Those inclined to consider the talk about the embrace between New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and President Obama in the wake of Hurricane Sandy as being more the result of hyperactive political reporting on the eve of the election than a genuine controversy might have been right. But yesterday’s Politico story about the governor being Mitt Romney’s first choice to be his running mate lent credence to the notion that there was some substance to the notion that Christie was up to something. The anonymously sourced story seemed to indicate Christie was the likely veep nominee until late in the process when he was suddenly dropped in favor of Paul Ryan. The upshot of the piece seemed to be that Christie and his friends were mad about being used as decoys or thought he had been snubbed.
All this is leading some observers to not unreasonably connect the dots between this, Christie’s convention speech in which he barely mentioned Romney, and his much-publicized post-hurricane “bromance” with Obama. Whether they are right about that is an open question, but there is little doubt that if Christie doesn’t want Republican activists (whom presumably he will need if he runs for president in the future) holding a grudge against him for sandbagging their candidate in the last week of a close race, then he needs to listen to this New York Post editorial and give the country a loud and clear reminder that he wants Romney to win on Tuesday, not Obama.
In thinking about this story, we are inevitably forced to wonder who benefits from the leak? In doing so, we can certainly eliminate Romney or his campaign, since the story does nothing to help the GOP candidate. But does it help Christie? Perhaps.
It could be that Christie supporters are floating the story in order to point to his absence from the GOP as the reason why they think Romney will fall short on Election Day. Republicans should be unhappy about anyone in their party starting the blame game before rather than after the election (though some Democrats started doing so last month). But if this is the result of Christie seeking to score points at Romney’s expense in the week prior to the election, this is something many in the GOP aren’t going to forget.
While Christie’s decision to abandon any thought of politics in the wake of the hurricane was appropriate, he has to know that his lauding of Obama has been interpreted as a statement about his feelings about Romney. As I wrote on Friday, I think he is probably more focused on his re-election than on a putative run for president that may not come for four or eight years — or never materialize. Yet he needs to debunk that notion pronto. If he doesn’t — whether out of characteristic stubbornness or genuine pique at Romney for actual or perceived slights — he needs to understand that like their cartoon symbol the elephant, Republicans have long memories.
UPDATE:
As Reuters reports (h/t Politico), Chris Christie has made a statement that might pass the bar the New York Post editorial set about him needing to clarify his stand on the election:
I’m a Republican and I have endorsed Mitt Romney, I support him and I intend to vote for him on Tuesday,” said Christie, interviewed in his home state by a visiting Israeli television reporter.
That may go a long way toward tamping down the controversy but it will also still leave a lot of people wondering about Christie’s motives as well as the source for the Politico story about the vice presidential nomination. One suspects that if Romney loses, we won’t have heard the last of this.
Don't forget about the absurdly high bar Christie set for Romney right before the first debate. He got away with it because Romney crushed it, but Christie should never have done that in the first place.
Only hope for Christie is that he goes on Fox and says that Axelrod had his kids hostage in a basement and said he would never see them again unless he did everything on the ransom note. Ottherwise, he should start talking to Corzine about a career in investment banking, or maybe at the Slurpee trading desk at Bloomberg. The political one is over, in NJ and everywhere else.
I disagree that Romney doesn't benefit from the Politico story. I suspect his people planted it to show Christie as being in for petty revenge, as opposed to genuine concern for constituents.
The odds favor Mitt Romney to win the presidency. Chris Christies' antics will only damage his own political prospects in the future. Romney does not need NJ's Electoral College votes.
Hey David, n nWhat odds favor Romney. Obama is a head in every battle ground state poll- +5 Ohio, +6 Pennsylvania, +4 Virgina, +2 Colorado, +4 Wisconsin. As you know the popular vote means nothing. it is these states that will make the difference and Obama has led in every poll in these states throughout the year. I am not trying to argue I just want to know what your basing your statement on, is it a fact or opinion. Look I don't support either Romney or Obama I just want to know what information you have that I don't. n nAs for Chris Christie, you cant blame the man for giving kudos to a president who has ensured to help his state. Come on now Chris Christie is a great man and a great republican…a real republican who champions the causes of his party like no other Governor does. Don't turn your back on the man for a couple of great statements he made about Obama. n nDon't let your hatred for Obama skew the facts or turn your back on your own….thats not right man, it is not American. n nSal
Dude, its going to be a wipeout. Most of the polls you reference estimate a turnout similar to 2008 which is absolutely impossible given Republican enthusiasm vs. Democratic enthusiasm. Some of those polls even have more of a skew expecting turnout numbers to be even better. You can't win some of these states when independents are breaking for you in 15-20% differences (as they are for Ryan in just about every poll you mention). If you can, it would mean that this country just completely swung to the democratic left (since they # of democrats would have to greatly overwhelm Republicans and independents). And I don't know ANYONE who is suggesting that would happen. The only way it works is if the independent numbers are just completely and absolutely off in the polls. n nWhat is more indicative is where the candidates and their surrogates are. Biden in Minnesota. Clinton in PA. Obama in PA and Ohio. Romney in PA. Ryan in PA and Iowa. Somehow, I don't think the Democrats expected to be contesting PA in the last weekend. They would rather have been in NC and VA. Obama can still pull it out, but given the economy and the increasing noise from the Libyan debacle, my guess is that the close race becomes less close as undecideds break to the challenger, which is usually the case.
