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The Real Reason For All the Chris Christie Buzz

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  October 4th, 2011 at 10:57 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Everyone is reporting that Chris Christie has decided not to run.

Today it is breaking news.

It was also breaking news in August when he said he was not running.

It was also breaking news in July when he said he was not running.

It was also breaking news in June when he said he was not running.

It was also breaking news in May when he said he was not running.

This is like rain and snow in New York. Whenever it rains or snows in New York the national media fixates on the rain and snow in New York as if it is an unheralded event of apocalyptic proportions never seen before or to be seen again.

But it happens every year. And every year the media covers the New York to DC weather more than the weather in all the rest of the states combined.

It’s because the national media lives there and is most attuned to that area and all the reporters’ friends are there and OMG all the people who work on Wall Street and hang out with the NYC-NJ types think the New Jersey Republican they are most familiar with can beat Barack Obama.

Like the rain and snow, Chris Christie gets all this news because Chris Christie is the Governor of New Jersey where so many of the media types live. Oh, and just as they are so familiar with him, he is so familiar with them and played them very well.

I pity the nation should Andrew Cuomo ever decide to run for President. Being the Governor of the actual state in which the national news is broadcast from, we’ll be hard pressed to figure out if any other candidate is running.

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  • Marcus_Traianus

    was another Blue State governor posing as a conservative.

    That might be the rave with all his millionaire king makers, but it is not with the electorate.

    One John McCain ever decade or so is enough. Thank you.

  • freentn

    Please show Senator McCain and Governor Palin a little respect.

  • http://www.neoavatara.com/blog neoavatara

    Christie is certainly not a pure conservative, that is for sure.

    But he is one of the most eloquent fiscal conservative voices for govt reform, entitlement and pension reform, and government restraint we have. He is certainly more eloquent than Romney, Perry, or Cain on the issue.

    So I probably would not have supported him for President, but his consideration was more than simple MSM hysteria.

  • blogforceone

    Too bad this has happened here at Red State over the Hate of Sarah Palin. I don?t hate any Republican. In fact, I support ALL Republicans in this fight to replace POTUS Obama. Some posters here do not feel the same. As for poster mbecker908, his comments regarding Sarah Palin directly mirror all of the standard far left criticism of her. I have read through many and it is clear he is not a ?big tent? Republican at all. Most likely a deep plant paid and instructed to sow discord on this site. Erik Erikson has allowed these haters to be his personal attack dogs against ANYONE who posts favorable comments regarding Sarah Palin. Erik, you are so out of touch with the heart and soul of modern Republicanism that is represented by Sarah Palin and Herman Cain. Erik, please get your MOJO BACK, and wake up! You owe an apology to supporters of Sarah Palin who have faithfully supported your valiant efforts in the past to extol good, sound Republican values that are now clearly missing from your site. The hate here of Sarah Palin reflected by you, your commentators and a few posters here are a disservice to all patriotic Americans.

  • freentn

    President who gave service to our Country.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    The man called me a bigot and racist because I didn’t want amnesty for Illegals, He played the liberal card and said I lacked compassion because I wanted to reform medicare and social security. He violated the first amendment with his campaign finance law.

    He was always first and foremost an over ambitious man with more interest in being a maverick and media darling than in working with his own party. His rhetoric is small government, his instincts are big government and on top of it he is one of the more warlike and interventionist than the neocons in the Bush administration.

    And on top of all of that he abandoned people like you when he refused to even fight Obama on his own terms.

    Don’t much care for him at all.

  • blogforceone

    Herman Cain would make a fine POTUS. national service is a big plus! However, those who have not served are no less qualified to be POTUS.

  • freentn

    Romney.

  • gekster

    She is a good attack dog for the cause.
    But you do not put your attack dog in the Westminster dog show.
    It will just cause havock.

