To the surprise of no one, Save Jerseyans, Axios was out with a “scoop” on Wednesday morning: Chris Christie is probably running for president. Again.
Next up: the sky is blue? The Earth is round? Andrew Cuomo’s pervert?
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He started running BEFORE the dust from 2020 had even settled. The former governor cut that curious mask ad (who’s going to wear a mask because Chris Christie told them to?) down the homestretch of last year’s campaign when President Trump’s COVID-19 response was coming under heavy scrutiny, an eerily-similar repeat of his Obama “hug” during the Sandy-dominated finale of Election 2012.
Chris Christie can’t NOT be in the mix. He’s addicted to black SUV rides and limelight – good and bad. If the ambition was a corporeal being then it’d be him.
The only quasi-genuine “news” in the story: Christie is allegedly telling “friends” that “he’d be the only person in the 2024 field with executive experience who has run a presidential race before.” Axios says it’s a thinly-veiled shot at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who is justly experiencing a moment in the sun for keeping Florida open for business while simultaneously posting a far lower death rate than states like New Jersey and New York.
First of all, having run before is actually a double-edged sword.
Yes, knowing firsthand what a presidential race is like probably counts for something. It’s brutal. At the same time, Christie’s last time at bat was an unmitigated disaster. He placed 6th in New Hampshire (with only 7.38% of the vote, behind Jeb! Bush), and Christie didn’t even show up on the radar in a recent Morning Consult poll. The only thing that’s different between now and then is a little more distance from Bridgegate, but if you think the media and Christie’s opponents aren’t going to parade Bridget Kelly in front of the cameras (shameless plug here for our recent interview with her – click here!), then you’re as hopeless as G.W. Bridge traffic at during a fake traffic study.
Bridgegate ultimately confirmed far too many people’s unspoken suspicions and stereotypes where Christie and New Jersey politics generally were concerned. It inflicted more damage than the scandal itself.
Defeats and lane closures aside, sandbagging Trump is only one of the ways that Christie has complicated his future primary potency. He’s an ABC analyst (which helps keep him from disappearing from view, but isn’t exactly a great conservative credential) and he’s making good money as a lobbyist. How many successful canidates for high office start as lobbyists, by the way? Can you name any? Leveraging your influence and fame in the halls of power for paying clients is something you do when you’re winding down, not ramping up.
I will always maintain – and long-time readers know this – that Christie’s gravest sin remains his lack of political leadership while serving as governor. As my friend Art Gallagher (formerly of MoreMonmouthMusings) once said so well, Christie went to Trenton promising to turn it upside down but, in the end, got turned upside down himself. He cut Faustian deals with Democrat bosses including a massive gas tax increase. He prioritized his national ambitions over building a lasting movement in the Garden State. He abandoned NJGOP candidates and the entire Southern wing of his own party in the name of political expediency. He bullied members of his own party which led a state senator of his own party (Chris Brown) to accuse Christie of treating people like punching bags.
We’ve all seen the beach chair meme. I suspect far fewer know how it came about: the then-governor went to Island Beach State Park in July 2017 while it was closed to the public due to a state government shutdown. His lieutenant governor – who was running to succeed him that year – should’ve known then if she didn’t already that her cause was doomed.
Phil Murphy was the end result of all of these bad choices, and New Jersey is in worse shape than it has ever been. The opposition is scattered and, in some counties, completely destroyed. I can speak from personal experience: making calls and knocking doors in 2017, few suburban voters brought up Trump but many cited Christie as a major reason why they were voting for Phil.
Contrast the Christie legacy with the one Ron DeSantis is building in Florida. The Sunshine State is a shining beacon of what’s possible with the right, conservative, uncompromising leadership. The Florida GOP is also stronger than ever under DeSantis’s expert leadership; it’s no surprise that some former Christie operatives are reportedly flocking to DeSantis’s cause.
Never count him out. Christie knows how to raise cash, and he’s one of the most talented political communicators of our time, a fact which made his fall from grace all the more disappointing.
If he gets in and you do, too, Governor DeSantis? Give me a call. I’ll happily fill you in on Chris Christie’s “executive experience” and a few other memories of living through the Christie era and its grim aftermath.
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Save Jersey’s Founder and Blogger-in-Chief, MATT ROONEY is a nationally-noted and respected New Jersey political commentator. When he’s not on-line, radio or television advocating for conservative reform and challenging N.J. power-brokers, Matt is a practicing attorney at the law firm of DeMichele & DeMichele in Haddon Heights (Camden County).
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