By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
“We will either lead or disappoint. Those are the only two choices. Unfortunately, today, in my opinion, America is disappointing. But it’s not too late.”
And perhaps not too late for the speaker of those words, Save Jerseyans?
Governor Chris Christie delivered a decidedly non-isolationist speech at Sunday’s second annual ‘Champions of Jewish Values’ in Manhattan, offering up some of his harshest criticism of the Obama Administration since before his 2013 reelection campaign. “The rest of the world watches in desperation and hope that America will realize and act upon once again its indispensable place in the world,” Christie said in his address to a crowd that included everyone from Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) and mega-donor Sheldon Adelson to Cory Booker and Sean Penn.
“We must lead.”
The famous father of likely 2016 primary opponent Rand Paul wouldn’t have found very much to like in the speech. Nothing, in fact.
“We need to stand once again loudly for these values,” Christie continued. “And sometimes that’s going to mean standing in some very messy, difficult places. Standing long and hard for those things that we believe in.”
The mainstream media-types will naturally focus on the process angle of this story – the relationship between Christie and Adelson – primarily because it makes Christie look weak (Adelson had said last year that he liked Chris Christie but remained uncommitted to anyone in 2016). An equally-deserving facet, as I discussed back in March, is the contrast that Christie can present to our current weak and vacillating commander-in-chief. It’s something GOP donors (who aren’t disposed to the Paul-ish non-interventionalist worldview) are looking for right now for both ideological and practical reasons.
Don’t be shocked that they’re playing up the bad stuff! They’re not on his team. Never were.
The only question(s): why he hadn’t doubled-down on this theme earlier! And, of course, whether the Bridgegate feeding frenzy hasn’t already inflicted too much damage in the minds of those that matter. The Guv’s RGA fundraising rampage would suggest that he’s got plenty of political life left to live, but we won’t know until we do.
Schools. Pension plundering. PensionPIG appointees. Pipeline cronyism. Ballot manipulation. Bullying. Puppet-strings.
Sorry, Chris….already “Saddened”.