    I have defended Sarah against the false charges, but not against the truth about her.
    It is what it is, and the Sept. 30th “my drop dead date to get in”,
    which she said and ignored, sank her for alot of us.
    If she can’t keep her word to herself, how can she keep her words to us.

  • blogforceone

    He will not run and have his entire life and family run through the MSM meat grinder. NYC media would have a field day with him after what he did to Corzine and all of his money.

  • freentn

    If he did serve in the military tell us about that. Sorry running Pizza Palors is not my idea of exceptional service to America.

  • wonkish1

    The guy has $hit all over us for nothing more than a friendly article in the NYT for more than 10 years. I’ll hate his guts for the rest of the time he’s in the Senate.

    I found it particularly ironic that his theme was country first. Its like he knew exactly what his weak spot was and sought to reinvent himself. That guy was all about me, me, me his entire F*ing political career. Only recently did he finally realize he should just shut up and know his place.

    Mitt Romney is a he!! of a lot better than that A*hole I can guarantee you that. Mitt may reluctantly sell you out for political expediency. But McCain would sell you out cheeringly all the way to the NYT with big F*ing grin on his face.

    People lose credibility with me when they say Mitt is worse than McCain. Mitt’s bad, but McCain is the absolute worst sellout POS I’ve ever seen.

  • Whacker77

    A year ago, who would have ever thought Mitt Romney would be the best the Republican party has to offer, It’s unbelievable a flip flopper is now the prohibative favorite to be the nominee. What happened over the last year to make this possible?

    I’ll tell you what happened. The best candidates we had to offer this cycle just didn’t want to put in the effort. They thought Obama was unbeatbale even though he always was. Guys like Jeb, Christie, Thune, Daniels, Barbour, and Ryan decided it was better for them to fight for an open seat in 2016.

    What has become of the conservative movement and the Republican party that so many are more interested in the own self interest than a country in dire need of help? I’m tired of hearing these guys go on TV and tell us how bad Obama is only to say they’re not running. If he’s bad for America, then run.

    This has always been, remains, and will be the considered the most embarrassing presidential field of modern times. I just can’t believe Mitt Romney is going to be so lucky. What happened?

  • blogforceone

    She spoke in general terms. If she had entered the race last week she would have breathed life into Creepy Joe Mcginniss’ book tour. Did she really need to do that in order to satisfy her naysayers? Mcginniss is old news now and off of the radar screen. You can bet that if she had announced earlier all of the questions posed to her would have been salacious in nature from the MSM.. She deflected his attack masterfully as his publisher thought for sure she would be in the race by mid- September. Palin-1, Mcginniss/LSM- 0

  • wonkish1

    Lets say the most liberal Dems in congress were freaking out about a tax cut package that was about to be passed by the GOP in congress.

    McCain would go on national television and call his own party “extreme” for pushing them so that he could get some nice press in the media.

    If that situation were to happen with Romney he would just sign it if it was going to pass. But if the GOP were starting to work on something that didn’t have much support in the polls Romney would just bring on some Dems to write a compromise piece.

    Both are bad, McCain would be the ultimate dill-hole for his shenanigans.

  • blogforceone

    ?Cain does not have any direct military experience. However, he did spend six years in the United States Department of Navy, which provides operational and organizational support for both the Navy and Marines.

  • Marcus_Traianus

    Sorry, I held my nose and pulled the lever for McCain. He was far from most folks ideal conservative choice. But the alternative, as we have found out, was much worse.

    Voting for the lesser of two evils is never a winning electoral strategy. It is a recipe for failure. I suppose there are a few people out there with short-term memory problems that didn’t get that last time around.

    Two separate issues which you have illogically conflated; McCain has my undying gratitude for his service to our country. As a politician, his lukewarm, lecturing lip-service to conservative principle get mt well-deserved scorn.

    Oh and you will have to prove McRomney is a draft-dodger. I don’t believe even the Daily Kooks have made that claim.

  • Scope

    n/t

  • acat

    Right this way.

    I’ll just exerpt the key quote for you.

