Chris Christie has now officially declared himself a candidate in the running for President. The Republicans are fielding a large number of people running for this office, including a woman. Now we will have someone who claims he is a man of the people.
The Governor declared himself for the Presidency at his Alma Mata, Livingston High School. Present were friends and family as well as protestors. The protestors present were teachers, victims of Hurricane Sandy and environmentalists. They are those who feel that Christie has crossed the line of their beliefs and blame the Governor for just about everything. They chanted “Hey hey, ho ho, Christie for president. … Hell no!” Beloved he is not by these people, but how about the rest of America? Time will tell and no one that I know of has a crystal ball showing what will happen in the near political future.
Now that the presidential candidate pool is getting larger, who will drown in the deep end? Will Christie who claims to represent the common man (/woman) has declared “I mean what I say and I say what I mean and that’s what America needs right now.” Be the first to die a political death?
He is the in your face kind of candidate and will face (pun intended) an uphill battle trying to make the rest of people outside of the State of New Jersey believe he is the one best qualified to be President. While his qualifications include being a Federal Prosecutor, a Freeholder and of course Governor of the State of New Jersey for six years; he has no international experience. And while he does have to his credit the fact he has worked closely with some Democratic Party leaders on important bill (laws), will that translate into being able to do the same thing at the Federal level?
Per NJ.com “Environmentalists were there as well. Jeff Tittel, of the Sierra Club, said the governor’s approach to the Exxon pollution settlement and denial of the need for a government response to climate change made him ill-suited for the presidency. “Christie was a disaster for New jersey. He’d be a disaster nationally,” he said.” While I agree that Christie has not done things that the environmental lobby wants, he has tried to do what he thought is right for the people of New Jersey.
It seems to me that as time has gone by his attention on New Jersey issues has waned and his quest for the Presidency has hurt (interfered with) his ability to do the right things for the people of New Jersey. Hurricane Sandy was his political high point and made him a national name. That was a long time ago in the political memories of those who count and it is a fading memory. His stance of being anti-abortion and his being against Gay Marriage have hurt him. When the Supreme Court voted to allow marriage between two people of the same sex, Christie was one of those who just will not accept what the court has decreed. Plus he claims to be a Conservative, yet the other Right Wing members of the Republican Party view him more as a Moderate. That does not help his image at all. As does his being overweight, although it might help that he has lost a considerable amount of weight.
Next week I will continue with a blog on one of the Democratic candidates, I will let you guess which one.
That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike
