The Race for 2012 and Chris Christie's Refreshing Honesty

(From the American Enterprise Institute)

Many people are praising Chris Christie right now.
Not the teacher's unions he battled or the Democrats in New Jersey that can't handle a fair political fight. But Republicans in many circles think he is the GOP's only chance at success. This seems to be Ann Coulter's position. And if I had to guess, if the Editors of the Weekly Standard had to pick a favorite, they would choose Christie or General David Petraeus.

Did you catch Christie's remarks at the American Enterprise Institute? It's very hard to listen to Christie and not warm up to him. He is a very principled "regular guy" that voters can relate to.

One of my favorite of his remarks involved Governor Corzine's response to the
budget crisis several summers back. In response to a government shut down, Corzine famously brought reporters into his office and pointed to a cot that he would sleep on until the crisis ended.

How would Chris Christie handle this?

So I knew these were the same fellas who had been in the legislature when he was there now threatening to do the same thing. So I decided to call them down early on and advise them that the place was under new management. And what I said to them was listen, if you want to pass an income tax increase that's fine, I'm going to veto it. And if you want to close down the government because of that, that's fine. But I want to tell you something-I'm not moving any cot into this office to sleep in here. If you close down the government I'm getting into those black SUV's with the troopers and going to the governor's residence I'm going to go upstairs, I'm going to open a beer, I'm going order a pizza, I'm going to watch the Mets. And when you decide to reopen the government give me a call and I'll come back. But don't think I'm sleeping on some cot take a look at me you think I'm sleeping on a cot- not happening.

Could you imagine one of the other presidential candidates saying this?
It would be too off-color. Too risky.

It's too bad Christie said there was no chance he was running in 2012. Isn't it ironic, that the one political figure the country really needs, isn't going to run?

Inter-Conservative Warfare

(Picture from the AP)


It's almost time for John McCain to pick a Vice Presidential running mate and already, petty conservatives are up-in-arms over the possible selection of Governor Mitt Romney.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/16/us/politics/16veep.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=politics

For the sake of argument, let's call these people the "Baby Conservatives." Their intellectual capacity is not fully developed yet. Their ability to articulate is impaired. Moreover, their ability to practice politics runs at a middle school level.

These "Baby Conservatives" are following the lead of Mike Huckabee and trying to scuttle Romney's addition to the McCain presidential ticket on petty and spurious grounds.

They are raising concerns about "flip flops" that never happened. He has always been against abortion. When he was running against Ted Kennedy, he just said that he would not do anything to change the laws in MA regarding abortion. This was a smart political move. Ted Kennedy was almost unbeatable, and Romney came closer than anyone to beating him. He wanted to neutralize that issue by assuring voters that he would be effectively pro-choice, since it would be too difficult to enact any pro-life legislation in a state as crazy liberal as Massachusetts. He was being realistic and at the same time, trying to de-emphasize distracting moot issues, so that important issues (where he could have an impact) could be emphasized.

These "Baby Conservatives" are also trying to stir up fear among conservative voters over Romney's Mormon faith. This shows a level of intolerance that justify liberals calling us bigots. Mormon theology translates politically to sound conservatism. It would be a huge mistake if the Republicans alienate Mormons (people who are pro-gun, anti-gay marriage, pro-life etc etc). Mormons have proven to be staunch Christian allies and have donated tons of money to the conservative cause.

Let's not lose their support. Let's support a McCain/Romney ticket.