    And yes, ?drop dead date? is Sarah Palin?s own word choice. It is not the media?s word choice or her fans? word choice. It is Governor Palin?s own word choice.

    It’s about halfway down, followed by links to audio and video where you can confirm that yes, Sarah Palin said that.

    Please go forth and educate yourself.

    Mew

  • freentn

    at running Dirty Trick campaigns and he is silver spoon in mouth Country Club rino rich.

    But I agree. I too am disappointed that some of the best and the brightest in the Republican Party failed to answer the call for Service to our Country.

  • wennejunk

    Get real: He is a career,lifer politician who did/does anything to get re-elected – just like Mitt. They are cut from the same cloth.

    Yes, he was an officer.

    Yes, he once had honor.

    Yes, he once did something heroic.

    That was then, this is now.

    Since that time, his unbridled record of stabbing Conservatives in the back is proof that the fantasy McCain does not exist.

    Don’t confuse the past with the present.

    I also worked hard for them and spent a ton of money.

    I did it because I could see that Obama would be far, far worse (I had no idea just how bad), not because I had any love for McCain.

    Palin was an inspiration and breathe of fresh air. No more, the bloom is off that rose as well.

  • freentn

    You mean that Cain took an affirmative action job with the Department of the Navy?

  • freentn

    I AGREE with U!

  • red_oakster

    He thinks he can beat Romney in New Hampshire and he may be right. He also has enough name recognition that success in New Hampshire could propel him in such a compressed schedule.

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    After graduating from college with a degree in Math, Cain went to work for the Navy doing calcuations for missile ballistics.

    Had Cain been drafted and worn a uniform, what do you think his job would have been in the military? He would have done missile ballistics for the Navy, only wearing a uniform instead of a suit.

    I really don’t see this as a negative for Cain. He was a mathematician, and those are few and far between. The odds are he was given a military deferment, because he was already working for the Navy and doing the exact same job he would have done anyway if he had been drafted.

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    Because we all know working out the mathematics for missile ballistics is so easy that just anybody can do it.You don’t have to be precise, it doesn’t matter if the numbers are actually correct, what’s the worst that could happen? When a missile is fired, instead of hitting its intended target, it hits New York City. No big deal.

    Performing the math calculations for ballistic missiles isn’t an affirmative action job.

  • blogforceone

    After talking to Anderson Cooper in an improptu Q & A ” For practical and logistical reasons it is a kind of a drop dead date” You base your whole line of attack on Sarah Palin on this?? She clearly knows what she is doing and you will see over the next few days. What will you do when she announces her candidacy and bolts to the front, winning the nomination in a walk?

  • freentn

    how times have changed. If it looks like affirmative action and talks like affirmative action, it probably is affirmative action.

  • Marcus_Traianus

    …or Romney’s for that matter on the Perry “hunting lodge issue” than anything else. It shows a willingness to accept unfounded allegations as “fact” for sake of political expediency.

    As noted, Mr. Cain contributed considerable genius to the Navy’s Missile program.

  • gekster

    I was looking for it, and by the time I found it, yours was already up.
    No problem. I don’t think he will admit it to himself.
    Dillusional is an illness. ;)

  • gekster

    ntntntnt

  • freentn

    If Cain was such a “genius rocket scientist” then why did the US Department of Navy let him go?

  • acat

    There’s enough daylight between Palin’s actual governance record in Alaska and her conservative-mon-and-apple-pie speeches to fit a herd of caribou through; Becker’s the resident expert on Palin policy, and I note you’ve been ignoring his posts.

    Staying on topic, that Anderson Cooper is the one who asked the question doesn’t change that it’s Sarah Palin who answered it, Sarah Palin who chose the deadline, and Sarah Palin who blew right past it.

    Mew

  • septembergurl

    First, he is not a supporter of second amendment rights & therefore I would not vote for him in the primary.

