WSJ: Christie’s Problem Isn’t Bridgegate

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

Chris Christie with flagHow long have I been telling you this, Save Jerseyans?

If our old friend Governor Chris Christie is truly “done” for 2016, something which I maintain is awfully premature given the volatility of the contemporary GOP and the weakness of its field, then it’s going to be as a result of the base’s problems with his record, not necessarily concerns over the artificially-inflated Bridgegate scandal barring a massive surprise from the federal grand jury.

The Wall Street Journal‘s James Freeman agreed with my assessment on Wednesday:

“…[t]he central problem is that New Jersey legislative districts have been gerrymandered to ensure liberal governance. Even as Mr. Christie cruised to a landslide re-election last fall, Democratic majorities in both houses of the state legislature were never in danger. This means New Jersey residents will continue to bear one of the country’s heaviest tax burdens, which in turn will continue to restrain economic growth. And that in turn will make it difficult for Mr. Christie to tell a compelling story in 2016 about Garden State success.”

I agree with most of that. Freeman downplays (or isn’t aware of) the extent to which the Governor’s reelection strategy minimized the chance of making at least some gains which theoretically could’ve placed pressure on the Democratic caucus. But that’s neither here nor there in the context of a presidential contest. It’s likely to be viewed as “inside baseball” by John and Jane caucus participant.

The end result is the same; GOP primary goers would sooner abandon Christie over the N.J. DREAM Act/Common Core/Medicaid expansion than any legal sideshow, and in terms of the almighty property tax issue which directly impacts our state’s economic fortunes and arguably constitutes the true measure of Chris Christie’s success at “saving” Jersey, Speaker Vince Prieto may ironically serve as the most important factor in the 2016 Republican primary. The arb cap is THAT big of a deal which is why the Guv is spending so much time and energy talking about it.

So yes, there’s going to be plenty of paid media contrast fodder for hypothetical opponents like Scott Walker (and plenty to criticize for the senatorial contenders who don’t have their own governing records to impeach) unless the Governor abandons recent concessions to bad logic and regains his warrior footing. And none of it has anything to do with traffic. Like I’ve been telling you.

 

Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8389 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.

1 Comment

  1. I have a multitude of reasons to dislike the idea of Chris Christie being the nominee in 2016, but any Republican who brings up Bridgegate as such will not get my vote. Playing into enemy’s hands should be a losing strategy.

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