JCDenton0451
10-08-2013, 03:52 PM
That's the only thing conservative warriors have managed to accomplish so far: they made Christie look good (less pathetic) by comparison. (http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/government-shutdown-chris-christie-97997.html?hp=f3)
At times, Chris Christie’s party-of-one approach to politics serves him well. The federal government shutdown may be just such a time.
With polls show the Republican brand suffering, and party officials and some donors looking to GOP governors as their brightest future lights, New Jersey’s chief executive has the benefit of being well known before the current Washington gridlock as a brash personality who earned plaudits early on for his budgets — and whose media spotlight shines far away from the Capitol.
Republican governors have all, more or less, attempted to take the same route as Christie, to different degrees and with different ends in sight. They’ve increasingly become the voice outside Washington calling on the fractured GOP to find a solution to the current crisis.
But Christie, more than others, benefits from having established himself as an enforcer, even if it’s in perception more than reality. He’s garnered more national exposure than his fellow governors, thanks to his proximity to cable TV studios in Midtown Manhattan and in-your-face style that the media can’t resist.
And on an issue that polls show dragging down the Republican brand more dramatically than the Democratic one right now, Christie may have the most insulation of any Republican governor. While none of the governors looking at 2016 has made fighting against the Washington stagnation their rallying cry, the New Jersey governor has come the closest in trying to draw a contrast.
His latest campaign ad focuses on his history working with Republicans and Democrats. And he has said that were he president, he would make all sides gather in a room until a budget deal was done.
“I told my staff today: If I were down there, I would say, ‘Listen, we’ve got seven hours to go. Guess where you’re spending the next seven hours? Right here in the Roosevelt Room. We’re not leaving until we get a solution to this problem,’” Christie said (http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/09/christie_calls_government_shutdown_a_failure_of_ev eryone_responsible_for_the_system.html) before the shutdown began.
One GOP operative who asked not to be identified said the weeklong shutdown — and current staring contests over raising the debt ceiling — “hurts all Republicans, but it hurts Christie less so because he’s so well defined already.”
At times, Chris Christie’s party-of-one approach to politics serves him well. The federal government shutdown may be just such a time.
With polls show the Republican brand suffering, and party officials and some donors looking to GOP governors as their brightest future lights, New Jersey’s chief executive has the benefit of being well known before the current Washington gridlock as a brash personality who earned plaudits early on for his budgets — and whose media spotlight shines far away from the Capitol.
Republican governors have all, more or less, attempted to take the same route as Christie, to different degrees and with different ends in sight. They’ve increasingly become the voice outside Washington calling on the fractured GOP to find a solution to the current crisis.
But Christie, more than others, benefits from having established himself as an enforcer, even if it’s in perception more than reality. He’s garnered more national exposure than his fellow governors, thanks to his proximity to cable TV studios in Midtown Manhattan and in-your-face style that the media can’t resist.
And on an issue that polls show dragging down the Republican brand more dramatically than the Democratic one right now, Christie may have the most insulation of any Republican governor. While none of the governors looking at 2016 has made fighting against the Washington stagnation their rallying cry, the New Jersey governor has come the closest in trying to draw a contrast.
His latest campaign ad focuses on his history working with Republicans and Democrats. And he has said that were he president, he would make all sides gather in a room until a budget deal was done.
“I told my staff today: If I were down there, I would say, ‘Listen, we’ve got seven hours to go. Guess where you’re spending the next seven hours? Right here in the Roosevelt Room. We’re not leaving until we get a solution to this problem,’” Christie said (http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/09/christie_calls_government_shutdown_a_failure_of_ev eryone_responsible_for_the_system.html) before the shutdown began.
One GOP operative who asked not to be identified said the weeklong shutdown — and current staring contests over raising the debt ceiling — “hurts all Republicans, but it hurts Christie less so because he’s so well defined already.”