    Second, the push for Christie illustrates something about the Tea Party/constitutional movement: it is not yet mature enough to field a strong candidate at the national level. In 2010 the TP had strong and not so strong candidates at the state and local level, who (Marco Rubio et al) are maturing as national candidates for 2016 and 2020. There will be more such candidates arising out of the 2012 state level elections..

    Thus you have the strange sight of the Tea Party wing poaching on the establishment territory (and Christie is very establishment, despite his pugnacious persona) to find their candidate (Kristol, Coulter et al). Though he would probably beat Obama, it’s hard to see how he could win the nomination, being well to the left of Romney and entering the race late. Romney has no problem attacking Perry from the left (on SS) and the right (on immigration). He would have a field day with Christie.

    I’m not saying the Presidency is unimportant in 2012, exactly, but rather that the search for the conservative messiah is misguided. Obama and his socialist agenda have failed, and he will lose no matter who the Republican nominee is. That no conservative Obama has arisen (the One we have been waiting for, etc) is actually a good thing. It shows the movement is a genuine grass roots one, not a cult of personality as the Obama campaign turns out to be.

    In my view Romney would be a weak President because he so obviously lacks core political principles. I truly hope someone else is nominated. Still, he would move the ball own the field, if only because he would be guided by expediency in dealing with a very conservative House & Senate.

  • gekster

    You say: “She clearly knows what she is doing and you will see over the next few days”.

    What is it we will see in the next few days.
    Got some inside info, speculation, or wishfull thinking.

  • freentn

    he will take votes away from romney and for that reason alone I would love to see him join the race.

  • rightwingmom52

    Do you have any evidence to the contrary or are you just spouting nonsense again?

    Notwithstanding that Morehouse is a fine institution, Cain received his Masters of Science in Computer Science from Purdue University.

    From Business Insider:

    Cain is a totally self-made man.

    In many ways, Cain is basically the embodiment of the American dream.

    The 65-year-old pizza magnate was born in Tennessee, and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia at the height of the Civil Rights battles. Cain has described his family as “poor but happy” ? his mother was a domestic worker and his father worked three jobs, as a janitor, barber and chauffeur.

    In his online campaign bio, Cain writes that his father had two dreams ? to buy a house and to see his two sons graduate from college. He achieved the first dream during Cain’s childhood. Cain graduated from Morehouse College in 1967 with a degree in math.

    He was literally a rocket scientist.

    When Cain told Sean Hannity that solving America’s problems is “not rocket science,” few noted that Cain is actually one of few people qualified to make that remark.

    After earning his degree from Morehouse, Cain worked full-time as a mathematician in ballistics for the U.S. Navy, developing fire control systems for ships and fighter planes. At the same time, Cain was also working toward a master’s degree in computer science at Purdue University.

    More about his background here and here

    While I felt compelled to set the record straight, I’m returning to my self-imposed ban on responding to your inane comments.

  • freentn

    in Cain’s Hometown Atlanta, I can spot affirmative action when I see it and Cain is every bit as much an Affirmative Action Candidate as BO. If I wanted to be for affirmative action I would join the democrat party. No thanks, I’ll stick with a Conservative Republican Candidate.

  • Repair_Man_Jack

    Talk us all through the fieldguide for spotting such an iniquitous individual.

  • edintexas

    That Bill Kristol has been stood up at the altar again. Rush also reports that Kristol has been seen at Dulles Airport running around with a clipboard seeking people who would agree to run.

  • freentn

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Cain

  • Repair_Man_Jack

    He was assigned in the 1980s first to analyze and ultimately to take the reins of Burger King, which at the time was a Pillsbury subsidiary, where he managed 400 stores in the Philadelphia area. Under Cain’s leadership, his region went in three years from the least profitable for Burger King to the most profitable. This prompted Pillsbury to appoint him President and CEO of another subsidiary, Godfather’s Pizza. Aiming to cut costs, Cain over a 14-month period reduced the company from 911 stores down to 420. As a result of his efforts, Godfather’s Pizza finally became profitable.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Cain#Business_career

  • izoneguy

    I guess Ann will now get on the Romney/Cain train

  • wonkish1

    Everyday I just see stupider and more mean spirited BS from him up and down the comment bar. I don’t get why the mods aren’t at least warning him.

