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11/08/2017 5:53 am  #1


Has Christie Ruined the GOP Brand in New Jersey?

As Christie era wanes, Jersey GOP has little to show for it

As Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno vied for last-minute votes over the frenzied final days of the New Jersey governor’s race, Chris Christie never showed up on the stump. In fact, the governor has not appeared in public once to support Guadagno, who has been by his side for more than eight years.

With Christie’s approval hitting 14 percent among likely voters in a recent poll, it’s not hard to not see why. Once considered by many to be the future of the Republican party, Christie is now too toxic for the very people who helped put him in power.

But for the GOP in New Jersey, Christie’s political legacy goes beyond the traffic jam that helped destroy his reputation and his star-crossed alliance with Donald Trump. It isn’t just about a public distaste for the governor. Christie, some say, put his own future ahead of his party — openly embracing Democrats when he could have extended coattails to Republicans.

“I think Chris Christie has destroyed the Republican brand in New Jersey for a political generation,” said Matt Hale, a professor at Seton Hall University.

Christie was beaten down by the bridge scandal, left behind as a second-tier presidential candidate, fired from Trump's transition team and passed over for the job he wanted in the administration.

Then, in July, he sat on a state beach that he had closed to the public in the midst of a government shutdown, and thumbed his nose at anyone who questioned the optics of his family vacation.

By any measure, Christie is a politician at rock bottom. A staggering 84 percent of voters in New Jersey say he has had no major accomplishments since taking office, according to a poll released Monday. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out” is how Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind describes the findings of the survey.

https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2017/11/07/as-christie-era-wanes-jersey-gop-has-little-to-show-for-it-115526


We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists. 
 

11/08/2017 8:55 am  #2


Re: Has Christie Ruined the GOP Brand in New Jersey?

I don't think the GOP was ever a big brand in New Jersey to begin with. The state has traditionally been deep blue with the occasional moderate republican getting swept into the governor's mansion during times if national republican resurgence. (Think Tom Kean during the Reagan era and Christie during the rise of the Tea Party)

Personally, I don't think Christie was as bad as people say in some regards. First, to know New Jersey is to know taxes are insanely and unreasonably high. Christie didn't lower taxes but he was always able to balance the budget and work with an overwhelming democratic majority in the state legislature. 

People often forget this, but right after Superstorm Sandy, Christie put aside politics and worked closely with Barack Obama for funding and other federal services for the state. The right wing nutjobs and Fox News went insane when a month before the 2012 presidential election, Christie appeared in public with Obama in a Jersey shore town, hugged him, and thanked him for his administration's quick response to the disaster.

And finally, to Christie's great credit, he has dedicated a lot of money and resources to the opioid crisis in New Jersey. If you live in the Philly TV market, you can't go 10 minutes without seeing a commercial with him telling people how they can get free help if they have addiction issues.

Yes, Chris Christie was petty. He was abusive to those who disagreed with him. He thumbed his nose at tax payers by doing things like taking the state police helicopter to his kids' little league game.

He was really the epitome of the New Jersey politician. Except he had one thing going for him. He knew that he wasn't going to lead some Republican resurgence in New Jersey. He was going to be the 2000's Tom Kean. He's govern for a couple of terms, and then Democrats would rule all branches of state government for another 20 years or so until the next acceptable moderate republican came along. So he said, "f**k it, I'm going to do what I want to do, both personally, and politically and let things fall where they may."

 


I think you're going to see a lot of different United States of America over the next three, four, or eight years. - President Donald J. Trump
 

11/08/2017 9:09 am  #3


Re: Has Christie Ruined the GOP Brand in New Jersey?

Well Christie and his antics certainly did NOT help the GOP there ! 


"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
 
 

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