I will protect your pensions. Nothing about your pension is going to change when I am governor. - Chris Christie, "An Open Letter to the Teachers of NJ" October, 2009

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Tipping Point?

I bust on the Star-Ledger a fair bit, but I also give credit where it's due. And this editorial is spot on:
By bullying a citizen, hogging the microphone and condescendingly dismissing him, Christie was the rude one. But it’s nothing new.
Christie has turned state politics into one never-ending yo’ mama joke. It doesn’t matter who you are — school superintendent, teacher, student, U.S. senator, state Assembly leader, former education commissioner or just a regular guy trying to have a conversation: If you disagree with him, Christie will try to humiliate you publicly.
Some find Christie entertaining, but his combativeness is counterproductive and breeds the kind of hate speech that plaques [sic] the nation.
And it’s not very mature.
Watch the video, and tell me this guy isn't acting like a total tool. He invites this questioner up for a conversation and then denies him a response.

Again: this plays well to gin up the base - the folks who post comments at nj.com and listen to NJ 101.5.

But it's a guaranteed disaster as a governing strategy. If the S-L is starting to get that, can the voters be far behind?

Additional thought: remember this?


That was Hillary Clinton's first Senate race. Rick Lazio approached her podium to get her to sign some dumb-ass pledge. He looked like a massive jerk; Clinton pretty much won that night as voters thought she looked and acted like a Senator while he looked and acted like a meathead.

I know this may be, in a strange way, a little sexist. But if I were John Wisniewski, I'd be looking very carefully at the talent pool of women in the Democratic party right now. Imagine how Christie would come off looking if he tried to pull some of his nonsense against Barbara Buono or Linda Stender.

And, no, I don't think Christie will be able to control himself - he will have a moment like this. It's who he is.

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