  • rightwingmom52

    then so am I. I lived in Tennessee for 30 years, in Atlanta for 10 years, in Macon for almost 3, and now in Birmingham for 11.

    I’m a self-proclaimed expert at spotting nonsense which is what you’ve been spouting at redstate almost nonstop since you’ve been here.

  • gekster

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    Cain’s degree is in mathematics.

    Cain performed calculations for missile ballistics for the Navy, which makes him a rocket scientist.

    Cain advanced to the top of three seperate industires: information systems, business management, and banking.

    Few people have the type of sucess Cain has had in a single industry, much less three unrelated ones like Cain has done. His supporters see that as evidence of his capabilities.

    You can’t see past his skin color. Repeatedly making the claim that Cain’s documented acomplishments must be due to affirmative action. I know you think you’re being smart and witty, but you’re only embarassing yourself. No, not embarassing your self (as I’m sure you have no personal embarassment over this), but rather exposing yourself to the world for what you are. It’s not a pretty sight.

  • http://www.redstate.com/thesophist TheSophist

    I agree that a big part of the obsession with Chris Christie is that he’s in the NY-NJ-CT Tri-State area where the Media people live as well.

    But there’s another dimension at work too, I think.

    Quite a few people are in agreement with the conservative movement on fiscal issues. If I had a dollar for every liberal Democrat acquaintance who claims to be fiscally conservative but socially liberal… why, I could afford Obama’s taxes.

    It so happens that fiscally conservative, socially liberal is an unthinking position lacking self-examination, but fact is that quite a few people supposedly support such a thing.

    Christie is, in a way, the poster boy for that particular brand of politics: fiscally tough, fighting the unions, slashing budgets, telling the blunt truth about the numbers… but socially well to the left of the GOP base on issues such as Second Amendment, gay marriage, and the like.

    He’s possibly the perfect Republican governor for a blue state like NJ. Nationally, he won’t get much traction within the GOP base.

    I suspect Democrats and their Praetorian Guard Media instinctively understand that Christie would flame out in the GOP primary race, despite his strong fiscal record and positions. I suspect that is what they want to see most of all, which would then allow the Left to brand the Tea Party and conservatives as being really motivated by racism, sexism, and homophobia instead of putting the nation’s finances on sound footing.

    It’s a clever strategy. I hope Christie understands that he’d be used simply as a pawn to discredit the conservative movement, and that he would stay out of the race.

  • edintexas

    Christie views the following positively:

    Gun control

    Illegal aliens

    Global Warming “fixes” like Cap and Trade

    As some Grandmother in NYC or NJ might say “This is a conservative?”

  • wonkish1

    Anytime I look at the comment bar its just repeated, after repeated, after repeated absolute vitriolic spewed junk right on to every opponent of Rick Perry. And then its growing increasingly more sensational and complete lies. And now its crossed the point of incendiary.

    Give it another 3 days and this guy is going to start a full on b*tch fest right here on RedState.

  • gekster

    Him and his second shift double.
    And if you ask him a direct question, he ignores it.

    He posts all this crap, and then the lefty blogs point and say look how irrelevent RS is.
    The posters are a bunch of right wing idiots.
    Look at all the claims they make and can’t back them up.

    I could be wrong, but I don’t thinkon this one.

  • wonkish1

    Just look at the unbelievable $hit he posts. No sane person on the entire right side of the divide would post the crap he posts.

  • Justin Spagnolo (standardcandle)

    Eventually management will see a comment where the line was crossed… because people like this just can’t help themselves.

  • wonkish1

    I mean how many times do your readers have to Hinz rule him before management gets the picture, this guy sucks!

