Posted on 11/27/2010 12:11:18 PM PST by Hojczyk
At almost every speaking event I have done post-election, a question will come from the audience: "What about Chris Christie?"
The question usually carries with it an unspoken second part --"Wouldn't he make a great presidential candidate?"
It is my practice to believe candidates like Christie and Jim DeMint when they say they are not running, but the deep affection for Christie throughout the land carries within it a message for all the people who are running or are thinking about it. Christie is striking a chord deep within a lot of people across the ideological spectrum. The approach he embodies is powerful, and many would be wise to emulate it.
Here are rules of political engagement drawn from the first year of Christie's national prominence:
1. Treat the audience like smart people.
2. Speak bluntly.
3. Answer the question that is asked.
4. Name names of real opponents and back up any accusation with specifics.
5. Identify the real problem and explain, in detail, what has to be done to solve it. Demonstrate competence and earn confidence by displaying a mastery of the subject matter.
6. Refuse to allow a liberal media to define issues and stories, and call the MSM out its self-interested members try and distort any issue or confrontation.
7. Don't avoid real conflicts. Hang lanterns on them.
Voters know that the country and many of the states are in deep fiscal holes. But they also don't believe the nonsense that flows out of most state budget offices and certainly not out of Team Obama. Chris Christie and Paul Ryan have both earned enormous points from the public for spelling out in detail all that ails us and being very specific about the choices ahead.
The era of unread bills and airy hand waving and of "we have to pass the bill to know what is in it" is over. Chris Christie's rise and popularity signals the return of a far more powerful and promising approach to politics, though not one friendly to the president or his overmatched aides.
People on here criticize for him for not being ideologically pure on certain issues but he’s tackling the culture of corruption and massive spending in NJ. Before politicians used to pretend there wasn’t a problem. Now they acknowledge they have one.
When you live in CA he looks like a real conservative ... don’t know if its the comparison or the distance ...
I would join a Draft Christie movement, especially one headed by Palin.
I don't know if Chris Christie is necessarily a viable candidate for the presidency (and he says he isn't interested) but whomever Republicans chose in 2012, they had better be real and not afraid to offer concrete solutions, not mere rhetoric. I like Sarah Palin but some don't. O.K. We'll have that debate via the primaries in 2012. However, the Republican presidential candidate in 2012 had better be honest and forthright with solutions, not just complaints and vague promises. The era when that kind of 'slick' politician can be elected is fast disappearing, thanks to Obama. 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me'.
We are at war with jihadis who want to kill us and they have been joined by Leftist fanatics who want to destroy the country by communist coup. And we have a president who is deeply sympathetic of each of those two causes.
Right now we need a leader who can lead us to victory in this war. I believe Christie would be a great choice.
Like all other patriots, if his country needs him, he will run.
At this point in time, Christie has the biggest balls to straighten out Washington DC, and is just what the country needs. It does not really matter to me if he is not pure on social issues. If the country goes bankrupt, and it is headed that way, social issues won’t matter. Besides, Christie is not a abortion on demand type of person, unlike Obama.
I've seen Christie on a youtube describing his meeting with the head of the teachers union. Christie has charisma, presence and great timing with his wit. He looked quite good standing at a podium, but is very heavy and doesn't look so good sitting down. He can really talk, no teleprompter needed.
>Right now we need a leader who can lead us to victory in this war. I believe Christie would be a great choice. <
Why? What has he said or done that has led you to that conclusion?
What is his stand on the building of the NY mosque? How about his view on free speech and the firing of the transit employee for burning a koran?
What about his views on our borders and illegal immigration? What has he said about that that would make you believe he was strong on national defense and preventing attack by enemies within?
How does he feel about Americans bearing arms and the right to defend themselves?
How does he feel about Obamacare and how do his viewpoints about the bill fit in with fiscal conservatism?
What about Cap & Trade? What are his viewpoints about that? Tapping our own energy resources is vital to our national defense. Would he support drilling in Anwar? How do his viewpoints on Cap & Trade fit in with his reputation for fiscal conservatism? What would the passage of these types of laws do to our economy?
In order for Christie to garner support from conservatives these very important questions must be answered. And the answers will need to be a bit different that statements/actions he has made in the past. So in other words, he will have to redefine himself as more conservative than he has so far presented himself to be.
I would have a hard time however believing that he was sincere. He is after all an east-coast conservative. In order for him to win in NJ he had to be a moderate. The problem is, what does he really believe? If he is as conservative as let’s say Palin, he probably would have never been elected there. If he is as liberal as let’s say Scott Brown he will never get the conservative vote in a presidential run IMO.
If he would decide to run and you want people to support him you have to sell him to conservatives. So far Christie’s own words and actions haven’t put much confidence into conservatives that he wouldn’t just be another Scott Brown type of politician.
Independents hate him. He needs more seasoning. Sound familiar? The establishment will say “It’s not his turn.”
Great points. I think he’s terrific for NJ, and I wish there were lots more like him in blue states...but on a national level, the questions you raise would need to be answered.
And I think it’s a bit ironic that Hewitt writes about the “Christie Rules”, but nobody ever applies those rules to the other issues. We have a massive border problem and corruption at ICE- why can’t he identify that as a problem, and “hang a lantern” on it, for example?
This is where Palin shines and what she's best at. Promoting strong Conservatives. Her success rate is tremendously successful.
With talk like that, you're in trouble. Keep it up and you'll get banned. (BTW, I happen to agree with you.)
It could be because he had to run in and govern a magnet state with a large muslim population.
The question then would become, if he ran, who is the real Chris Christie? The man who was elected as the governor of NJ or the new more conservative one? Now you have a credibility factor and a large group of conservatives who have been bamboozled by flip floppers and rinos for the last time.
It’s going to take quite a dog and pony show to convince them that the new Christie is tough on illegal immigration, border control, first and second amendment rights, and will not veto any bill to repeal Obamacare or sign any foolish energy bills that will further damage our economy.
Sorry. I like Chris Christie fine right where he is. But I do not believe he is a cross-the-board conservative. The “social values” don’t matter to some here in FR, but they matter to most of us. Does he have values? Does he believe in the Constitutional right to life? Does he support the right to bear arms? Does he support real family values?
Probably not, or we would know about it by this time.
Let’s not forget who Hugh Hewitt supported in the last primary, because he declared he was the most “electable.”
Mitt Romney.
Notwithstanding your fine points, I still would like to respond. Unfortunately, since I am leaving for the evening, it will have to wait til tomorrow.
He’s no different than Rudy G. America’s mayor was always straight-talking, reasoned and tough and he didn’t mind taking on the unions. But he is really only about 1/3 of a conservative. Christie holds many positions that few of us agree with.
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