. America is a mess and messes collapse.
By , at
Wed Sep 28, 03:21:00 PM:
That is such blathering.
You've made your point, again and again. In fact you made your point just a few posts ago. No need to keep repeating it.
We're making history here. America seems to be doing far better than other countries in enduring this economic trial by fire, and business is actually starting to pick up a little bit. Only odds and ends of Democrats have called for tyranny, and interest in the election cycle seems to be at a very high level, so our democracy seems to be holding up well. We are in surprisingly good shape!
So quit whining.
By , at
Wed Sep 28, 08:56:00 PM:
With all due respect and admiration Tigerhawk, I think Christie has somewhat become the Republican Party's Obama of 2007/8; on some important issues, a blank slate onto which they project their hopes and dreams. I like Christie's character, but I don't like what I hear when he speaks about guns, immigration, life, and foreign policy. Gut tells me he would not be all that right-of-center R's want in a Pres. I don't need to have it all in a candidate, but I am not going to "settle" for half of a president.
He is smart to build his political capital and national reputation, especially as it benefits NJians. In the meantime, Americans will get to know him much better.
By Gary Rosen, at
Thu Sep 29, 03:40:00 AM:
"I think America has done shot its wad. It no longer produces men of character and strength of conviction, necessary elements of true leadership."
So Wheezer why doncha go back to your and Buchanan's beloved Nazi Germany where men were men (even if a lot of Nazis were gay) and knew what do with those pesky Joooos? Oh wait, the Thousand-Year Reich only lasted 12 years. Aw shoot ....
By clint, at
Thu Sep 29, 12:01:00 PM:
I'd love to see him as President, but can't imagine how he'd get there -- unless by way of being our VP nominee this year.
(I think he'd make a phenomenal VP candidate -- in the traditional "attack dog" role of the VP nominee, letting our Presidential nominee be "above" the mudslinging, while Christie skewers the opposition with his plain talk.)