We shall see in a day or two, but these polls consistently embrace a turnout model that I think is wildly unrealistic. If you make your best guess as to how Republican/Democratic enthusiasm will play out in the ground game, you will come to a very different result than these pollsters do even if you use their numbers for every other calculation. (Dig in to the methodology–they assume an enthusiasm gap as big or bigger than we saw in 2008. Do you believe it?) n nThe behavior of the campaigns themselves supports this assertion–both sides are acting like Romney is the favorite.
You'll see tomorrow that you need to more discerning in the polls you choose to believe. Romney has VA, CO in hand. If PENN is as close as yesterday's numbers say, then Romney has OH as well. WISC is likely Romney as well. Romney's up huge with indies, and has the partisan intensity on his side, as well. n nYou will see tomorrow that bogus, heavily-Dem polls did not discourage the GOP from voting as the left had hoped.
How many American know Doug Wilders and how many know Chris Christie?? Wilders abandoning Obama is far more important to you then it is to 99% of Americans.
I suspect that Wilder's abandonment will signal permission to stay home on election day for a significant number of black voters. For Virginia, that matters.
"How many American know Doug Wilders …?" n nBlack voters in Virginia know Wilder (not "WilderS"), and many of them will pay attention to his lead on this. For those already nursing doubts about Obama — and there are plenty of them — Wilder cold shoulder for Obama could pull them over to Romney's side.
"While Christie’s decision to abandon any thought of politics in the wake of the hurricane was appropriate . . . '—-why do you think this? Only because we need to "set politics aside" to deal with a disaster? Everything can be described as a "disaster". Why not set aside politics to deal with the debt disaster, the ObamaCare disaster or virtually anything? The fact is, politics pervades every pore of Obama's being, every action of his Regime and every calculation he makes. Only a jackass like Christie would act like politics doesn't matter when Obama is clearly using him for political purposes.
As a conservative, I am not really a big Chris Christie and I don’t think the Republican Party needs him anyway. Christie is a poster boy of what is wrong with the GOP, he is a North Eastern Liberal Republican that is in favor of Gun Control, Cap and Trade and other ideas that aren’t very conservative. n nJust for the record people in the Midwest don’t need someone from the Northeast telling us we shouldn’t have the right to own a gun, or tell us what we can have. n nChristie is the type of republican that reminds me of a Christopher Shays or a Richard Lugar that the Party needs to move away from if we want to save this country. We don’t need any more establishments RINO’s making nice with the democrats, we had two in Maine that did enough damage to this country. We need real conservatives that are going to cut the deficit and adhere to the constitution. Being antigun and pro cap and trade is not what a constitutional republican would be for.
Christie panders cravenly to his very large Muslim constituency. Now he betrays Romney and the Republican Party and cravenly slobbers all over Barack Obama in the critical eleventh hour. All entirely in character for a politician without any. n nChicago pols have eclipsed their foul kind in other states during the last four years. With apologies to Rhode Island, New Jersey may be the most politically corrupt state in the Union. Christie, a former prosecutor, is a classic Northeast Irish Catholic pol. (Those unfamiliar with the Golden Age of Democratic Party Politics and with the political type, see Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff in Preston Sturgis's The Great McGinty.") n nChristie is a classic Democratic Party hack who found his main chance in the Republican Party where his piggish, salt of the earth style demagoguery is an anomalous and distinguishing feature. n n
Christie's going nowhere in GOP politics outside New Jersey.
That's the other downer about Christie; apart from his weird alliances and the tough-luv act: What he's best at is bare-knuckles, in-yer-face poltics. Ideal for haggling with shop stewarts and scolding schoolmarms, but a disaster-in-waiting on the national, or Heavens forbid, international stage.
Amen.
Where is Chris Christie going to be this afternoon? His office in Trenton is 10 miles from the Romney Rally in Bucks County.
