The Christie Appeal


In a question-and-answer session at February's Conservative Political Action Conference, right-wing Repub pundit and author Ann Coulter asserted "If you don't run Chris Christie, Romney will be the nominee and we'll lose."

The following week, Coulter told a Fox News audience "the GOP needs him" and blasted Republican primary voters for seriously considering Romney.

It's a silly statement. Tim Pawlenty- not Chris Christie- is the only candidate (or potential candidate) who can derail Mitt Romney. Further, Christie, because of his style, wears poorly, and would not defeat Barack Obama unless dissatisfaction with the incumbent rose substantially, in which case several Republicans could win. (Once upon a time there was another Repub governor who wore poorly and thus quickly became very popular nationwide, then sank the ticket.)

After her second comment, syndicated right-wing Repub talk-show host Mark Levin (only one "e," and emphasis on the second syllable), for purposes of ideology rather than strategy, had suffered enough and called Coulter out. Acknowledging he likes "the way he (Christie) deals with the public sector teachers' unions," Levin (as noted by Hot Air) rhetorically asked

What is your great love of Chris Christie based on? The man supports gun control. The man appoints a radical Islamist to a judgeship. The man is for amnesty [for illegal aliens]. The man is, to some extent, part of the “green” movement. He campaigned for Michael Castle.

The governor, positioning himself for a run at the GOP presidential nomination sometime in the future, actually does spout mostly conservative opinions. But he has been a conservative by convenience, just as he will be a moderate by convenience when he runs for re-election in N.J. Odd it is though that Levin, like Christie brash-talking and somewhat belligerent, does not understand the basis of the enthusiasm of many GOP voters for the New Jersey governor.

The explanation came, unexpectedly, from a story in which Politico reported that one (Kris Crawford) of the South Carolina state legislators urging Christie to jump into the presidential race

said that he doesn't plan to keep up the Christie drumbeat indefinitely if the governor just "doesn't have any interest," but explained: "What we’re looking for here is leadership with attitude and he’s got that going for him."

Right. Christie is not the little, quiet (and significantly more conservative) governor of Indiana, nor the small, staunchly pro-life fellow from Minnesota, nor the button-down, well-spoken, respectable and cautious man from Massachusetts. He is a big and bellicose guy from The Soprano State (author B.I. not recommended). He has attitude.... an attitude which is not undermined, but enhanced, by his physical stature. And if those libs don't like it, well, he'll just huff, and puff, and blow their house down.

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