Four Problems With Chris Christie 2016

[DonViejo]

By Jonathan Chait

The emergence of Chris Christie as one of America’s most popular national figures comes as a godsend to the Republican Party. Having angrily turned down every opportunity to compromise with an electorate that spurned them a year ago, they now see the enticing chance, in the form of Christie’s all-but-declared presidential candidacy, to right their course without veering left. “The road to Republican political redemption may well run through Trenton, N.J,” says Politico’s Ben White. Savvy operative Ralph Reed, whose ties run from the Grover Norquists of the party to its Christian wing, gave the governor his blessing, seemingly paving the way for Christie to clear the party’s ever-more-stringent ideological purity tests. Christie used his acceptance speech to establish the themes for this run, repeatedly highlighting his support from Democratic constituencies and his record of cutting taxes and spending.

There is only one flaw with the plan: Shepherding Christie through a competitive Republican primary will be vastly more difficult than anybody seems to be figuring at the moment. Four basic, interrelated problems stand between Christie and the 2016 nomination:

1. His ideological deviations are not fake. They’re real....

:::snip:::

2. Christie’s popularity is somewhat fluky. Christie has some real political talent. But he has benefited from his juxtaposition against a corrupt, divided, ineffectual state Democratic Party that consistently allowed him to claim the good government high ground....

:::snip:::

3. Christie lacks a deft touch. The Christie method for retaining the goodwill of his party has been: Whatever he loses through policy squishiness, he wins back in personal abuse. In the past, I have heavily discounted the possibility that this kind of style can translate beyond New Jersey. It is possible that I am underselling Christie’s personal appeal in states that have not spawned The Sopranos and Jersey Shore.

:::snip:::

4. Christie may actually be shady. Mitt Romney wanted to make Christie his vice-presidential nominee, but took a close look at what the vetters came up with and, my colleague John Heilemann and Mark Halperin report in their new book, promptly changed his mind. Romney’s prudish disdain for Christie’s weight commanded gossipy attention, but the sheer breadth of the potential issues surrounding Christie suggests serious trouble:

:::snip:::

full article
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/11/four-problems-with-chris-christie-2016.html

[Old and In the Way]

1. While I think he'll flog #3 in the next Presidential primary,

his willingness to work with the federal govt (#1) will be a non-starter with the core rubes who are the primary GOTV activists in the Teapublican Party.

[davidpdx]

2. I also think he's a flawed candidate

The article makes some good points about Christie. I've seen people on DU act like he's most definitely going to be the nominee. Frankly I'm not convinced.