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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAttention Democrats: Chris Christie Isn't Your New Best Friend
from HuffPost:
Bob Cesca
Political Writer, Host of The Bob & Chez Show
Attention Democrats: Chris Christie Isn't Your New Best Friend
I'm not sure if I'm suffering from some sort of latent dyslexia or if I'm channeling the godlike reputation he's gained in the last several months, but nearly every time I try to type the name "Chris Christie," I accidentally type "Christ" just before stopping myself and retyping the New Jersey governor's actual first name. I'm not making that up, sadly.
There's no doubt that, at a glance, Chris Christie (I just did it again, by the way) sounds like the real deal. His press conference last week in which he mercilessly pummeled the congressional Republicans for not passing a Hurricane Sandy relief bill is just the latest example of Christie stepping onto the national stage and providing a brief but welcome breath of fresh air in a universe where Republicans hardly ever break ranks and eat their own, and a universe where even fewer politicians sound as forthright and authentic.
In the post-McCain era, Christie is being hailed as the new maverick, the new straight-talker. And I can't bump into a liberal online or elsewhere without hearing about how awesome he is -- how he might be a Republican that liberals can actually support.
Of course, there's probably a 5,000 word psycho-political analysis to be written about how too many liberals are just dying to make friends with Republicans. Some of us really, really, really want to fall in love with a Republican. It's a bizarre form of Stockholm Syndrome, or perhaps it's our genetic predisposition to make peace with enemies who have no desire for an ideological détente. We desperately want to be able to point at a particular Republican and exclaim, "Woweee, I would totally vote for that guy!" ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/attention-democrats-chris_b_2440279.html
samsingh
(17,601 posts)graham4anything
(11,464 posts)yes, he did well in Sandy(much better than Andrew).
but that does not make him a democrat
If he wants to, let him become a democrat and then we can talk.
Now, he is trying to further his own self(which he has no place to go anyway), and like people in NJ he has a big mouth
but his policies are anti-democratic
BTW-he vetoed an already paid for new tunnel from NJ to NY to kowtow to the tea party.
After the storm, if there was one thing that was needed, it was that.
10s of thousands of jobs, and it would have brought millions in.
He will win reelection though. It's a given. And he will get the Jersey Shore back open
But he is anti-union, anti-worker, anti-democrat.
Were he a liberal democrat, then we could talk.
dballance
(5,756 posts)I believe he is a conniving politician. He's doing what is politically expedient and popular right now and basking in the glow of being the latest media darling. If he got elected to President I have no doubt he'd happily screw us all.
It was all too easy to criticize the House GOP for not taking up Sandy relief. People in NY and NJ are still without power and running water. How can you not win points by criticizing them for not doing something about that? Total political opportunism.
TheMadMonk
(6,187 posts)rocktivity
(44,577 posts)I haven't forgotten about the "merciless pummeling" that "Governor Soprano" been giving New Jersey about health care exchanges, low-income housing, and gay marriage. Now he's taking on his own party to get disaster support as though it's his gift rather than his job. Hell, the GOP is probably in on it; trying to turn it into an opportunity for him to come up looking like a McCain-style super moderate.
rocktivity
Gothmog
(145,554 posts)Christie is a republican and was a favorite of George W. Bush's people at the DOJ. That alone is enough to cause me to dislike him. Christie may be doing an above average job with respect to Sandy but he is still not a nice man and is no friend to the Democrats. I sort of wish that Mayor Bookner would run against Christie this year.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)on a certain issue without giving a crap about them otherwise. That's the way I feel about him.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)until he is in trouble then is surprised when his party does to him what he does to others.
He is a Republican. Need I say more?
rppper
(2,952 posts)Sometimes it takes a whacking upside your head to see the forest through the trees...watching the aid debacle may have been the straw...but he does have a checkered past. A moderate with press power and the publics admiration does help to point out the insanity on the fringes of his party though, so it is beneficial to the left in most senses.