Christie on the morning talk shows

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Christie Blog from Tampa

Governor Chris Christie has an online scrapbook of his RNC adventure at http://govchristie.tumblr.com/

Click on the photo for a larger view

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Keynote Preview?

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Christie addreses the dismal July jobs report, New Jersey Comeback

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Christie to visit Asbury Park on Monday August 20

Governor Chris Christie will be holding a press conference on the Asbury Park boardwalk tomorrow afternoon, Monday August 20.

Following his meeting the press at 3PM, Christie is scheduled to greet boardwalk patrons and beach goers along the boardwalk and emphasize the importance of clean beaches and waterways to the New Jersey shore economy.

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Menendez complains about constitutional amendment to make judges pay their fair share

Politics should trump good public policy and the will of the people, in the mind of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez.

The Auditor is reporting that New Jersey’s junior Senator called Democratic State Senators Steve Sweeney and Ray Lesniak to complain about the fact that they’re allowing voters to decide on the constitutional amendment that, if passed, will require New Jersey’s privileged Judges to abide by the same pension and benefit rules as all other state employees.

Menendez wasn’t complaining about the merits of the legislation.  He was complaining that the presence of the constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall would get Governor Chris Christie out on the campaign trail supporting the amendment….and also supporting State Senator Joe Kyrillos in Joe’s quest to unseat Menendez.

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Save Jersey: Christie will deliver keynote address at GOP National Convention

Save Jersey is reporting that they have confirmed that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will be the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention.

SJ says that a formal announcement will be made on Monday, August 13.

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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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He didn’t call them idiots, or nudniks

The Asbury Park Press is still struggling for relevance and their trying to get it by attempting to set Governor Chris Christie’s agenda and schedule.  Their likelihood of success is less than that of Star Ledger Editorial Board Editor Tom Moran’s attempts to get Christie to improve his manners.

Back in May, APP ran an multi-part expose on the Lakewood School System.  So few people read about it, cared about it or took it seriously that when Christie came to Freehold for a Town Hall Meeting the following week, no one brought it up.  That prompted an front page editorial rant that bashed Christie, Congressman Chris Smith and others not directly responsible for the mess in Lakewood for not paying attention to the APP Neptune Nudniks.

Last week the governor visited a private school (publicly funded) in Lakewood that serves the developmentally disabled.  The Nudniks responded with another front page rant and by getting the Lakewood Board of Education President to write an open letter to the governor complaining that he is not paying attention to them on their schedule.

Yesterday, the Nudniks sent a reporter to a Christie press conference in Hackensack about a new solar power farm to ask him about the Lakewood Schools and why he hasn’t visited:

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