Obama decides how much the fed reimburses states for disaster cleanup, those endorsements may have cost taxpayers in the other 48 states over a billion dollars beyond the normal 75% the fed paid in other disasters.
Compared to the dearth of support going to NYC residents in Queens right now I'd say he's crazy like a fox.
I have never liked Christie, though I support most of his reforms. However, to think he set out to undermine Romney is preposterous. Just think of the challenge the guy had: nearly the entire coastline of his state devastated. What would you folks have done? Of course you would look for the president to cut through red tape. Of course relying upon the federal government to cut through red tape is like relying upon the media to get out the story on Libya. But that doesn't mean you wouldn't try. He never had a chance to go national. He's just too "hot" of a personality. Now, because of the unfair conservative animus, his chances are below zero.
I disagree. He didn't need to go out of his way to help Obama. Let's face it, Democrats play harder than Republicans. Do you remember any Democrats in Louisiana helping Bush. Nope.
dougx, I agree. Democrats know how to play hardball.
If Obama has to be grovelled to so that he can cut through government red tape, what do we need FEMA for. Apart from Christie's weird footsie play with the Islamists, he's shown himself to be easily rattled under the pressure of a forseeable natural disaster. Getting all maudlin about faux bi-partisanship days before an election was extremely maroonish. Not presidential material.
Compare Christ Christie's approach to Bobby Jindal's approach and I think you might get an inkling of what conservatives hoped for, but didn't get from Christie. It's not fair to compare Christie to some Platonic ideal but Jindal trail-blazed a better way and Christie declined that path. He rightly gets the brickbats he deserves for it.
I have seen Christie campaigning for Romney in Virginia just a few days ago and being very tough on the president " if he cannot change Washington form the inside what the hell is he doing in White House". nI don't see any reason to change just a few days later. n nOn the other hand, I don't believe Politico's anon sources AT ALL!. Politico is a worthless democratic media outfit. I am sure they are laughing with the mischief they could cause inside the Romney campaign and the Republican Party.
the blubber has migrated to his head
Sorry, but Christie's "endorsement" is so obviously what it is – the bare minimum, designed to buy him deniability – that it will do nothing to help him weasel back into Republican good graces. By slobbering over Obama (Christie went far beyond being decently grateful for a President's apparent interest and help) he clearly intended to embarrass and hurt Romney. As far as I'm concerned The Elephant Man should concentrate on being NJ's longest-serving governor, because the GOP will remember how loyal and dependable he was. Christie showed that at a time when the future of the entire country was at stake, he chose to betray it for personal advantage and in a fit of pique. n nAnd ask the ghost of Arlen Specter how that worked out for him.
Christie kissing up to Obama to get help for his state
You people are crazy. Certifiably insane. Need to be locked up in a rubber room crazy.
The problem is NOT that Barack Obama was with Chris Christie in New Jersey. nThe problem is that Mitt Romney WASN'T. n nObama figured out how to look presidential amidst a crisis. Romney didn't. n nSo let's stop bashing Christie ….
That may be true, but Christie will never resonate with the conservative places like the south and in the Midwest. Christie is good for New Jersey, he's not good for the GOP on a national level. I could see him as Attorney General or something along those lines.
I think you meant to say ROMNEY's victory!
Hope you enjoy four more years of Obama, sounds like you deserve it.
I'm from WA but we have seen Obama slight Govs that didn't bow and kiss the hand. Christie knows this and really needs FEMA and Obama to get things rolling. Also, Christie has been part D always, but to win in NJ he needs to pander to liberals there. It also gave Christie an out, he has gotten FEMA to be the primary lightning rod for the recovery effort.__Also, the cooperation / bipartisan dance helps Christie. Bloomberg and Coumo didn't dance, the recovery effort is more on them. Has the Sandy response said "Big Gov't is good?" I think it helps Romney in CT (as well as the CT senate race), NY races, and PA.__Go ROMNEY
Yes, I recall Coulter shooting off her stupid yap (Chris Christie!), it got really old like everything about her act. It's only fitting, as far as she's concerned, that her blimp of a boyfriend may give us four more years of Obama. n nNew Jersey can take him–please! If he wants to go anywhere nationally he'd better switch parties (maybe he can become Obama's head of FEMA, or his food-taster).
Amen, amen and a thousand times "AMEN"!! n nBeen bugging the sh!t out of me for at least two years, the way Christie's weird loyalty to radical Islamists is just completely ignored by so many people who call themselves conservative. n nI say good riddance to the guy.
NO! Not until he quits coddling radical Islamists linked to Hamas!!!