Straw in the (hurricane-force) wind

Chris Christie is betting on the President’s re-election.

Do you think Chris Christie would not only have praised Barack Obama but also dissed Mitt Romney if he thought Romney actually had a snowball’s chance in hell of being elected?

Me neither.

Yes, I have no doubt Obama and the FEMA team earned Christie’s praise. But he doesn’t strike me as the sort of good-government type who would say something just because it happens to be true. And the slight to Romney was completely gratuitous. Christie just put a deposit in Obama’s favor bank and helped position himself for 2016. But he’s dead meat if Romney gets in. Ergo, he thinks Romney is toast.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com

11 thoughts on “Straw in the (hurricane-force) wind”

  2. I think Christie, a so-so gov, would be good in a FEMA-type job-if not the top bureaucrat, then as the public face-guy, telling people they’d better evacuate if they know what’s good for them, etc.

  3. Everyone noticed his shout-outs to Republican governors Walker and Daniels, right? More 2016 back-scratching, I assume?

  4. Krispy Kreme’s got his own re-election fight coming up next year, don’t forget.

    1. Unless he decides his Presidential run is more plausible as a (voluntary) ex-governor.

      Anyway, remember, he doesn’t want Romney to win. 2020 is a long time away.

      Also, fat jokes: uncool.

  5. Yeah I’m sure the Tea Party base is just dying to nominate another Northeastern squish governor after Romney loses next week. Conservatives will be telling themselves starting Tuesday night that if only their ticket had been reversed they would have won the Presidency and they’ll want to test that theory next time. The 2016 GOP nomination is Paul Ryan’s to lose.

    1. This gets it exactly correct. In fact I expect Ryan being run and run again should he lose. This is the various rogue billionaires main man. The media tells us he has got the looks. He’s young. He’s got the religion too. Yeah he’s got a “small penis” voice but he can piss out the proper center-sounding words on demand. In short: He is the complete Ayn Rand-Christianist package. He’ll be able to raise two billion dollars from only 10 donors. Beyond that his upside is towards 20 billion.

      All that he has working for him. Two major things are opposed:

      1) A huge new swath of baby boomers entering medicare and social security age who will vote their interests.
      2) Every Frankenstorm and drought and record setting summer.

      In short, “shorty” is on the wrong side of history.
      And I don’t think all the money in the world can change that…

  6. I am no fan of Christie, but his ego and his bluish state give more of an independent streak than the teabots who mostly populate the Republican leadership. His forceful defense of a Muslim appointee also comes to mind. If there is a revival of “moderate” Republicanism in our near future, he may indeed be key face of it.

  7. Historical footnote: Since 1928, there have been 21 Presidential elections. In 19 of them, either the sitting President of the sitting Vice President won their party’s nomination. The two exceptions, 2008 and 1952, involved elderly vice presidents. Christie won’t be a sitting President or Vice President in 2016 or 2020, and Paul Ryan won’t be elderly in 2020. Christie has a strong personal interest in Obama’s reelection, and I assume he is aware of it..

  8. Christie just brilliantly and strategically called Obama off the campaign trail for another day, costing Obama another crucial day of last minute campaigning.

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