Former Governor Chris Christie is preparing to launch his second book published by Simon & Schuster; it’s apparently part of a two-book deal. The title is… Republican Rescue.
“Christie delivers a frank insider’s account of that election and the tragic descent of some members of the Republican Party into cowardice and madness, as well as no-nonsense solutions for how to recover the party’s image and integrity, and how to beat back the ultra-liberal policies of Joe Biden’s Democrats,” the publisher announced on Monday:
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“The wrong answers are everywhere. Dangerous conspiracy theorists. A tired establishment. Truth deniers and political cowards. In Republican Rescue, Christie reveals exactly how absurd grievances and self-inflicted wounds sabotaged Donald Trump’s many successes and allowed Democrats to capture the White House, the House, and Senate in two years—a first for the GOP since the days of Herbert Hoover.”
This is the second time I’ll have to read a Christie tome so you don’t have to, Save Jerseyans. His first book – Let Me Finish – was published in 2019 following his own failed 2016 presidential campaign.
I’ll be interested to see how Christie explains his early, clearly reluctant support for Trump in the 2016 primary (after he flopped in New Hampshire – remember that ‘hostage’ face?) with the available context of his January 2021 support for Trump’s impeachment.
Setting all of that aside, the book’s title is timely given the GOP’s post-Trump presidency struggle to decide on a path forward.
Is Chris Christie really the guy to provide a workable road map?
You know where I come down on this, folks. I can’t pretend 2010-2018 didn’t happen. A promising start ended in disappointment and disaster. The New Jersey Republican Party ceded significant territory to the Democrats on Chris Christie’s watch; the collapse was largely attributable to his self-centered political maneuvers, and in 2016 Christie’s brand was, for a time at least, more toxic to New Jersey independent voters than Donald Trump’s. Under his leadership, the New Jersey Republican State Committee (commonly known as the “NJGOP”) did little more than help cover Chris Christie’s travel tab and, on one notable occasion, spent valuable, finite party resources boosting the cause of the state gas tax.
I don’t know if the GOP needs “a rescue” but it undeniably needs a new leader.
It’s generally a bad idea to judge a book by its cover; all the same, I don’t think you’re going to find that leader inside Republican Rescue.
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