Conservatives Miffed At Christie’s Popularity, Possible 2016 Prez Run
The grousing has begun! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.
Time magazine splashed Chris Christie’s profile on its latest cover. High-profile Republicans, including the only female Hispanic governor in the nation, are urging him to run for president. MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program seems to be anointing him the savior of the Republican Party.
Everyone, it seems, is celebrating the ascent of Mr. Christie, the governor of New Jersey. Except people like Scott Hofstra.
“We’re so frustrated with all this Christie talk we can’t see straight,” said Mr. Hofstra, who is active in the Tea Party movement and lives in Vine Grove, Ky. He and his friends were especially furious when the governor, on television last week, described himself as “a conservative,” given his recent expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, among other positions.
“He’s no more conservative than Harry Reid,” Mr. Hofstra said, referring to the Senate majority leader, a Democrat. …
With a civil war underway inside the Republican Party, what conservatives fear most is that Mr. Christie’s nomination would effectively mean that the party establishment had won the internal struggle — and that Mr. Christie’s force of personality trumped ideas.
Asked in an interview whether Mr. Christie could unite the party’s factions, Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, responded flatly: “No. I don’t think Chris Christie has any interest in bridging that divide because he’ll run as an aggressive, Northeastern moderate who can get something done. I don’t see him using conservative language. He might be able to get nominated, but it will be running as a personality leader, not a movement leader.”
And you just knew that Sarah Palin, in an effort to remain relevant to the political fray while plugging her new book, “The Atheist Liberal Socialist Scoundrels Have Declared War On Christmas, Gosh Darn It, And I’m Tiffed”, wouldn’t miss a chance to weigh in:
[T]he 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate stops short of embracing Christie as a potential GOP presidential candidate in 2016, saying “I would never put my faith and hope in any one politician.” Palin tells NBC’s “Today” show she believes “there is no Ronald Reagan on the scene today.”
And if there were, he would’ve been primaried by a Tea Party wingnut closer to Palin’s worldview.
But I digress…
