By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
His trade trip down Mexico way appears to have been a success, at least on the points.
But is it good enough? In terms of what he needed to accomplish heading into a presidential cycle? As with many things in Christie World these days, Save Jerseyans, there is no honest conclusion to be states at the moment. We just don’t know. Not yet.
The good: looking presidential by visiting another country, energetically meeting with heads of state, knowledgeably talking up free trade and forcefully (and convincingly) arguing for North American energy independence (and Keystone, by name) are all net positives for most elements of the GOP base. His decision to invoke Putin on foreign soil is a well-calculated attempt to contrast his tough-guy chops with that of the current POTUS (I’ve said before it may be his strongest play).
Perhaps of equal importance, the big business-types who play a major roll in funding national campaigns, either directly through bundling or indirectly with independent expenditures, love his positions on trade and energy. Team Christie hopes it reinforces their predisposition to prefer the charismatic, pragmatic-by-reputation Christie to his lean-libertarian/populist primary rivals.
The less good: Big business loves his illegal immigration crisis agnosticism as much as the base hates it. The Governor’s history on the issue is… complicated. Qualified remarks made during his time as U.S. Attorney coupled with strong support for New Jersey’s DREAM Act and a strong relationship with the corporate American donor base have left many conservatives wondering whether a Reagan-esque amnesty/worker program would be inevitable were a Christie White House ever to come to fruition.
He’s still refusing to address those base-borne fears even at a time when the Obama Administration has reportedly settled almost 2,000 illegal immigrant children inside the Garden State. No mas, por favor! “I know you guys are begging to have me focus on immigration. And let me put you to rest: I’m not going to,” he told disappointed reporters during a Thursday press availability.
It’s working well enough for now but at some point he’ll have to stake out a stronger position.
Bad news at home could also help to undermine the net positives mentioned above. More Bridgegate headlines and more bad credit/fiscal/economic news while he was out of the country won’t hasten the possibility of that “clean bill of health” many potential or soft supporters (including those donors) are hoping to see sooner rather than later.
So what’s the Spanish term for “mixed bag,” Save Jerseyans? Or a bag that we’re unaware of its contents? There you go.
