Presidential Ponderation: The Real Chris Christie?

11 Comments

by: Colorado Pols

It's Friday, which is always a good day for "Presidential Ponderation" here at Colorado Pols. Today we direct your attention to a fascinating article in the New Republic, which looks at New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie and how he rose to power using the same kind of political payback that led to "Bridgegate" (if you've got some time, read the article — it's fascinating). From Alex Macgillis:

Has there ever been a political reversal of fortune as rapid and as absolute as the one just experienced by Chris Christie? At warp speed, the governor of New Jersey has gone from the most popular politician in the country to the most embattled; from the Republicans’ brightest hope for 2016 to a man with an FBI target on his back. One minute, he was releasing jokey vanity videos starring Alec Baldwin and assorted celebrity pals; the next, he was being ridiculed by his lifelong idol, Bruce Springsteen. Mere weeks ago, Christie was a straight-talking, corruption-busting everyman. Now, he is a liar, a bully, a buffoon.

What is remarkable about this meltdown is that it isn’t the result of some deep secret that has been exposed to the world, revealing a previously unimagined side to the candidate. Many of the scandals and mini-scandals and scandals-within-scandals that the national media is salivating over have been in full view for years. Even the now-infamous Bridgegate was percolating for months before it exploded into the first major story of the next presidential race.

No doubt that the sort of horse-trading described in the New Republic goes on in Colorado at some level, but it's hard to fathom the sheer political audacity that takes place in New Jersey.

11 thoughts on “Presidential Ponderation: The Real Chris Christie?”

mamajama55 says:

February 14, 2014 at 10:56 am

Christie might keep his job, but he won't be moving into the White House.

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Andrew Carnegie says:

February 14, 2014 at 11:23 am

There are alot things about New Jersey that are hard to imagine.

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ClubTwitty says:

February 14, 2014 at 12:58 pm

Maybe there is a place for Scooter in a Rand Paul cabinet?

My name was not on the complaint despite the fact that it was predominantly my work product over several weeks and two hundred hours of research, meetings, and drafting. Ken never showed me the final complaint before submission. My name could not be on the complaint under DC Bar Rules because I could not prepare a timely engagement letter. I was never informed until yesterday by Ken of the details of the collaborative arrangement between FreedomWorks and Rand for litigating and paying for the lawsuit. I promptly revised the engagement letter when the information was received, and it has been forwarded via Ken to Rand and FreedomWorks.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2014/02/13/e-mails-back-claim-that-sen-rand-paul-stole-nsa-lawsuit/

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itlduso says:

February 14, 2014 at 2:43 pm

Gov. Blagojevich, meet your new cellmate, Gov. Christie. And no, you don't get a bigger cell, just scooch over.

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notaskinnycook says:

February 14, 2014 at 4:43 pm

I've been thinking about this ever since this story broke and I can't remember a corruption case in Coloradothat comes anywhere near this kind of thing. I remember a few years ago there was a study on ferreting out corruption in government and the biggest one they could find here was the Supercop scandal back in the 60s. Are politicins more virtuous here or just more clever abut not getting caught?

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1. notaskinnycook says:
  
  February 14, 2014 at 4:45 pm
  
  Can't type! "Colorado that" "about"
  
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2. DavidThi808 says:
  
  February 14, 2014 at 5:58 pm
  
  Wasn't prett much every top official in Adams County being indicted for awhile?
  
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  1. Davie says:
    
    February 14, 2014 at 6:08 pm
    
    Hey, what have you got against Quality Paving? At least the commissioner and other officials had the good sense not to take bribes from Crappy Paving!
    
    http://www.denverpost.com/ci_19211813
    
    Former Adams County official seventh charged in Quality Paving scandal
    
    Read more: Former Adams County official seventh charged in Quality Paving scandal – The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/ci_19211813#ixzz2tLfh3tcQ
    
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  2. notaskinnycook says:
    
    February 15, 2014 at 10:36 am
    
    True that, David. But I've always thought of Adams County as a an island unto itself. I hate to say it, but the corruption up there started with the Teamsters in the factories.
    
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3. RavenDawg says:
  
  February 15, 2014 at 10:52 am
  
  Different culture I think.
  
  I haven't lived in NJ but spent ~10 yrs in Chicago and I suspect there are similarities:
  
  Densely and long-time settled (even the farmland) with intensive and widespread govt infrastructure and resources means there is serious money in play. The two (or one)-party system is heavily institutionalized and integrated with governance–they lack our tradition of libertarianism. Local political organizations have long histories of alliances and feuds; power is passed accross generations. So political cronyism is built into the system. And there is a level of tolerance from the population that a certain amount of govt corruption is to be expected as the cost of doing business (not to mention its entertainment value). And hey, if it gets your street snow-plowed faster than the next ward, what's the problem?
  
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The realist says:

February 15, 2014 at 8:42 am

When I read this line, quoted above, "Now, he is a liar, a bully, a buffoon," I thought I was in this thread. A challenge to keep the lying, bullying, buffooning Republicans straight!

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