    And some of his stuff has crossed some pretty big lines already. What are they waiting for him to use the N word?

  • Marcus_Traianus

    His resume shows that,

    You also will need to provide a source for your comment that Cain was “let go”. What are you trying to imply?

    I have no dog in Mr. Cain’s fight. But try to be a little more responsible with your comments.

  • Justin Spagnolo (standardcandle)

    Otherwise… just ignore the character…

    As for Redsate, I’m not on the inside… I’m as Moe would say… “A well adjusted Troll”… or maybe a long term user with comments and diaries that has survived episodes of mass banishment, and vitriolic {real vitriolic} rhetoric.

    I for one am grateful that Redstate Moderators are not quick to ban… some of the comments of a Troll can be quite revealing of others… and their trollish natures too…

    This community in my mind governs well enough to date by principle… there may be need for more moderators… but I’m glad that there is a lot of leeway given to opinions… but make no mistake there is no toleration of arrogantly or ignorantly profane and offensive material. Like I said, eventually a troll will reveal themselves, they just can’t help it, they’re only a troll.

  • freentn

    “scientist?”

    It is a legitimate question. If he was indeed a “great rocket scientist” they would have promoted him and done everything that they could to keep him.

    And why was he fired by Godfather’s if he is such a great CEO. That is also a legitimate question, after all Cain is asking us to hire him as CEO of our Nation which is the toughest job in the World. I for one want to be certain that the Person that I vote for is the best qualified for the job.

  • snowshooze

    I’ve been fired.
    I’ve had more jobs than I can honestly count.
    I don’t consider it much of a factor without knowing the whole of the story.

  • gekster

    freentn, when you don’t answer any yourself.

    I myself have posed several, which you refuse to answer.

  • kowalski

    He was relentlessly consistent and then got very strongly wooed in the last few weeks but I’m glad I was right when I said he wouldn’t run.

    I’m bittersweet about him not running even though I didn’t think he would. I have the feeling he’d be the best prepared debater on the stage anywhere and he’s absolutely right – he could win. He can win. But he’d have a hard time escaping from the perception that he used New Jersey as a stepping stone to the Presidency and I’ve always really believed that he wanted to be Governor there to keep doing what he started and … most importantly … follow through. You can’t do that if you’re going to announce your Presidential candidacy in the beginning of this month, it would have been a constant distraction.

    Christie has a long career ahead of him and I think he made the right decision.

  • kowalski

    It’s much better that Chris Christie stays in New Jersey and keeps working hard there in the next year rather than basically putting that job on the back burner and leaving it aside, which is what he’d have to do if he announced he was going to run today.

    He let everyone on the East Coast today know: “I’m the Governor of New Jersey and I’m going to continue to devote my full attention to being the Governor of New Jersey. Lots of you don’t like it, but lots of you didn’t like me being Governor to begin with. I intend to stay and keep working.”

  • kowalski

    I really believe that if Christie decided to run, so would Bloomberg.

    Bloomberg might decide that anyway, but he cannot say Christie “did it first.”

  • kowalski

    And in a lot of ways Christie in NJ and Bloomberg in NY are kind of antiparellel fields, except that Bloomberg has a lot more of his own money.

    With Obama weakening and everyone speculating about a Hillster/Billster reemergence I think there’s still a good chance Bloomberg will go for it.

    Remember he’s said “no, no no” many times too but he’s been even *less* convincing than Christie and I think MB is the real, true wildcard of this Presidential election cycle.

  • liberal_lurker_2012

    Cain-Christie 2012 or Christie-Cain2012! Either way, this sounds good to me!

    This would be a good ticket and would refocus the national debate on real issues when facing Obama-Biden!

  • http://www.redstate.com/thesophist TheSophist

    mount a primary challenge to Obama. :)

    He’s more naturally a Democrat anyhow; even his people have to know he has zero chance in the GOP primary.