Christie finds his stride with Reagan-esque Planned Parenthood reply to Clinton

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

Two short years ago, Save Jerseyans, no one would’ve believed that just making the GOP 2016 debate stage could constitute a victory of sorts for Chris Christie. But that’s where he’s at for reason which we’ve discussed ad nauseam here at Save Jersey.

What many of us have been waiting to see is the Christie who became a star by clearly and yes, bluntly (he might prefer “aggressively”?) challenging a liberal premise. Simply talking about straight talk is no substitute for actually doing it, or at least not when the field is as crowded and talented as it is this time around. We might finally be seeing a little bit of the “old” Christie in the wake of the Planned Parenthood video releases that are still ongoing.

With the public closely divided on the issue, the easy thing to do is what most Republican officials have done thus far: make bland statements (and memes) promising to defund the mega-abortion provider but nothing more. Hillary Clinton seized on the narrow objections of her overly-cautious opposition, brow-beaten in past elections by the ‘War On Women’ label, by emerging from her undisclosed location to dismiss the defund Planned Parenthood fight as an “assault on women.” And without a strong challenge it’s a charge that’ll likely stick, however factually inaccurate.

Too far back in the polls to succumb to fear (?), Governor Christie took to Facebook on Tuesday and tried something a little different:

https://www.facebook.com/govchristie/videos/10153038395989135/

“The real issue here that Secretary Clinton won’t address is the conduct of Planned Parenthood,” Christie explains. “Do you think that Planned Parenthood should be able to use federal funding to kill children in the womb in a specific way so that they can maximize the value of body parts that they then sell on the open market for profit?”

That’s what we mean when we say something is Reagan-esque, folks: strong and morally-unambiguous without being the least bit shrill. The candidate invites the listener, in plain, direct, uncomplicated language, to start thinking about a hard choice or problem in a different, more-elevated way. Less so a condemnation than an invitation.

Bravo. Take notes!

Christie knows what to say here out of having fought this battle before. Many times. In 2009 and again in 2013, Democrats tried (and failed) to wage a ‘War On Women’-centric offensive against the New Jersey Republican. It never stuck because he knows how to cut through the B.S. by refusing… again… to accept the liberal premise (in this case, that an attack on Planned Parenthood is some species of attack on women’s rights. Why should the GOP be on the defensive? When it’s the other side using public money to subsidize a company that mutilates children? And alleging they help women when, in reality, they don’t provide half the services they claim to? WE should be asking THEM the questions. 

So Christie did in his video.

Now, before you jump down my throat, this isn’t an endorsement of Chris Christie’s presidential prospects. The damage might be done. We won’t know for sure until New Hampshire votes. 

All I’m doing is looking for hope of progress in Republican messaging and tactics in this absurdly-crowded 2016 field. Here we have one insular but important (and extremely instructive) example. The smart thing to do would be to learn from it, folks.
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Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8403 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.

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