GQ: Dear Mitt: Please Pick Chris Christie
GQ columnist Reid Cherlin says Mitt Romney should pick Governor Chris Christie as his running mate over the “milkiest of milquetoast options,” Ohio Senator Rob Portman or former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Hat tip to Bob Ingle.
Yes, I know the criticisms. Chris Christie is a hot-head and a showboat. He’s overweight. He doesn’t represent a key swing state. He’d be uncontrollable, in the way that Sarah Palin was uncontrollable. He’d suck up all the oxygen and leave Romney fiddling in the wings, or worse, cleaning up his messes. All that is true, to a degree.
But let’s remember the other key truism here: people vote for the top of the ticket, not the would-be VP. As you’ve read countless times, the real virtue of the running mate pick is that he can be nastier on the attack, he doubles your capacity for in-person campaigning, and your selection of him says something essential about your judgment. I think Christie would be a win for Romney on all three fronts. He is an excellent attack dog. He lives for town-hall campaigning. And his pick would make loud and clear—to Romney’s still-unenthused Republican critics, and to swing voters who love moderate East Coast Republicans—that he’s serious about kicking ass. Most of all, though, Christie is damn entertaining. He is disarmingly blunt. He’s a ham, he takes tough questions head-on, and he loves the parry-and-thrust that is weaker pols’ undoing. There’s a reason he remains so popular.
The campaign so far has been an utter grind, and Romney’s VP announcement is our last, best chance for an infusion of something fresh, interesting, and new. Please, Governor Romney: I know you’re a businessman above all else. But can’t we all just have some fun for once?
I have to agree. Portman or Pawlenty will put voters to sleep.
I would love Romney to make an “out of the box” VP choice like Condie Rice, Allen West or Marco Rubio. But Rice doesn’t want to do it and probably would not perform well on the campaign trail. West is a patriotic hero but comes across as angry. Angry scares voters. I don’t think Rubio is ready, for the office or for the glare of negative media attention that would come down on him.
No one articulates the case against Obama better than Christie. Christie has a Reaganesque optimism and ability to communicate it in a way that inspires like no one else on the national scene.
Christie will bring an excitement, and fun, to the race that no one else can bring.
If the presidential race keeps going the way its going, voters will tire of the campaign before Halloween. Christie will engage voters more than any VP candidate since Thomas Jefferson and the media won’t get the better of him like they did of Sarah Palin. ( I can’t believe I just put Thomas Jefferson and Sarah Palin in the same sentence.)
Most importantly, with Chris Christie as his running mate, Mitt Romney can win.
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Switchers
Dear Daughter
Bill Clinton was right
To me Pawlenty is an ABSOLUTE NO GO. He was gov of Minn. when Frankin and the Dems stole a senate seat. As gov, there had to be tools at his disposal to fight that.
HE DID NOT FIGHT HARD ENOUGH. The last thing we need is another spineless go along get along elitist
Marco Rubio is more qualified than Barrack Hussein Obama was; plus he brings a lot more to the ticket by being the first Latino to be on a Presidential ticket for VP.
The issue is jobs, jobs, and jobs.
Plus, who wants to lose Gov Christie? We need him here in NJ!
Chris Christie is too liberal to be the Vice Presidential nominee. He certainly won’t win the nomination, four years from now, to be the GOP’s presidential nominee. Do you doubt that? Here are some questions that non-New Jersey voters, Republicans in particular, would be asking “VP nominee” Chris Christie ….
“Governor Christie, did you really increase the tolls that truckers have to pay to cross a bridge from $40 to $90? $90 to cross a bridge?How does increasing tolls 125% make it easier for New Jersey companies to create jobs? How does increasing tolls/taxes make New Jersey more attractive to companies that might be considering locating to the Garden State?
“Governor Christie, you claim to be pro-life. Why did you pick a running mate that supports the holocaust that is legalized abortion?
“Governor Christie, the last proposed budget that you submitted to the NJ Legislature proposed increasing state spending by 8% over what was spent the previous year, an increase considerably higher than the current rate of inflation. What is conservative or fiscally responsible about that? Will you propose increasing Federal spending by 8%?”
“Governor Christie, an Attorney General that you appointed has said in legal briefs submitted to a US District Court that that State of New Jersey believes that the Second Amendment does not protect the right to carry arms outside of one’s home. Do you share this view?”
“Governor, why are you seeking to collect sales tax on items purchased via the Internet that previously were not subject to the sales tax? How does increasing the amount of money that New Jersey residents pay in sales tax improve the economy, or otherwise make New Jersey a more affordable place to live and work?
I could go on but I think I’ve made my point. Chris Christie is too liberal for the national GOP. He’s not ready for prime time in 2012 and he certainly won’t be ready in 2016.
One more …
“Governor Christie, you recently visited Israel on a so-called trade mission. Your wife, 3 of your children, your mother-in-law, your father and your step-mother joined you on that trip. An organization called ‘The Republican Jewish Coalition’ paid for the Christie family to vacation in Israel at the same time that you were on this trade mission. Why did you allow others to pay for your family to travel overseas? Do you think it is unethical for government officials and/or their family members to accept lavish gifts from those seeking to influence the political process?”
If there were a perfect VP candidate out there they would be (in my order of importance) 1) Seen as very qualified to be President on day 1 2) Someone who is not likely to damage the ticket in the Fall with any major gaffes 3a) Ability to help the ticket as a very good campaigner/speeches etc. 3b) Being the difference in winning their home state.
If a potential VP does not meet #1, I would pick someone else since there are several possibilites being talked about were politics asside, that would not be an issue.
Couple of other thoughts…Its interesting that none of the other R candidates for President seem to be getting any consideration at all for VP. (Might be seen as not meeting qualification #1, lol!!…sorry) Since Romney needs to expand his appeal to the indpenedent voters (and women), I would be thinking along the lines of what potential candidates could help me do that.
PLEASE, please, pick someone from Florida, if you really want to win this thing..Rubio first choice.. Allen West, second!.. the last thing he needs is somebody from a state already GONE, and, yes, campers, NJ is already gone..
I really do not want to be the smart ass commentator picking and poking each time I am compelled to Leave A Reply, but come on, the set ups are so crisp and the ball just looks so fat that hitting walk off’s is almost guaranteed.
Why or why my fellow citizens would you quibble about more of the same ole. Whether Democrat or Republican, lib or con, born again or still converted, the facts are the facts. If you take an action, do something of your own choosing, propose an initiative of your own creation, and you go deaf, dumb, blind and irritated why would you propose anything close to it again and again and again.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, remember that little ditty. Less well known is it’s second cousin, if it’s broke and useless, doesn’t serve the purpose for which it was intended and requires way to much time and attention, replace it.
Except for the haze that keeps us all in a fog whatever our political platform we all seem to agree something, whether it’s the black guy and his foreign influenced ways or the rich guy who forgot the dog was on the roof, it’s broken. Get the manual out of the bottom draw and replace it. Put our government back to work, clean the pipes and seal the joints.
Paul Mulshine theory – Romney to pick Christie, then resign, allowing Christie to be Presidential nominee.
http://blog.nj.com/njv_paul_mulshine/2012/08/a_secret_plot_to_replace_romne.html
Wow–a visitor from Planet Pelosi—-please leave messages in English–(not Flopsy)
Thanks
Brian- you little devil you. I missed this bon mot. When did you ever find the time? I was convinced that you were the guy I saw with the tent, camp out in the Chick Fil A What? parking lot all week. You have wifi you little vixen, got to be. Ipadded or Googala?