Dear Chris Christie: Candor Is Not the Same as a Moral Compass
Jennifer Rubin – The Washington Post
Ahead of his presidential kick-off announcement, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Sunday put out a video trying to explain his personality in positive terms, as an over-abundance of candor. He tells a story about his mother who told him never to hold back, to always say what was on his mind. He ends by saying, “And when you ask about my moral compass that’s it. That’s it.”
What’s it? Candor is welcome, but it tells us nothing about Christie’s moral compass — his concern for others, his kindness, his values, his priorities, etc. The line, like a lot of campaign rhetoric, makes no sense whatsoever. Bad people can be candid….
We all know he has a problem coming across as overbearing or even as a “bully,” but those concerns cannot be passed off as just an excess of candor. You can quietly, politely tell us what you are thinking….
The best answer to the “bully” attack is for Christie to emphasize his record of accomplishment in a deep blue state with a Democratic-controlled state assembly. Bolstered by a court ruling on pension fund contribution, he can make the case that he has controlled spending and not raised the state income tax. Those accomplishments, in conjunction with school reform and drug courts make for a solid record.
Gov. Christie’s campaign video
If You See a Chance, Take It
Jamelle Bouie – Slate
…Chris Christie is the 14th Republican to enter the presidential race.
Americans, he said Tuesday, are “filled with anxiety” that can be “swept away by strong leadership and decisiveness to lead America again.” But with 3.3 percent support, he is near the bottom of the polls. Worse, he’s hit rock bottom among New Jersey residents, with the lowest approval ratings of his career, battling a still-beating scandal over lane closures on the George Washington Bridge….
And in a world where his direct competitors—Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, John Kasich, and especially Jeb Bush—stumble out of the gate in January 2016, he could win.That world, however, is likely not this one.
Christie’s prospects have changed sharply from three years ago. Then, Christie was the strongest commodity in the Republican Party. Uncompromising and pugnacious, he fought pitched battles against public sector unions….
By early 2011, top Republican donors were begging Christie to enter the race. They wanted a credible and exciting alternative to the milquetoast Mitt Romney and his lackluster challengers. Christie refused.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie answers a question as he addresses a gathering in Hampton, N.H on June 18, 2015. (AP)
Gov. Chris Christie’s Phony Truth-Telling
The Editorial Board – The New York Times
On his new website, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey portrays himself as a guy who gets attacked for “telling it like it is,” but that’s what his mom told him to do from her deathbed. It is part of the legend Mr. Christie has carefully cultivated for many years, with startling success…
It’s fundamentally nonsense. There are lines between brash and belligerent, between open and obnoxious, and, most important, between “telling it like it is” and not telling the truth. Mr. Christie crosses those lines all the time…
Mr. Christie will run as a fiscally responsible conservative, but the public pensions in New Jersey are a mess; nothing has been done to cut back the outrageous number of local governments that bloat public budgets; and the state’s long-term unemployment rate is nearly the highest in the country.